What a season.

I was planning on a last trip to Huron this week, but because of the weather reports and the fishing reports that indicated Huron wasn't really happening I put the boat up for the season. Just my observation, I've only been fishing the western basin for about 10 years. I start from Monroe, MI in the spring and work my way east to Huron over the course of the season. Usually, there have been productive trips right up to Thanksgiving. This year was an exceptiion as the last really good trip I had was mid-June. Has anyone else had an off-season like this? I blame the weather and the water temps.

Yes bad year. Dock is on the Portage River. Boat has essentially been sitting in the mud since mid August. Worst year I can remember in the last 10 years

The early walleye jig bite was not great for us, but better than nothing.
The perch bite was strong but keepers were far and few between.
We did better than usual trolling for walleye - maybe because we fished farther east (Huron / Lorain) than in the past.
Still hoping for another perch trip and maybe one more limit of walleye yet this year.

For me, the walleye bite was excellent, perch started out good in mid July, but quickly turned into a season of dinkies. The bite was slow and many throw backs, but the few keepers were nice size, probably averaged over 9.5" ....having been on western lake Erie for well over 60 years, I do believe we are coming to a low water cycle, which happens about every 7-8 years. With a record number of days with east/ NE winds and low water levels to date.....bet we are on a low water cycle. Probably will be low the next year or two before it starts rising again. Waiting on next year, have a great winter !

it was a little harder than the previous years. i think the biggest reason is the fish were off shore this year and thats alot of water to cover, many 20 mile boat runs for me to get fish this year. The fish moved out of the skinny for me this year not sure why. Lorain was on fire this year and still is. I usually fish the Huron area but had to go east and north from the 30 to 43 north to get my fish.

The walleye fishing this season was similar for us compared to last year. We limited 11 of the 16 trips i took on my buddy Johns' boat this year. The avg weight of our fish was 2.5lbs this year, compared to 2.25lbs last year. But we get Canadian licenses, and John is willing to make long runs to catch fish. Now we caught fish last season off Huron in August and September, but we did not fish there this year. We made the long run to Lorain three times this year to catch our fish. One possible reason the fish were far offshore and in the deepest water was water temperature. We had a hot summer, and the water got pretty warm by August. John kept his boat in the water a month longer this season. I had been on him to do so because in the past, we had done well casting for walleye on the reefs in October. We had a pretty warm September and the water temps kept steady the whole month. We tried casting several times in late Sept and early October and the best we did was get 4 casting Oct 11th. Again, i think the warmer water kept the fish offshore. I'll bet it affected the poor perch fishing too. Have a great offseason and good health to all.

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Originally Posted by itsbob

The walleye fishing this season was similar for us compared to last year. We limited 11 of the 16 trips i took on my buddy Johns' boat this year. The avg weight of our fish was 2.5lbs this year, compared to 2.25lbs last year. But we get Canadian licenses, and John is willing to make long runs to catch fish. Now we caught fish last season off Huron in August and September, but we did not fish there this year. We made the long run to Lorain three times this year to catch our fish. One possible reason the fish were far offshore and in the deepest water was water temperature. We had a hot summer, and the water got pretty warm by August. John kept his boat in the water a month longer this season. I had been on him to do so because in the past, we had done well casting for walleye on the reefs in October. We had a pretty warm September and the water temps kept steady the whole month. We tried casting several times in late Sept and early October and the best we did was get 4 casting Oct 11th. Again, i think the warmer water kept the fish offshore. I'll bet it affected the poor perch fishing too. Have a great offseason and good health to all.

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I had mixed results. Early jig season was good for us. I really struggled late May. But from mid June through all of July we did fine. If not limits 16 out of 18. But our fish were smaller this year. I was out 5 times in July & never had a walleye over 20”. Most 16-18”. My 2 best perch weekends were 1st & 3rd weekends of August. No limits 3 of us. 45 -60 fish leg day on those trips with good grade of fish. Then 3 more times out 8 keepers & 100 through backs. 1 st saturday of October I casted for eyes because perching reports were so bad. We caught them on Crib & Big Pic & 2 of us got 10. After that weekend pulled boat

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Originally Posted by addaline

I was planning on a last trip to Huron this week, but because of the weather reports and the fishing reports that indicated Huron wasn't really happening I put the boat up for the season. Just my observation, I've only been fishing the western basin for about 10 years. I start from Monroe, MI in the spring and work my way east to Huron over the course of the season. Usually, there have been productive trips right up to Thanksgiving. This year was an exceptiion as the last really good trip I had was mid-June. Has anyone else had an off-season like this? I blame the weather and the water temps.

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I think the warm water temps and abundant number of days with E/ NE winds drove the fish to deeper water and further east. Been in the lake for over 60 years, my younger days were spent on the Portage river right across from the Jacknife bridge. There were a few summers the river was just a creek. We were lucky to have boat lifts or we would have been sitting in mud.
Been thru low water issues many times and high water issues as well. Look around at all the rock walls, I remember those being built. Just mother nature's way of letting us know she us still in charge ! Hope for a better season next year.....

I fish western west Basin. Never went west of West Sister to much with my boat.
Jigging sucked for me.. Maybe I just don't have the feel for it.
Trolled most of the year. Most of our fishing this year was in close between Wards Canal and Crane Creek in 12-18 FOW. Also out in 20 FOW around the Toledo Water Intake.
2025 showed us making 38 trips with a total Walleye count of 402 for the yr. That's 10.5 fish per trip average as opposed to 11 average for 36 trips in 2024, 7.5 avg for 2023, 8 avg for 2022 and 9.4 avg for 2021.
Most of the time this year was just me and a buddy. Once we got our limit of 36 with 6 on board. Walleye for me were all fattys and very few shorts until August. Biggest on my boat this yr was 29 1/2". 28" was the biggest last yr. Alot of our fish this yr averaged 20"
Low water levels will affect the water temps next yr if they stay low.
We will see when the snow falls this winter and go from there.

Yep, been a "different" season.

Chartercam camera captain's boats had "one of our best first half of the season, and one of our worst second half's."

It seems there was a greater divide between those who did well and those who did not. I heard a lot of "not so good" reports, but also a good number of "we did well or very well" reports. On the same day I'd hear of boats catching limits or near limits and other boats catching hardly any, or only 5 or 6 keepers, in the same general area. Yes, this is not uncommon, but this year it seemed to be the case more than usual.

Dropping water levels, warmer than usual water temperatures, low rainfall, and unusual water currents moving anoxic water around where it usual doesn't go where all factors, along with a lot of east and northeast wind. Also not much of an algae bloom. So a lot was different this season with the Lake.

Good news is the walleye hatch was "excellent".

Just a moment...

Bad news is the Lake water level is down near the long term average, now near 174 feet. Has dropped a foot since mid July.

Great Lakes Dashboard

Now we all reflect on this season, then enjoy the off season break, then look forward to the 2026 open water season once Late February arrives. And winter ice fishing if we get good ice.

I really am looking forward to the 2026 season. Once again, five years in a row now, I didn't get out much at all. Had an engine issue with the Lyman (a very long tale - I now probably know more about Chrysler 360 marine engine exhaust manifolds than just about anyone). Because of the work on the trailered Lyman, and some other issues, I only got the Trophy boat out three times, and only caught a few white perch, sheepshead, and a catfish. I certainly hope I am in the water and running by the latest mid-April in 2026.