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I’ve never been able to fish before late April or early May but this year I’m committed to get out by early April. What are good ways to fish early. I enjoy drifting bottom bouncers, casting Weapons and jigging. Also am set up to troll. Appreciate your experience. Thanks!
We've had pretty good luck trolling for them before they get up on the reefs. I see no reason why you couldn't catch some suspended fish by casting or jigging too. They like things a little slower in the cold water.
This sight is really awesome for information sharing. You can always look back to the early posts from the past few years and soak up the info. People are already fishing as I see boats coming and going at Huron. So, maybe there will be some new reports soon. Good luck 🎣
mapleshade i would say jigging
If you plan to start fishing early April jigging is the best way to catch drifting.Casting hair jigs is the preferred way.Some tip the jigs with minnows and others don't use any minnows.I recall some posts years past that said the jig bite was best from first light and for a couple hours and turned off.But the fishing in April is heavily influenced by the weather.The shallower waters in the shooting range get muddy with a good wind.You can go many days before you can even get out in April let alone a 3-5 days of stable weather.But if you get a period of stable weather in April, the fishing can be fantastic.
If you plan to troll in April the best way to catch is using crankbaits.The colder the water the slower you need to troll.Early April speed is probably 1.3-1.7 mph and increases as the water warms.Water clarity is critical to catch in.If water too clear the fish avoid because the clear water is colder than the muddy water.If it's too muddy you can't catch well either because the fish can't see the lure.Best color is stained water.Like a greenish hue that you see between the muddy and clear water.Popular cranks lately have been the bandit cranks.Best trolling setup in April is mono line with inline boards.Watch the fishing reports to help you target best speeds,colors and leads as the month progresses.When you start trolling for the day try and cover the water column and with a variety of colors to figure out the bite for that day.I usually start with 120,100,90,80,70,55 leads and a purple,white,blue chrome, chartreuse,gold and another white/green combo colored bandits.
Spot on and perfectly explained by itsbob. I've definitely learned that when the water at the islands and West are muddy and you can't see your prop, you'll wanna go East until you find the green stained water. To me, that's the hard part about fishing early....the weather and water conditions/color. Otherwise, for trolling technique it's pretty much the same. Just at a slower speed.
I do always check and replace my treble hooks as needed at the start of each season. Many times in the cold water the bites are only on the back hook so keep em really sharp.
Yeah dw72 about missing some fish.With the slower trolling speeds and lathergic fish you don't get solid hook ups.Grab the rod as quickly as possible and put some pressure on that fish to drive the hooks in helps.
Thank you!
Back in the 80s when we fished the western basin in April, we trolled the 2" hot n tots and the standard size wiggle warts and trolled the deeper water close to the reefs and the fishing was phenomenal. By mid to late may as the water warmed and the fish recouped from spawning, we moved out around West Sister Island to fish.
I have only jig fished the reefs once and for us it sucked. but it is supposed to be great fishing if everything is right.
And remember you can't catch any fish sitting at home so get your hooks in the water!
Saturday should be good weather - light wind - for early season fishing on Lake. Gonna be chilly on the Lake, though.
If anyone gets out, lets get some water temperatures and water clarity reports, as well as fishing success.
Hey WB and Gents. Yessir....it is time! I'm going out for a 4 day trip starting next Friday. Launching from Huron is my current plan. I assume the docks will be in but if anyone knows for sure that would be reassuring to hear. Probably wishful thinking but it would be awesome if the fish cleaning station was open! If either station is open(Mazuriks or Huron) I'd love to use it.
A 3 man trip this time which will be nice to have an extra set of hands. Will report our results. Tight lines to all.
Don
Good luck Don, hope you slay them! Keep in touch.
good luck DW. BE SAFE!
Keep a eye out for weather google huron weather for days your planning temperatures and wind forecast hate to see anyone drive far and cant get out good luckQuote:
Originally Posted by DW72
Thanks guys! Will keep a close eye on things between now and then and see what happens with the weather. Pretty sure I can shift the trip dates around some if we are forced to by bad winds. Huron live cam is back online now. I see lots of boats going going in and out 🙂
Saturday morning Buddy trolled out between Catawba and South Bass Island. He reported a lot of muddied water, marking fish all over the water column, but only managed 3 hookups and landed one of them, a nice 5-6 pound female. Couldn't get many takers. Fished 5 hours. Water temperature 37 degrees. He said guys he talked with at Catawba ramp when he came in had similar luck, not much action. Most of them were west out by the main reef complex.
With the water temp still in the winter range, I would think the fishing won't pick up a lot until it gets near 40 degrees, and/or the Lake gets numerous days without a big wind event, and the water clarity improves.
When I got to Catawba Saturday morning there must have been over 75 boats sitting in the water waiting for what I think was an LEWT event. I guess I'll post how it went for me since I didn't see any posts from them :). I was looking for what I call fishable water, so I decided to head north and east until it cleared up. It started getting better by the time I got about 6 to 7 miles northeast of Catawba so I continued to head towards Gull Island so I could troll southwest with the wind. I was fishing 37 to 40 fow most of the time. I barely got my lines set when I got the first one and then it was a slow to steady pick after that. Speed was 1.2 to 1.4 and the best sets were 60 to 75 feet back. The first 4 or 5 walleye came on a white based bandit with black and green on the ends and a dot in the middle, not sure what it is called, but lots of contrast. Later in the day they were hitting on my gold based lures with black and orange. Ended up catching around a dozen or so, but the 6 that made the cooler were 22 to 26 inches. I talked to another guy at the dock that mentioned they only got one but were only out a couple hours. I felt it was a pretty good day for me and better than a lot of days that I've been out. Good luck everyone!
Got another report last evening. Three man limit trolling for 4 hours out off Huron. Seems the feeding walleye were in clearer water.
Thank you for the reports guys. Nice work Lynn on figuring out the water conditions and catching a bunch of great fish!
Looking marginal for winds after Friday but at this point I'm still coming out for 4 potential fishing days.
I'm also considering coming over to fish this weekend... been watching the weather reports hopeful that it decides to settle down some.
We're arriving mid day Friday and will stay until Wednesday. Staying in PC. I'll launch anywhere from Catawba to Vermillion depending on the wind and water conditions. I'm always happy to share info while fishing. If anyone is interested, just lemme know and I'll share my number.
Buddy got a near two man limit today south east of Kelleys Island in the afternoon, 41-43 foot depth. Fish were suspended at 21-15 feet. Trolling. Water temp 38 degrees. Five hours fishing. A few nice size females. No smaller 16-18 inch fish. He said it was a beautiful sunny but chilly day on the Lake.