Old School or Smarter Fish?

Hi Guys, New to this forum, Years ago I fished the Western Basin at least 1 week a year. Changed jobs, lost vacation time and sold my boat. Well, I'm coming back for the first full week in May. I've been following the fishing reports all spring and it sounds good as long as we hit good weather. My question is when did Erie Dearies fall out of favor or become an obsolete bait? We caught limit after limit drifting them 14 or 15 years ago. Are the fish smarter? Are there even any Eyes left that would have even seen one. Any Thoughts? Good Fishing

Back in the 80's you could of thrown a bone on a hook and caught fish. I think when the zebra muscles got thick the water cleared. the fish see the boat and spook away. We noticed that we would mark fish everywehre...throw out and WHAM..instantly catch one or 2. Then nothing. Nothing on the graph either. I know people do not like it...but when we trolled...we would make a left or right turn..the far outside bait would always catch one. I just think the clarity of the water gets them out away from the boat....out of reach. But we still catch them in the spring with them. The water is murkey in the western basin then. Just an idea...30 years of fishing it we learned a bit

That's a good question Sparky60, and one I'm interested in hearing the answer to. I kinda fall into the same catagory as you. I grew up with my Great-Grandfather fishing everyday all summer from the late 70's to the late 80's. Erie Dearies and an occasional nugget were all we ever used and can not remember a day we came in without our limit.
When I got my first Erie boat about 5 years ago, the first walleye lures I bought were Erie Dearies, as this is what I remembered. I found a lot of over 200 of them ebay and bought them for $51.00. I pretty much used them exclusively up until last season, when I started to rig the boat for trolling. The reason to rig the boat for trolling was simple. In 4 years of fishing almost every weekend, I have not pulled a limit on my own boat. Hate to admit that publicly like this but its a fact. (thats why I have never posted a report, i can tell you how and where not to fish). Now, my boat and tackle boxes are equipped to troll and will try the setup out for the first time next weekend. I planned on going up yesterday, but I came down with a sore throat and feel like crap. That and the weather report kept me home this weekend.
All this said, I to would like to know why the venerable weight forward spinner has lost favor with the walleye and the walleye fisherman alike.

I know folks who still use them. But friends who have chartered on Erie for many many years switched to using weapons. They are cheaper and catch more fish. Lots of charters still only drift fish out there and catch plenty of limits. The 27 and 30 ft sportcrafts drift real well with a 20 mph wind. Each person runs a bouncer/harness and casts a weapon. One of the charters has folks insist every year to use either erie dearies or golden nuggets but they just catch as many fish as the folks using the weapons. Lots of baits don't work as good as they used to, like hotntot's for example. There are still days when they work but those are far and few in between for me.

Thanks Pappy, water clarity does make sense to me. The guys I am coming out with are die hard trolling and 95% harness fishermen. I'm all set, new line counter reels and I have about 25 harnesses tied, I even bought a bunch of Reef Runner 800 series. I am still going to throw my box of Erie Dearies in the truck, just in case.

Hey Spark, back in the 80s thru 90s total walleye population was between 60 to 80 million fish.... with so many mouths to feed they virtually attached everything passing by. Now populations are way down coupled with increased water clarity its just more difficult.... trolling becomes more effective just because of more ground being covered & baits presented to more fish.......Not to say casting is a lost are, lots of capts continue to cast exclusively , doing quite well.

Casting is my favorite way to catch but its a feel thing. Trolling is an art of sorts. Trolling produces fish alot of days, but the cast and drift can out produce trolling some days as well. During the last couple years if a customer has a problem casting a weapon, I pull out some Erie Dearies. Some say, "what are those things". I still cast weapons the same way as I did the first time I used one back in the 90's. The method is the same for any type of worm harness that you cast the swing or drag and slowly work back to the boat. Erie Dearies work good on the rocks as its more compact and has less chance of falling into a snag and loosing it like a harness does. 6-7 inches is easier to control than 16-18 for some people. Yes, the water is clearer but if its been murky for awhile that method of only the outside lines are taking fish changes for sure. It all comes back to "Presentation". Put a worm with a few beads and gold blade or a spoon in front of their face , if it looks good, they may bite it. Too fast or too slow and nothing. Presentation

You mention "the swing". What exactly do you mean ? I have heard that before but not sure what it is.

Batter Up ! The swing is easy to describe. During the drift, while casting weapons or Erie Dearies. Depending on how your boat drifts doesnt really matter, its the direction you cast the lure. Cast perpendicular to the wind is one way to say it. Charter boats drift sideways so I cast parallel with the boat. If I am standing on the bow, I cast 30-50 ft straight off the nose in front of the boat. Lure hits the water, then you start your count to get to your depth. I always close the bail when the lure hits the water. Now as the boat drifts along, keep slack out of your line but dont reel much. Say you count to "ten", then start reeling slow. As you reel and the boat drifts along, your lure starts to come around towards the back of the drift or follow the boat. The lure picks up speed as it is coming around or " Swinging" around the follow the boat. The 12 o'clock to 9 o'clock movement of the lure is classically know as the Swing. During the swing most strikes or bites come at the 45 degree point when it changes speed. Once the swinging part is over and the lure is following the boat, reel up and cast again. The key is the count or sink rate and how fast you reel up. This starts mid May thru most of the year.

HEY guys, i''ve got a hand out sheet i made up for Erie Dearie , that we used at sport shows some 30 years ago describing the swing ,i will get it scanned and posted on here later tonight. I always used to send it out with my charter info. If anyone wants feel free to copy and send with yours...Lucky Eddie

Here is the document explaining "the swing"...

Here is the document explaining "the swing"...2nd try

Danny Galbencia was a friend and fishing buddy of mine long before he invented the Erie Dearie or obtained his CG captains license. The only bait that was even close to productive that we had to fish was called a Heddon Spin fin. We learned that it was best fished in the count down style. Later after Danny released the Erie Dearie we found that it was an even better count down lure. In other words when you cast the lure out, you start counting as soon as it hits the water. You start reeling at 5 then 10 then 20 which was usually the bottom. Where ever you got a hit you repeated that count to set up a pattern. Danny was owner operator of Causeway sport shop at Mecca, Ohio. I used his old International truck to haul crawlers out of Canada and Fathead minnows from Minnisota. We fished Erie back in a magical time where none of the boats had radios and the first two charter boats on the lake were Sportsman 1 and Sportsman 2 owned and operated by Bart and Claudia Blaha. There was no limit on walleye, Blue pike were still catchable. As a rule Walleye will go up for a bait before they will go down. Fish above them you'll catch them. If they are suspended at say 20 feet and you pull a bait by under them they won't hit but above at say 15 they will go up for it. At least this has been my experience. Some of our best fishing was done from a blacked out boat after dark close in around the islands and on some of the outlying reefs. We would throw crank baits with a very slow retrieve and do very well. The point of all this rambling is to say that not too many people even have and Erie dearie in their box now much less know where, when and how to fish one. And as has already been said with the new water clarity, trolling will put many more fish in the box. But I still like to ease in right at dusk along the north shore of North Bass and catch a few in that shallow water.

Great Post Great Story Tin Can

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Originally Posted by gregnwtf

Batter Up ! The swing is easy to describe. During the drift, while casting weapons or Erie Dearies. Depending on how your boat drifts doesnt really matter, its the direction you cast the lure. Cast perpendicular to the wind is one way to say it. Charter boats drift sideways so I cast parallel with the boat. If I am standing on the bow, I cast 30-50 ft straight off the nose in front of the boat. Lure hits the water, then you start your count to get to your depth. I always close the bail when the lure hits the water. Now as the boat drifts along, keep slack out of your line but dont reel much. Say you count to "ten", then start reeling slow. As you reel and the boat drifts along, your lure starts to come around towards the back of the drift or follow the boat. The lure picks up speed as it is coming around or " Swinging" around the follow the boat. The 12 o'clock to 9 o'clock movement of the lure is classically know as the Swing. During the swing most strikes or bites come at the 45 degree point when it changes speed. Once the swinging part is over and the lure is following the boat, reel up and cast again. The key is the count or sink rate and how fast you reel up. This starts mid May thru most of the year.

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Well explained. Thank You very much.
Is this what people will be going to once the Jig Bite is done ?

For a few weeks, most fish will be on bottom bouncers with worm harnesses.
Some will try throwing a harness, but more will come on a straight dragging harness just off the bottom. Smaller rigs with smaller blades are better during early May. Water is still cool so bare jigs and worms rigs will be most of what I will use during the next week or so.

[QUOTE=gregnwtf;21284]For a few weeks, most fish will be on bottom bouncers with worm harnesses.
Some will try throwing a harness, but more will come on a straight dragging harness just off the bottom. Smaller rigs with smaller blades are better during early May. Water is still cool so bare jigs and worms rigs will be most of what I will use during the next week or so.[/Q
The trolling was very good over the weekend. We had some nice limits. I am starting to see a lots of the big fish laying on the bottom. Greg is absolutely right that the bottom bouncer bites should be just about to be on fire. Look for it in the next 2 or 3 degree chang in the water temperature. Good luck.

What is the water temp now? Its 47° here in the Buffalo area, we have a group coming starting on saturday the 5th of may. We will be staying on South Bass Island. Ill be eliminating the bottom bouncers and using Snapper and Shark (2&4 oz) Torpedo Divers, and 20 &30 Jet Divers, & 5 color Lead Core. I caught over half of my fish last year in the Eastern Basin on Torpedo Divers. I'll post a thread next week on how we make out. Thanks in advance, Capt. Jim Skoczylas

Hi guys, just got done with our trip planning meeting. Thanks for all the replys. I am looking forward to the trip more each day, will be fishing out of south bass island May 5-11. It looks like we will be trolling worm harnesses, deep water near reefs during the day and if we get out early or stay out late we will be up over the reefs in shallower water. I have two more questions. I know alot of oeople have been fishing over by the Crib/Locust/Flatrock reef area, but with the firing range there, Is there a schedule, or certain days or hours, that this area can be fished? I know the Starve Island area holds alot of fish in early april when the big fish are in, is that area still decent in May or should I look elsewhere?

sparky i will be there on south bass at the same time also, were staying at the island club.