Great Lake Erie Bounty Sunday

We had an amazing day on Lake Erie on 3/18.

I can promise you...there was no trick photography or angle pics to get the fish included to look bigger. I am 6'5 and 240 lb guy. I may actually make the fish look smaller than they were.

Met my buddy at the ramp at 9:00 am. Had to break ice to get out. That overnight low put 1/4 inch of skim ice on the water.

I can't say exactly where we were since it is my buddy's secret pre-spawn spot. I guess it is a secret because there were no other boats anywhere around us. It isn't far from the Toledo lighthouse. I think he called it the turn around. I am not familiar with that area at all. That is the first time I fished that far west.

We ended up putting 28 fish in the boat throughout the day. We missed 4 - including the first one we lost at the boat that would have weighed in well over 13 lbs. We had just over an 8lb average, after releasing all of the big females. We only kept 8 of the eater males (that were still around 3-4 pounders).

Water was pretty muddy. Couldn't see the hydrofoil on the outdrive. We fished 13 foot of water all day. ReefRunner Ripsticks (purple passion), Bandit (wonderbread) and P10 custom purple. We tried fishing with lots of colors, brands and styles once we got on fish to see how picky they were going to be. They were really picky on colors, but not on brand. Fished with 10 foot of line out for the most part - then put on inline boards (60-80 ft) to get away from the boat. Speed was 1.2 -1.3. All of the biggest females came off this setup. We put out 20-25 foot of line to get the eater sizes.

Walleye are staged up for the spawn. Find one of the staging spots, and you will have your best Lake Erie walleye days of your life. Don't be afraid of the muddy water, or doing something completely different from what you are used to. I have never fished a P10 with only 10 foot of line out. Everyone was fighting for the cleaner water or their early spring spots. Since the water is staying so cold (35.5-36 degrees), and the fish are waiting to spawn, they aren't moving very far from spawning areas right now.

Bites were super aggressive! Two brand new lures out of the box had more than 25% of the paint worn off by the time we packed up. We had two hooks snap off on brand new P10s also.

Hopefully the weather holds up for next weekend. We have a planned trip out with Capt. Juls on Saturday. Might have to shovel some snow or break some ice to get out there though.

Tight Lines!

Thanks for sharing!!!! As a a guy just hoping and waiting to make a single trip to the area - there's nothing better than reading reports, good or bad from those enjoying it now.

hey dayze, what color were those lures the fish wore off? thanks

Nice post, sounds like a great day. And right up close to shore even better. Nothing like a hot bit not more than a few football field off shore

Great job guys! Sounds like a fantastic day of fishing. ;)

Now, let's just hope this weather straightens out, so we can get out Saturday!

Awesome job guys. Heading out Thursday for my B day. Hope I can write a report like this and show some pictures too.

I think Reef Runner calls that color Purple Demon. The Smithwick P10 was a clear with custom purple on back and a pinkish color on the bottom. Don't remember where I picked that one up at to figure out who painted it, or what they call it.