Random Erie Questions

This past weekend was my 1st time on Erie, and did very well thanks to the reports on this forum. It is a style of walleye fishing that I'm not accustomed to doing. I'm used to jigging on a reef/humps, or trolling over a drop off. I basically drove around until I marked fish north of Huron, and trolled over them with Bandits. We had no problem getting our 2 man limit of fish on Friday and Saturday. I have a few questions about Erie:

--Is this style of fishing (open water, not structure related) typical year round? I know the fish migrate, but in the spring do you fish similarly?
--Is the bite this good all year, or did I just happen to luck out with timing?
--The Huron boat ramp was a zoo on Saturday morning. Is that typical?
--I may try to sneak in another trip this year. Does this pattern stay consistent until ice up?

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Originally Posted by trapsht

This past weekend was my 1st time on Erie, and did very well thanks to the reports on this forum. It is a style of walleye fishing that I'm not accustomed to doing. I'm used to jigging on a reef/humps, or trolling over a drop off. I basically drove around until I marked fish north of Huron, and trolled over them with Bandits. We had no problem getting our 2 man limit of fish on Friday and Saturday. I have a few questions about Erie:

--Is this style of fishing (open water, not structure related) typical year round? I know the fish migrate, but in the spring do you fish similarly?
--Is the bite this good all year, or did I just happen to luck out with timing?
--The Huron boat ramp was a zoo on Saturday morning. Is that typical?
--I may try to sneak in another trip this year. Does this pattern stay consistent until ice up?

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Yes, pretty much and yes.

It is typical to try to locate active fish and troll over them. The bite stayed pretty good year round this year but you have to move with the fish. They are stacked up now in their fall staging areas and it will remain good until ice up. As the water gets colder you will need to slow your presentation way down. P10’s will produce better in the colder water.

The Huron ramp is a zoo right now because of the 2020 Walleye Fall Brawl that ends November 30th I believe.

Here is a video that was very helpful for me. It may not be the specific info you are looking for but its very good to know the general migration patterns for the lake. Slow the video down and watch it. You will see when fish start to move east and when fish come back to the west. When you read reports you will understand why they are in that general location. Put this together with the reports that all the great people on here post and you will have some great days of fishing Lake Erie.

2016 Lake Erie Walleye fish movement West basin - YouTube

Thank you both for your insight. Video is great. Looking forward to more trips. Too bad it's 7 hours away

I would think you were fortunate the bite was so good last weekend.When you have stable weather for a few days or longer the bite does get better.But after a big blow or cold fronts the bite does become more challenging.You can usually find fish relating to structure or on the flats depending where you go.The fish stage off Huron in late fall and winter before moving onto the reefs to spawn in march.In the spring a lot of guys jig for walleye on or close to the reefs.You can also catch walleye trolling in the deeper water near the reefs in spring too.
The public ramps are usually busier on weekends but at this time of year with most of the docked boats pulled and the fish moving west,Huron is a popular location to fish.Good luck.

Headed back this weekend, but this time with my son. Am I safe running the same Bandit program as a few weeks ago? '60-100 foot back unassisted north of Huron?

Sort of new to western/central basin myself but can answer a few questions.
Spring is just as productive and a lot of the fishing is done jigging the reefs around the islands.
The Fall Brawl is the main reason for the crowed launch at Huron, don’t know for sure but the other launches were probably the same.
You are good till ice over.
Next fall make sure you get entered in the Fall Brawl, google fall brawl to check it out.
Be safe and tight lines

Capt Juls posted on this site her results from fishing Tues.Be sure to read her post.She fished off Huron and her leads were 75-125 unassisted.That is a great way to start but every day can be different.So be prepared to change up or start with one deeper and one shallower.The best fishermen will start out initially covering the fishing column to see where the active bite is.That is especially important after a prolonged blow,a new area or change in water clarity.

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Originally Posted by trapsht

Headed back this weekend, but this time with my son. Am I safe running the same Bandit program as a few weeks ago? '60-100 foot back unassisted north of Huron?

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A lot of fish have been caught high in the water column lately. Bandits 40 to 50 back. If you are not marking as many fish the odds are they are high and your sonar is not reading them. Pay attention when you are under power and stop. If you see fish and then they disappear, that can mean they were high and the boat scared them down deep. High fish are often to the side of you boat and the sonar is reading down.

same program

You will have to just fish what the sonar shows......its a good place those leads......we were put today on caught 3 or 4 in the 45-80 ft unassisted.........most came 60-80 with 3 oz inline