New to area, looking for advice

Hey all,
I’ve been doing my due diligence and reading as much as I can ahead of a last minute trip to the Sandusky/Toledo area. However I can only do so much research before next weekend. My family and I are headed to Oregon, OH on the weekend of the 24th. I am a seasoned walleye guy from West Michigan. We have a family obligation that I’ve been given the green light to ditch. Hell yeah!!! I’m planning on bringing my 17ft Tracker WT, 115hp outboard, trolling motor with iPilot, two downriggers, planer boards, more rods than hours of the day, two Humminbird DI/SI units. I’ve got tons of harnesses, Flicker Minnows (mostly 5’s and 7’s), Reef Runners, most of the common Rapala’s out there, a ton of other miscellaneous cranks, some spoons though not my forte, bottom bouncers, blah blah blah. Some leadcore as well. I’ve been reading some reports (though it doesn’t look like Ohio DNR is real diligent on updating reports). Read a bit on here. It seems like the shipping channel out to like West Sister island is a pretty common area. The other option that sounds reasonable is going out of Sandusky and heading toward Kelley’s Island. I hear a lot about certain buoys (ie “F buoy” or similar) as being relatively productive recently. That being said, if you’re still reading, thanks! Lol I have a couple questions. First- is my boat “enough” to go that far? Is Erie as treacherous as my home lake of (Michigan)? How big should I/can I expect? I know Erie isn’t the depth that I normally
deal with. Any general location recommendations? I am not trying to steal your favorite spot by any stretch just some general recommendations. IÂ’ll do plenty of map recon ahead of my hit time, and ill
put in the work when I get there FOR SURE. I am NOT getting back to the family event early. Lol Any specific bait shops you recommend or launches that are that are preferred? I know this is a lot. I appreciate any input. Thanks in advance!

-Chris

PS- IÂ’m a couple things- retired Army vet, current physician assistant aaaaaaannd custom knife maker. If anyone is willing to do me a solid and wants to PM me their address IÂ’ll send you a little sumthinÂ’. 😉

Hey there, I fish from an 18 ft deep v boat. From what I hear Erie is even more aggressive weather/water wise than is Lake MI because Lake Erie is shallower. But I watch my days, weather and wind direction. For the most part, if I see over 10 mph I have to think about it. Especially if it is out of the North or East. But that said, I am able to fish the lake a lot and travel some pretty long distances out there. West of the islands is where I am assuming you would fish due to the location you said you were at. I like to fish the water East of the islands. But there are walleyes all over. In fact there have been some reports of good catches farther West than I normally travel. The Toledo shipping channel and everywhere to the islands. As far as methods, it depends on how you want to fish. Trolling is most popular any more for walleyes it seems. I recommend looking at some of the reports prior to your post. You can learn a lot from them and what is working for them. From your post you have everything you need. The western basin is not very deep. If you find over 40 feet you found a deep spot.Try to get some crank baits, spoons or harness down around 17-18 ft. Or just above your marks you will catch them pretty easy. Lot of dinks out there so I use cranks mostly and I check them often for hitch hikers. Just look for the groups of moving boats. Good Luck. Oh yes- & thanks for your past service to our Great Nation! USA!!!!!

Kent

PimplePounder

Ranger Cherokee 237 18ft.
115 HP. Johnson SPL
15 HP Merc. Kicker
Xi5 Motorguide Auto Anchor/GPS
FL-20 Vexilar
898 HD DI SI Humminbird GPS
Navonics Premium

Good launches by Oregon are Magee east , Metzger's Marsh and Fenwick. Best bait shop around my opinion is the Happy Hooker. A,B C and D cans are always good spots. They are off shore a ways so make sure you run on south wind. A west, east and north or any combo of those winds will be bumpy if its over 10kts. I run deep diving crankbaits like bandits, flicker minnow 11s and WNC Reapers 17-20ft depending on depth. Water depth that way is 25-30ft. I like to run 1.6 to 2.2 with wind and against the wind. Just watch the wind and waves hit the throttle if you see whitecaps way out there in your little boat "no disrespect" on the little boat. I run the lake in the winter in 18ft deep V duck boat and all summer in a 30footer.

good luck
happy hooking
and congrats on the pass from family event !!

Capt. Andy

There has been a nice school of keepers around west sister the past month.Not sure where they are located now.Also fish east of kellies.Guys have been doing well trolling the double willow harnesses last several weeks.Cranks also have been catching fish too.Seams the bigger fish are deeper in water column now.Speed is 2.0-2.4mph but I have seen posts of guys going faster.Good luck,hope this weather pattern of high humidity and storms end soon.

Lots of good Fishing in Oregon , Ohio, that is where I am .
Go to Butch and Denny Bait Shop on Corduroy Rd , than to Meinke Marina West , there is a Free County Ramp there .
I also Dock there .
Your Boat will be Fine as long as it is not rough, just do not go if wind is from east or NE
There is currently a pretty good school 4 miles out and a little East of marina .
just look for the Boats . there will be many if weather allows .

Well…it was interesting. Thanks for the advice. Hit limits both days with the biggest being 24”. On my last day fishing I was T boned at an intersection. My boat was totaled. My truck has so far run up at least $15,000 in damage. My driver side door was struck at approximately 60mph according to police. My truck and boat were pushed 431 feet into a field. I was unconscious and don’t remember any of it. I’m alive but uh pretty bashed up. I’m back in west Michigan now. My boat and all my fishing equipment is still down there uh…somewhere. So I’ll be headed back once I can drive to recover my gear out of the boat. It’ll be at least a month before my truck is ready to get picked up. So overall it was memorable trip. I’ll definitely be back to fish again. But probably not until next year ya know…since I don’t have a boat, or truck or ya know…gear. Lol I’m glad to be alive. Glad to have some fish to show for my trip. Thanks for all the advice!

Glad you survived that accident Chris.Being hit by someone going 60mph could have seriously injured you or family.Glad you survived and have recovered from that collision.Fishing is secondary to your family and your health.Hope you can eventually pick up the pieces and get the chance to fish again next year.Good luck.

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Originally Posted by BlackmetalIron

Well…it was interesting. Thanks for the advice. Hit limits both days with the biggest being 24”. On my last day fishing I was T boned at an intersection. My boat was totaled. My truck has so far run up at least $15,000 in damage. My driver side door was struck at approximately 60mph according to police. My truck and boat were pushed 431 feet into a field. I was unconscious and don’t remember any of it. I’m alive but uh pretty bashed up. I’m back in west Michigan now. My boat and all my fishing equipment is still down there uh…somewhere. So I’ll be headed back once I can drive to recover my gear out of the boat. It’ll be at least a month before my truck is ready to get picked up. So overall it was memorable trip. I’ll definitely be back to fish again. But probably not until next year ya know…since I don’t have a boat, or truck or ya know…gear. Lol I’m glad to be alive. Glad to have some fish to show for my trip. Thanks for all the advice!

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Boy, that was one heck of a deal there... Glad you did well on the fishing part, but thank goodness you are in good enough shape to fish another day after that encounter! That was a close call. We can always get more trucks and boats but life and health are precious!
Quite a memorable trip for sure..

Glad you are healing ... Truck and Boat are replaceable....
where did accident happen ?
I am sure there are people that would take you as a guest and friend , not trying to hurt the Charter guys most of them are GREAT but sometimes one needs a trip that a friend can help with .