Our group arrived in Catawba on Friday the 20th. My wife and I were with two other couples, with the other two couples bringing motorhomes and me bringing my boat. We were staying at Cedarlane Campground and being before Memorial Day, the facility was not very busy. Our plan was the guys would fish each day and our better half would occupy their time on one of the islands and then had a couple of days in Cleveland to see sights, parks and the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. The plan was they would be back by Wednesday afternoon, and we would charter a guide for the last day on the 26th so they could experience Lake Erie fishing. We caught our limits each day while fighting windy conditions like everyone else. Started out with Flicker Minnows, Bandits, and spoons. The first two days Flickers were hot with perch, chrome blue, and wonderbread being the best colors. Spoons took many quality fish as well with a purple, pink combination, and a perch color spoon doing good work. The third through the fifth day, the Bandits with similar colors as the Flickers out performed the Flickers so all boards were running Bandits with spoons on Torpedo's. This is only my second year running my boat on Erie and we are learning more each time we go out. We have a lot to learn however. On our last day we went out on the Porkchop Express Charter with all six of us. We started setting lines at 6:45 and had six limits by 10 AM. Talk about a guy that knows his stuff. Our wives had a great time, Captain Sam was a great host and taught us more about the way he runs equipment and answered all my questions to hopefully make me a better angler next year. We finished off the trip by treating Sam to a Mexican dinner and enjoying his company. What a great fishery and kudos to Captain Sam for putting us on so many fish. He made it look easy. I can't wait for next year.
