9/16 fish report

[Billy Boy]

I started perching south of middle bass shoal early morning. Caught the first one in about 3 minutes. Nice fish, but no more for 3 hours. Lots of fingering walleye, and a few white bass. Said the heck with it, and put the trolling gear together. Oh my I’m glad I did. Crushed them. Trolled east to west, back and forth along the middle bass shoal to the north in 30ish fow give or take. Running spoons behind dipseys. First fish in about 5 minutes. Nice quality fish that I have never caught here before. First was 22” then a few shorts-to eater size. Then thought I had a big sheep. Na na….30” beast. He got returned. I didn’t even get a picture as running 3 troll rods by yourself is a handful. Caught a hog 20”, and a couple more eaters. Plus more shorts. Only 1 white bass, and the 1 big sheep that hit screamed drag for a couple seconds, then got off. The spoon that did most of the damage was wonder bread. Unfortunately I only have 1 as earlier in the season the sheep were pounding it, and I didn’t get more when I replenished due to that. I am going to forego the perch tomorrow, and troll straight away.

[Donoh]

Nice report and good call. I am heading out to cranberry reef tomorrow hope I see some of the same

[Billy Boy]

I went back out the next morning. First pass right at 7:00. Same thing as yesterday. Got a little keeper, and 2 shorts on that pass. Only 1 more keeper and tons of shorts. No by catch, so didn’t mind the shorts, as so many were 13-15 range. The big fish must have moved on. Same as yesterday with the wonder bread spoon. It was the only thing they would hit. I might as well have been trolling 1 rod all day. I didn’t find anything else they would touch. They were shallower than yesterday 25-29 with way less marks. I fish here often because it’s close, and all I’m looking for is eaters when I’m by myself. Rarely catch big fish in this area like yesterday

[rickerd]

Thanks for the reports Billy Boy.
I catch walleye consistently between Rattlesnake, West Reef, and Sugar Island. Is this the general area you were in?

I lost a rod to probably a huge sheep head on West Reef once. We were drifting and it was pulled overboard on the bite. Crazy!

Rickerd

[itsbob]

That was great that you got into some bigger walleye and catching a fish Ohio hog at that. I too was wondering where that middle bass shoal you mentioned was located. I have not seen or heard of that shoal being mentioned before. I was looking at my ancient chart. There is a long peninsula of shallow water coming off east side of middle bass that has a can at the end. Most people call that Lucy's point. On the west side of middle bass is a shallower ridge that runs to rattlesnake island. I have not heard of any name for that shallower ridge. My guess it's that ridge off west side of middle bass was where you have been fishing. We have done well in that area in the spring trolling and in the fall casting around the shallower reefs and humps.

[Billy Boy]

The first spot you mentioned. Off of East point. It runs out to the can. About half mile out. If you stay north you can stay in about 30’, but you have to veer to the north towards north bass if you want to stay over 30’. A little further north you can get into 40’. I usually run my first pass right along where it starts to get shallower in about 26’.

[penalty box]

yes i'm curious where Middle bass shoal is. I never heard of it!

[Billy Boy]

Sorry to cause any confusion. I don’t know what it’s actually called. Like I said it’s off the north east point. There is a green can that marks the end of the “ridge” about 1/2 mile out. It’s quite shallow most of the way out. A plotter, or a chart will show it. Right now the charter boats go right on top in 6’ and cast. I was just trying to share where I had some luck. I know a lot of guys are vague about actual location. If I was worried about people fishing my spot I just wouldn’t post. When the bite is hot no one goes here, but I can run out catch my 6 mostly 16-18” eaters, and head back. There is rarely a time when I don’t mark quite a few fish, so no one is going to fish it out. It’s kind of a pain because you have to watch your depth. It’s not a long run, so it’s not worth setting up 8 or so rods with planers as you would just get going and have to pull everything in. Running by myself with just 3 rods out I can figure 8 easily. Still gets hectic trolling single. I’ve had all 3 going at once…oh my! Sorry to be so long, but I’m fairly new here, and just wanted everyone to know I’m not posting crap info. I appreciate everyone else that posts, and just wanted to contribute. I’m fairly new to walleye fishing on Lake Erie so just trying to learn. I have spent most of my time fishing the florida keys. Totally different game up here.

[West Basin]

Haven't had a chance to get out fishing yet. Too much work and stuff coming up. Hope to finally get out later this month.

Yes, that long shoal off the NE corner of Middle Bass is referred to as Lucy's Point. I'm sure it has other local names. It's a flat pretty much featureless bedrock shoal that runs out about a quarter mile or more before it get over 10-12 feet deep. I've scuba dived it. There is (or was at least) an old wrecked ship's boiler on the bottom about halfway out to the buoy. If my memory is correct, it's in about 10-12 foot depth during "average" water datum. It comes up to about 3-5 feet of the surface. You definetly don't want to pass over it in a boat!

Otherwise, yes, that area does produce good walleye fishing much of the year. It is overlooked, mostly because during the main walleye season there are usually other larger areas that are holding walleye where most people fish (south of Green Island to Niagara reef, the South Passage, south east of Kelleys Island, just to name a few). It can also be good in the evening. Can also be a good perch spot, to the south east of the end of the shoal. It's a transition area from the deeper waters to the north and north east to the shallower Islands area. I've caught walleye all around it and even up closer to the 15 foot depths.

Just for clarification. A "shoal" is generally a ridge or line of unconsolidated material (sand, gravel, or a mix of materials) that rises from the bottom close enough to the surface to cause a hazard to navigation. A reef is similar, but usually of more solid material, such as coral or rock. On Lake Erie, shallow points that extend out from shore are often referred to as shoals, no matter what their makeup. Reefs the same but a shallower area that is by itself, not "connected" to the shoreline. There are numerous of both in the Western Basin, but almost all of them have bedrock / rock foundations. There are also sand or gravel bars right close to shore, usually near a water outlet (river or stream). Sometimes these are called shoals. Generally speaking on Lake Erie, people refer to shallow areas extending out from shore as "shoals" and shallow areas out by themselves as "reefs". If you look at Lake charts, you'll see this is gennerally true. So when refering to a shallow area for which you don't know the actual name, think "shoal" if it runs out from the shoreline and "reef" if it's out by itself.

[penalty box]

Sorry to cause any confusion. I don’t know what it’s actually called. Like I said it’s off the north east point. There is a green can that marks the end of the “ridge” about 1/2 mile out. It’s quite shallow most of the way out. A plotter, or a chart will show it. Right now the charter boats go right on top in 6’ and cast. I was just trying to share where I had some luck. I know a lot of guys are vague about actual location. If I was worried about people fishing my spot I just wouldn’t post. When the bite is hot no one goes here, but I can run out catch my 6 mostly 16-18” eaters, and head back. There is rarely a time when I don’t mark quite a few fish, so no one is going to fish it out. It’s kind of a pain because you have to watch your depth. It’s not a long run, so it’s not worth setting up 8 or so rods with planers as you would just get going and have to pull everything in. Running by myself with just 3 rods out I can figure 8 easily. Still gets hectic trolling single. I’ve had all 3 going at once…oh my! Sorry to be so long, but I’m fairly new here, and just wanted everyone to know I’m not posting crap info. I appreciate everyone else that posts, and just wanted to contribute. I’m fairly new to walleye fishing on Lake Erie so just trying to learn. I have spent most of my time fishing the florida keys. Totally different game up here.

Hey nice job and thanks for the report, pretty sure that's lucys point. My Dad went flying through there in his boat and took out his outdrive one year, he wasn't happy stay outside the can when motoring.