Bass Islands Mid-July

[Brianks1]

Will be kayak fishing off south bass island mid July for a week. I assume trolling harnesses spoons and plugs is the way to go? Colors or locations? I am sure weather and wave action will dictate location in a kayak. Any tips ? Thanks in advance!

[sherman51]

Will be kayak fishing off south bass island mid July for a week. I assume trolling harnesses spoons and plugs is the way to go? Colors or locations? I am sure weather and wave action will dictate location in a kayak. Any tips ? Thanks in advance!

I can't really offer a lot of info for kayak fishing but trolling on Eries central basin out of Geneve Ohio the best spoon we have used is the purple alewife Dreamweaver dw spoon and they have other great colors. I may try a couple of the Dreamweaver WD spoons in colors I like. you can check all of them out on fishusa.com.

I use double bladed Colorado worm harness, but single blades will work. I get most if my harnesses at galeforcetackle.com. but I like the challenger lures I think the atomic green double blade harness. i like to run them around 1.8 but have caught fish at times at 1.5 to 2.2, with spoons i like 2.7 to 3.0 the best.

I don't use cranks much anymore except on my downriggers to take them down deep. back when we trolled the western basin in the west sister island area, we used the 2" hot n tots and wiggle warts mostly and caught limits on almost every outing, but we did use many other cranks then. that was the mid 80s.

but most fisherman are using longer baits now like walleye bandits, husky jerks, reef runners. I moved to the central basin and stopped using cranks but used harnesses for years and caught lots of fish along with many going over 10#. a few years ago, we switched to medium sized spoons which has worked great and no worm dirt all over the boat.

PURPLE WORKS ON CRANKS, SPOONS, AND HARNESSES. I like just about any lure that has some purple. but I don't run everything purple, i like to switch colors up to find something they want. what works great this weekend may not work near as good next weekend. but purple has always been our go to color.

I started fishing Erie around the late 70s but I learn something new often. after fishing 45+ years on Erie i could just go out and say GET IN THE BOX and they would jump in, LOL.

[Brianks1]

Good info! Thanks!

[penalty box]

I cought a ton of walleye on that charteruse hot n tot do they still make them?

[itsbob]

Will you just be casting or can you actually troll off your kayak.How far from south bass can you go.Can you make it to rattlesnake Island or green?

[Brianks1]

Will you just be casting or can you actually troll off your kayak.How far from south bass can you go.Can you make it to rattlesnake Island or green?

Probably both. Yes I troll from the yack all the time. I’ve never kayak fished lake erie. With good weather I think I can make it to rattlesnake and green islands. If Chuck Earle’s can do it I can do it!

[itsbob]

Read Billy boys thread walleye galore cuss he fishes around the bass islands fairly often.You should be able to cast Ned rigs around the south bass shoreline for bass now and could get some walleye too.If you want to try trolling for walleye use Colorado blades for speeds 1.7 mph or less.A good location to troll is the deeper water on NW side of S bass and between green island.The problem there is alot of boat traffic.If you have sonar there is a nice wall of rocks running off the SE side of rattlesnake toward middle bass and usually holds fish at the edges.The spoons first than the harnesses been catching better than cranks lately around the islands lately.Good luck and keep a flag out for boaters to see.

[Billy Boy]

Hello all. I haven’t been posting much since my boat has been down most of the season. Usually by mid July the bass islands are not a great area for walleye. I went back through my logs, and early July is the latest I have limited by 9:00am anywhere around the islands. Usually start heading east of Kellys, or just start perching.

[Billy Boy]

Quick update for today. My buddy’s boat pulled into the marina today around 10:00, so he obviously limited in good time. I didn’t contact him to see how it was as I was packing up to get on the ferry. Water looks good 1-2’ pretty clean. I’m sure I could have limited today as well.

[West Basin]

Brianks1,

By far the biggest issue you will have is boat wake. Mid-July is right smack in the middle of vacation / boaitng season on Erie. A LOT of boats, many of them big (30 foot and larger), will constantly be coming and going all around South Bass Island, especially in the channel between SB and Middle Bass. Even during weekdays. The nicer the weather, the more boats. Heading out into open water anywhere near South Bass is going to be a safety challenge with boat wakes.

Your best bet is to fish real early in the morning and in the evening after 7pm. Boat traffic is a lot less at those times. There are still plenty of walleye around in mid July, just not the big numbers / big schools that are pressent in May and June. Depending on how far you are willing to paddle, you have a lot of options. You can launch at the State Park Campground on the west side and fish around Green Island. Launching from the Harbor, you can go North and fish the shoal that extends NE from the NW tip of the Island (big red buoy at the entrance to Put-in-Bay marks the end of the shoal), but a lot of boat traffic. You can head North and fish between Raddlesanke and Middle Bass Islands (mentioned in another post). There is good structure and deep water on the west and north sides of Suger Island, the little island just to the N of Middle Bass, as well as a little reef just NE of it. Good spot to get away from most the boat wake, and I've caught a good number of walleye there in July in the evening. Going east from the harbor, you can fish the area between Middle Bass and Ballest Island (protection from boat wakes), as well as Long Point of Middle Bass (extends east from the east point of Middle Bass). The North East point of South Bass has lots of rock structure that drops off to deeper water, but it's the worst place for boat wakes, so I'd only go there real early in the morning.

It's a distance to paddle, but I'd recommend the area around and off Suger Island. It's away from the boat traffic and affords protection from boat wakes.

On any given day, you may not find a decent size school or "pod" of walleye, but there are always a few small groups, and singles, around. It may take some time and catching sheepshead, catfish, and the occasional Smallmouth Bass, but you should get a walleye now and then, especially is you happen into an area where some are holding.

Enjoy it. Just make sure you are prepared for large boat wakes, keeping an eye out for them.