General lake info ?

[DEEPWATER25]

I am new here and new to fishing the lake and just reading these forums trying to learn all I can and I really appreciate everyone posting I am trying to figure out at what point does the lake start getting deeper I have not seen 60ft of water we have been fishing the north side of Kelly's island and the west side but not real far out of the west side of the island and we have fished in front of cedar point where are some places around put in bay middle bass or just any other places I'm not asking for exact cordiance I have vary limited electronics we have been doing alot of drifting and casting I am trying to get setup for trolling but I am just looking forward to everyone's opinions and once again I really appreciate this forum

[Tangled Lines]

I’m just doing this off the top of my head but you will not find any 60’ water until well east of the area discussed in the Western Basin.

[DEEPWATER25]

We have been getting our limit so we are happy it takes awhile to get there

[RobM1969]

I’m just doing this off the top of my head but you will not find any 60’ water until well east of the area discussed in the Western Basin.

I think that's right. I think you need to get to at least Lorain, and even then, the 60 ft. might be in Canadian waters. I think there's a 70 ft spot somewhere off Avon Lake.

[DEEPWATER25]

Thanks guys

[itsbob]

A good site to see a chart of Erie is found at
fishing-app.gpsnauticalcharts.com
You can find alot of info and depths for fishing on that site.There is also a navionics app you can install on your phone to help you get around the lake and find different locations to fish.Good luck.

[West Basin]

Deepwater25,

Lake Erie has three "Basins". West, Central, East. The Western Basin starts at a line from Cedar Point (Sandusky) to the east side of Kelleys Island to the east side of Pelee Island to Point Pelee (Canada). West of that line is the Western Basin. The Central Basin starts at that line and goes east to about Erie PA and across the Lake to Long Point in Canada. East of there is the Eastern basin.

The Western Basin is by far the shallowest. Average depth is only about 20 feet. Once you get out away from shore a few miles, especially 6-8, you will find 30-40 foot depths. Even out in the middle of the Western Basin, the depths are generally in the mid 30 foot range. Lots of reefs, shoals, and the Islands.

The Central Basin has an average depth of around 60 feet. Out miles from shore there are 70 foot depths, and a few places get near 80. It's basically a big pretty much featuresless "bathtub" Basin. Few reefs or shoals and no Islands.

The Eastern Basin goes east from there to Buffalo and ends at the Niagara River Mouth (down to Niagara Falls). It has a maximum depth of around 210 feet, out in the center. Average depth is around 80 feet.

The Western Basin has more fish than anywhere else in the Great Lakes. It's a major spawning habitat for not just Lake Erie fish, but for some from Lake Huron and below. It's shallow depths, variety of bottom structures, and warmer water combine to make it a great place for fish and other aquatic life.

You can find walleye in the Western Basin year around. The numbers declice as the water temperature increases through the summer and into early fall. Once the temperatures start to cool down in the fall, late September / October, walleye begin to move back into the Western Basin and the numbers steadily increase. By mid to late July, most of the walleye fishing has moved east into the Central Basin, where the water temperatures are a little cooler. But there are still decent numbers in the Western Basin, and people that either can't or don't want to trailer their boat east, or make the longer trip to way east of Kelleys Island / Huron, can still get good to limit catches in the Western Basin. It just generally takes longer to find active schools and figure out what they want.

There is a wealth of information out there. My best suggestion is to start out learning the local navigation aids and landmarks. Don't become dependent on your electronics. Learn to navigate by experience and sight. Learn the Lake. It's similar with fishing. Using sonar to locate fish is great. Much more important is learning how to catch them. Listen to what the long time fisherfolks tell you. Experiment. Over time you will become proficiant at locating and catching walleye and other species.

And of course continue to visit this site, read reports, and if you have a good day, post the report.

[gb1234]

Excellent info from West Basin.
I would just add that the three Lake Erie "basins" should not be confused with the western, central and eastern Ohio DNR "zones." The western zone extends all the way to longitude -82.30000, which is 20 miles east of Cedar Point. This is important because you can catch 30 perch a day in the western zone but only 10 a day in the central zone.