Fishing out from Besse Davis

[jiginitis69]

You'll find you need all the poles your thinking of & bring all ya have. Bait Cast reels for trolling. Spinning reels get all kinked up if ya troll them. Either reel for jigging or casting. As far as rods. Med Light for jigging and Medium for trolling. Lures-- what you have will work, but if you want to enhance your tackle box I recommend clear jet divers in the 10', 20', & 30' depth ranges followed with Stinger Spoons. Remember to put a good barrel swivel in front of the jet diver (approx 3') the a snap swivel to the jet diver. Then a snap swivel to the jet diver (backside) a barrel swivel 1/2 way in front of your lure and a snap swivel to connect to your lure with a O-Ring on the lure (enhances action). It stops line kink completely. I can change colors or baits quickly and take apart when running in hard water. I run the spoon or stick bait (smithwyck, rapala, etc) 4-5 ft behind the jet diver. Spray them with WD-40. It works or it sure dont hinder bites. Trolling worm harnesses (meat baits) also work well, just put the egg weight up in front of the 1st barrel swivel. Good colors that generally produce steadily are green, chartruese, purple, white, pearl, red, orange, fire tiger, etc.. It depends on water clarity, but you will see the trend for the day or hour whatever the case. Jigs/ Cabelas. The purple hair jigs we are talking about are a local phenom. You can get them here at the local bait stores, along with the worm harnesses. They are preset lengths (I prefer @ least 18"-36" leaders) and designed for lake erie walleye. Pick up a couple bottom bouncers for drifting also (cheater pole) attach a worm harness. I prefer chartruese or orange painted. The walleye are different here. To the locals reading this--my example is---go throw a weight forward in a inland lake??? No Bites. Me neither. Tried it all week on Chautauqua Lake and no bites.

Another recommendation is go to www.jannsnetcraft.com, they sell all the blades, O-Rings, Treble hooks, and stick baits very inexpensively. Ya just need a good set of needle nose pliers to put it all together and save a ton of money. They are located here in Toledo, Oh and have the right baits at the right prices. That's where I go.

Jigging is the prefered method. You will be 5 miles east of the reefs. Allot of females spawn and head east. South Bass (South Passage)and Kelleys Island 9 Kelleys Island Shoal, Gull Shoal) are known for big fish, but I recommend you head directly to spawning grounds (west), get your 4 males, then go search for sows.

Good Luck and enjoy the lake

[fishchaser1]

I will immediately grab some clear jet divers and some of those "Lake Erie Special" purple hair jigs. I would assume doing a little bouncin' during thespawn should aggitate dear ole wally! Good advise, thanks. I believe 100%on the swivels. I use ball-bearing as they appear to be flawless.
Being we will be staying on Put-in-the-Bay, or whatever the name, are we fairly close to the reefs you mentioned?? Any other suggestions for an area? A fellow that fishes the area we are going, mentioned we would be working water around 15 feet and that seems shallow from reading your thread. We will have four boats so we will be very flexible in regards to areas.
If you have a chance, try and get some fisherman for that week as it would be great to have a mini tournament. You can teach us how to play poker!!!!!(April 19th to thru the 25th)
I promised the wife and my three offspring, they would be tasting the best eating fresh water fish. However, they are quite spoiled with the halibut and salmon from way up north. So I have to make a good showing at fishing and poker or I will be delegated to the couch upon a dismal return.
Thank you again for the info. Best regards, Steve (fishchaser1)

[jiginitis69]

15' is where you will be jigging for males in the 18"-25" range. Once you have your limit of them you can rig up the trolling equipment and go for the sows in deeper water. P-I-Bay is on South Bass Island. Between South Bass and Catawaba Peninisula is what is called the South Passage. Heavy eastward flowing current. That is one of the characteristics that draws the walleye to the spawning grounds. Its never a bad idea to troll or drift bottom bouncers through that area. Another good area is B & C Cans for sows. Get a good laminated map at the bait store and you will be able to find them easily.

As far as jigging. You will see the pack of boats drifting downwind and swinging nets. Go to the front of the line and have your turn. It is frowned upon to cut off a charters drift or another fishermans for that matter. Just a courteous FYI on that. No need for any aggrevation. There's enough for everyone.

Hail me on Channel 69---Jiginitis. I'll respond if I'm there.

[PCperchhunter]

The week you'll be here is about the peak for jigging for walleyes, so be sure to take the advice previous and pick up bucktail jigs. Purple, pink seem to work best for us. When you get tired and want to kick back in that lawn chair and enjoy the day, then switch to drifting or trolling with bottom bouncers and harnesses. You'll get the bigger fish this way. Lot of 24-inchers this way last year. Chartreuse blades (#4 or #5), along with gold blades, pink/white blades, or firetiger blades seem to work best for us. String on a good 'ole nightcrawler on the harness, use a heavy enough bouncer to stay in contact with the bottom on your drift, kick back and wait for the rod to crank over.


You'll love this area. I've lived here 15 years and wouldn't trade this fishing life for the world!

[Rod Bender]

Pretty good info posted here already from the other gentlemen. A drift sock maybe one item to consider when vertical jigging for the males on or around the reef complex. All about the presentation as you know. As mentioned previously, south passage is somewhat of a funnel and historically holds alot of post spawn females as they will stage in this particular area for a breif period of time prior to heading back east for deeper waters. During a PWT tournament in 1993, we hit a pod of walleye which produced several 10-12 pound post spawn females trolling smithwick (Rattlin Rogue, Clown Color) A very slender crankbait with limit movement is critical, off shore snap weights or lead core to get the crankbait down in the strike zone. Speed is just as important,.08 to 1.2 mph tops. Hopefully the weather pattern and barometer is steady for you guys and the Ol' Northeasters don't show up with a big blow.

Rod Bender

[BigWally]

ok,thanks.we fished there early may last year.started drifting where the millers ferry docks o n the south side of the island...caught larger fish there.I kind of thought thats what you were talking about just never heard it called that before

[jig]

where are the reef at on the western located

[Water Fox]

Firing range in front of David Beese and a few up along the islands.

[gillgitter]

Firing range in front of David Beese and a few up along the islands.

when you say firing range are you talking about the military base?if so i did good there last year.

[jig]

what set of reefs are the best ones to fish by