Walleye fishing from a small boat, INSIGHT NEEDED

[West Basin]

Weather conditions are a given. There are two things many small craft folks don't consider: boat wake waves and areas with cross waves.

On weekends during the late spring and summer the boat wakes can be wicked. In the early morning hundreds of boats are heading out to the popular area at the time and they create a lot of wake. If the fishing is over off the Port Clinton area the straight between Catawba Point and South Bass Island is full of boat wakes headed that way out of west, middle, and east harbors. Even on calm days with little or no wind waves boat wakes can and often do create lots of waves. This can get even worse in the early afternoon as the pleasure boaters come out and the fishing boats are coming in. This is often the case wherever the fishing spot happens to be. So you need to factor that in. Getting caught in an area with multiple boat wake directions and a large boat or two and you've got trouble.

Cross waves are another thing to consider. Areas like around the north west point of Catawba Island and other spots where land points cause waves to converge and cause cross waves can be very dangerous to a small boat. I've seen waves in these areas coming from four different directions at the same time.

The safest places to go are close to shore away from the main boat traffic. Get a good map of boat launches (or go online) and have a plan for every wind direction. If you are going up for a few days the islands are a good choice, as you can pick the leeward side on any given day. South Bass, Middle Bass, and Kelleys. Costs more (ferry trip over and back). One small advantage of a small boat is you are usually forced to fish in areas where few if anybody else are fishing. Sometimes you find walleye in these areas nobody else knows about.

Also try evening fishing. The bite can be as good or better and there are a lot less boats. Plus the wind tends to die down in the evening. It's not uncommon for the Lake to have few boats in the evening, even on weekends. Usually you have the fishing areas to yourself. I've been out in the evening close to the islands fishing for only a few hours, getting a limit, and only seeing two other boats the whole time.