In the lake, they spawn on hard bottom, reefs and skinny water out to about 15 feet. They spawn in waves of fish-in the bigger feeder rivers, but mostly in the lake itself. “Erie has a different kind of walleye spawn compared to other waters,” Robertson explains. Ice fishing tactics also work well with jig-and-minnow combinations and ice-type jigs productive. Robertson says hot fishing spots and tactics change with the seasons on Erie, starting with the spring season at about the end of February when ice allows boat anglers to get after pre-spawn walleyes.īecause actively spawning walleyes don’t hit well, Robertson concentrates on pre-spawn fish on mud flats using blade baits and hair jigs in water 25 to 40 feet deep. “The fishing can be good year-round, and limit catches of six walleyes per person, per day is more the norm than the exception for anglers in the know.” A Seasonal View

“It’s pretty incredible,” says full-time charter captain Ross Robertson, age 43, who has operated “Bigwater Fishing” guide service out of Port Clinton, Ohio for 23 years. You read that right, more than 100 million walleyes, plus an assortment of other fish such as smallmouth bass and perch.īut walleyes are the big draw, and anytime the wind is down, and the water is right for boating, fishermen are out and about to catch Erie “eyes.”Īnd the fish are big, with plenty in the 3-to-6-pound class, and many weighing over 10 pounds are taken annually. Fisheries experts say Erie now holds over 100 million walleyes. And right now it arguably has the best walleye fishing in the world.įish are caught year-round on Lake Erie-east to west, north to south, and thousands of anglers and vacationing fishing families are getting in on the hot walleye action. At nearly 10,000 square miles, Lake Erie is the 11 th largest lake in the world.

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