Erie Finally Produces

[eyepatrol]

With some hesitation and scepticism, I went to Erie to see if the walleyes would be biting. They are.

I started fishing at about 6:30a.m. casting shad raps over and along the weeds for about an hour with no success. So, I switched over to a 1/4oz stand-up green & chartreuse jig (no jig body) with a 3.5" sucker minnow and that was the ticket. I missed three walleyes right off the bat, with one that felt like it had some heft to it. I then caught a 15.5" walleye which I kept, then a 20" walleye which I let go, then another 15.5" walleye which I kept, then to my surprise I got a 29" brute. Completely unexpected as I thought at first I was caught on some weeds until my line started moving off to the side and I felt that wonderful thump of a headshake. Never thought that big of a fish would be feeding along the weedline. I got two quick pictures of the fish and then put her back in the water. She gave me a "thank you" and splashed my face full of water as she jetted back down to the bottom. Caught her at about 9:30a.m. and unfortunately, that was the last bite I got, not counting all the small bass I caught. Felt pretty good to let her go as this small lake probably doesn't have many fish like that in it, and she needs to stay around to make more like herself. I talked to an older fella who said he got a 27.5" walleye last year on a leach. He said it didn't taste very good. That was disappointing to hear. I mentioned to him that the big fish don't taste good and that the littler ones are the ones to keep.

Just a few other details....the water in the morning was 68 degrees. Water still has some nice clarity to it (about 6 feet). As I said, I fished along the weedline pitching the jig to the weedline and parallel to the weedline. Used a straight 2' lift of the rod tip and let the jig/minnow glide back down to the bottom. The three smaller fish hit on the glide back down to the bottom, the big one hit when the jig was on the bottom and I was reeling slack up to make another lift.

I won't say excatly where I got the fish, but it wasn't around the island. If you read some of my previous posts, you'll have an idea of where the fish came from.

Hope others faired well this weekend. It was a gorgeous day out there to say the least. I better get going now and put some ALOE on!!! Forgot the sunscreen at home and I'm red as a tomato!

Good luck and good fishin'.

P.S - when I get the film developed (which will probably be sometime next week) I'll see if I can't get a picture up in the photos forum.

[LMITOUT]

Good report! Fish definitely have their "feed bag" on now and it sounds like there are some lakes producing some dandys. Shallow seems to be the common theme from all the reports I've heard. I had some good fishing on Washington over Memorial Day weekend too. It won't be long before it'll be tough to fish with it's weed problem.

I've got vacation starting Wednesday, so I'll be hitting the lakes hard!

[eyepatrol]

Yeah, I've heard Washington has been going too. One of the guys I work with is good friends with some retired guys and they've been getting their limits on Washington lately, over the rock pile I think. I'm not too familiar with the lake, but I think the rock pile is north/northeast of the public launch?

Anyway, the fish definitely have the feed bags on as you said. So far it looks like we're going to get some nice STABLE weather starting Wednesday. I'm pretty sure that I'll be taking Friday off from work to go hit it again. Not taking my regular Canada trip this year so I figure I'll just do some extra fishing around here.

With the fish I got on Erie this morning, I've definitely got to go back and hit it again. I'll probably try and hit it a little earlier in the day next time as the fish were snapping pretty good early on.

Oh, and one other tactic I tried today was 3-way rigging with a rapala cruising from 12' to 32' of water, but to no avail. Had to give it a shot after the bite slowed down to see if they moved deep.

Good luck on your outings!

[eyepatrol]

Picture of the 29"er is up on the photo forum in case anyone is curious.

Good luck to all!

[Farley]

Doesnt show up for me

[eyepatrol]

Got some assistance from Ralph Wiggum on the picture. Should be able to view it now if anyone's curious.

[Phred52]

Basscatcher, My Grandpa and I fished Erie in 1958, It was the LAST fishing trip of his allotted time and his "words of wisdom" to me (then 6 or 7 yrs old) was to "always fish Erie last". I NEVER remember a fishless trip with him. As for being a "LATE PRODUCER", July 1st would be "somewhat" late. If ya know WHERE to look, they'll be there. BTW, Grandpa was a Crappie/Walleye kinda guy. I've had predators attack the Crappies I was trying to land!!!

[Farley]

Nice walleye Basscatcher. Erie is one of my favorite lakes to fish. Looks like it was a nice day to be out on the water.

[eyepatrol]

Phred

So far I've found the walleyes along the edge of the weedline, but, that's not to say they don't hang in other areas, not at all. A buddy and me went out Friday and got goose egged on the walleyes. Tried the same presentation in the same areas, including pulling a crawler, but to no avail this time out. High skies and no wind made for a tougher day I think. June 12 I had high skies, but there was a little wind on the lake which put a little wave action out there. Interestingly, I actually saw a walleye swimming on the bottom along the weedline. Nice fish too, probably around 20" or so, but we couldn't get it to hit.

Got some nice bass while pitching our jigs and sucker minnows to the weedline. My buddy caught 3 of them in the 3-4 pound range and I got one that went about 5 pounds or possibly better. So that was fun. Obviously we didn't keep the bass, all were let go.

Left the lake at 10:30a.m. and went to Twin/Sylvia for sunnies. Caught some really nice ones. Mostly in the 8 inch range, but a couple of 9 inchers. Took home one limit for my friend to eat since he didn't have any fish for the freezer. With the couple of walleyes I caught last week and some sunnies left over from a few weeks ago, I didn't need any more fish. There are sunnies all over this lake, but we found some bigger ones on their beds in 1' to 5' of water, and some were staged out deeper in 9 feet of water. All in all a good time.

By the way....does anyone know if there are pike in Erie??? I've fished the weedline for walleyes now for 3 years, pitching jigs and minnows, throwing cranks, slip bobbering, and have never caught a pike, not even one that hit and cut the line. Just curious about this.

Good luck and good fishin'!

[LMITOUT]

I went to Erie on Thursday to give it a go and got goosed also. Same conditions outside.

Had poor luck all weekend at different lakes with this hot weather and clear skies. Lots of misc. fish though (pike, panfish, bass). Typical "summer" fish.

[MRWALLEYE2005]

Theres not many of them but when you get them there at least 25 inches and biggest 34 inches, the dnr only netted 5 in there 2000 report. Too much rain so far this year is turning the walleyes off of most lakes. Thats a nice walleye you caught basscatcher. Is that also a picture of you on lake kabekona with a 32 incher in the paper?

[eyepatrol]

MRWALLEYE2005

I WISH that were me, but it's not. Actually, I've never heard of the lake. A 32"er would be sweet though. Biggest walleyes I've ever caught are the 29"er I got on Erie, a 29"er on Rainy Lake on the Canada side, and a 29.5"er on Bass Lake north of Cohasset. Still waiting for that 30"er that I'd measure up and photo for a replica.