for the 1st time in 3 years i finally made it back to lake erie for some walleye. overall the day was pretty good with plenty of fish and not too much trash, but several were too small and had to go back much like trout in the lowcountry. the way its done in lake erie drift casting for walleye is once fish are found sling out a crawler harness (similar to a fluke spinner rig), count it down to the proper depth, and try to keep it where the fish are being marked. today we were in 34 feet of water and fish were marked mainly between 22 - 29 feet, so id usually count down to 25 feet and get hit plenty. between 3 people and a couple legal fish getting away and throwing several back we managed 13 keepers. not the biggest ones ive ever seen with most around 15-17" and the biggest only 20" or so but i was more than thankful to get to do it again.
very calm day today but almost looks like offshore dont it?
pack of boats in the distance. hope the unedited pic doesnt give the spot away!
keepers of the day. needless to say some of these will NOT make it to the freezer
no trip to the lake is complete without a big sheephead! usually im the king of those things (trash fish) but we only had a few today, but i made my only one a good one at around 24" despite being junk fish they do however put up a very fun fight.
sure is its been way too long! nice to know i still have the walleye touch and the ones that didnt make it to the freezer were just as great as i remembered. im kinda shocked i only caught 1 sheephead rather than about 600 since theyve prolly wondered where i went but despite being junk fish they fight just as hard as a redfish inch for inch…just not good eating like saltwater sheephead lol.
just like anywhere else you get good days and bad days but cant recall a time i ever got 100% skunked and didnt even catch junk fish. weather permitting im tryin walleye tomorrow again with a couple others and before i go ill have to try for perch too.
Man, for a nice few fillets of walleye! If there is a better eating fresh water fish I haven’t had it yet.
First time I was introduced to fishing with leeches was going for walleye.
only thing that rivals it in my book is a batch of fresh yellow perch. walleye are much bigger and funner to reel in, but when the perch get hot its almost like herring fishing except cant ask for a much better eating fish on the table rather than a large supply of catfish bait. weather looks like it SHOULD be ok for round 2 2morro! oh yea i must say ive probably had more fun messing with people up here with how great sheephead are to eat in charleston as i have with sendin pics of the freshwater ones back to charleston hardly anyone up here knows about the saltwater ones that were one of my favorites down there.
It was good to see pictures of home. I am a Cleveland guy transplanted here, which I will say is a nice upgrade. Lake Erie has its perks though. Glad to see you caught some fish!
