Lake Erie July Walleyes
Posted: Tue Jul 10, 2007 8:21 pmAt 3:30 a.m. I made the mistake of getting out of bed and our dog saw that as an opportunity to visit the grassy area across the parking lot from our motel room. The Green Roof Inn is pet friendly so Ginger likes to walk the motel grounds to check “pee-mail” and leave a few messages for the other four-legged guests.
When I stepped from the air-conditioned room, the outside felt like a sauna - sultry air and no breeze – the moon was a small fingernail of light low on the Eastern horizon. To me it looked and felt like a perfect night for Lake Erie walleye to be on the prowl for bait fish, but I went back to the room and did the next best thing – back to bed.
Last night, I spent some time talking to several groups of anglers at Uncle John’s Campground. They were planning to fish the lake out of Walnut Creek boat launch and promised to call with fishing results when they returned. I got a call late afternoon and was surprised that they had fished so long after daybreak. Today was calm with temperatures in the 90’ on land so I can only imagine how hot it was under that sun on the open water with only a slight breeze.
Their catch for the day included six walleye and 120 perch. By the time I got to the cabin, they had a fish cleaning assemble line established and in full swing. I found two guys operating electric filleting knives making the initial cuts and skinning, and two guys cutting the ribcage away and bagging the finished fillets. At $12 per pound, they were getting back some of the gas money they invested in the boat ride out and back.
Here is what they told me. They started fishing at 5:30 a.m. and planned to fish for walleyes. For about two hours they had some success in about 25 feet of water, pulling harnesses and meat. [in-line spinners and night crawlers] I forgot to ask about the blade and bead colors. They managed to boat six keepers that average about 20-22” and about 2-4#. Although they didn’t say so, I am sure the ones they lost were both longer and heavier. They did have a 10# fish in the box yesterday.
You can see this story some additional images and a video clip of the guys sharing the fishing trip information at http://www.storytrax.com/node/861.
The sun got high and the plan switched to perch so they travel about four-miles out and switched to shiners and spreader rigs. After hours of hard fishing in water about 50’ deep they limited out and started for the launch. Tired and toasted.
Special thanks to Captain Ed Knoll, Bill Kovatch, Stush Zyski and Adam Zyski for sharing the information.
There was another group of guys at the campground who planned to fish today, but no word yet.
Tomorrow the fishing conditions will be fine. Don’t forget the spinners, meat, and sun block. The only fly in the ointment is a late day chance of thunder showers. On Lake Erie, that can be a serious problem. Here is what the Walnut Creek Boat Launch forecast board looked like two hours ago.
When I stepped from the air-conditioned room, the outside felt like a sauna - sultry air and no breeze – the moon was a small fingernail of light low on the Eastern horizon. To me it looked and felt like a perfect night for Lake Erie walleye to be on the prowl for bait fish, but I went back to the room and did the next best thing – back to bed.
Last night, I spent some time talking to several groups of anglers at Uncle John’s Campground. They were planning to fish the lake out of Walnut Creek boat launch and promised to call with fishing results when they returned. I got a call late afternoon and was surprised that they had fished so long after daybreak. Today was calm with temperatures in the 90’ on land so I can only imagine how hot it was under that sun on the open water with only a slight breeze.
Their catch for the day included six walleye and 120 perch. By the time I got to the cabin, they had a fish cleaning assemble line established and in full swing. I found two guys operating electric filleting knives making the initial cuts and skinning, and two guys cutting the ribcage away and bagging the finished fillets. At $12 per pound, they were getting back some of the gas money they invested in the boat ride out and back.
Here is what they told me. They started fishing at 5:30 a.m. and planned to fish for walleyes. For about two hours they had some success in about 25 feet of water, pulling harnesses and meat. [in-line spinners and night crawlers] I forgot to ask about the blade and bead colors. They managed to boat six keepers that average about 20-22” and about 2-4#. Although they didn’t say so, I am sure the ones they lost were both longer and heavier. They did have a 10# fish in the box yesterday.
You can see this story some additional images and a video clip of the guys sharing the fishing trip information at http://www.storytrax.com/node/861.
The sun got high and the plan switched to perch so they travel about four-miles out and switched to shiners and spreader rigs. After hours of hard fishing in water about 50’ deep they limited out and started for the launch. Tired and toasted.
Special thanks to Captain Ed Knoll, Bill Kovatch, Stush Zyski and Adam Zyski for sharing the information.
There was another group of guys at the campground who planned to fish today, but no word yet.
Tomorrow the fishing conditions will be fine. Don’t forget the spinners, meat, and sun block. The only fly in the ointment is a late day chance of thunder showers. On Lake Erie, that can be a serious problem. Here is what the Walnut Creek Boat Launch forecast board looked like two hours ago.