Lake Erie Fishing Trip

I have fished many different waters all over the upper midwest and Canada and am a regular on pool 4, but have never made it to Lake Erie. A few years back we fished the Detroit river, but that was as close as we got. This year a group of us want to come and fish Erie. I am looking for information on what time is the best to come out? We would like a chance at some pigs! Where do you start fishing? Where is a good place to lanch? What are the best techniques? etc. Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

Old Coot,

I have a couple links to last years trip. We have been going out there for many years now and this year will be the first year I will miss it due to the birth of our second child. About mid April seems to be overall the best time to take advantage of the BIG females.

Read on to a couple of our reports here. We had a good sized crew that came out with us again this past year.

Lake Erie April 2004

Detroit River April 2004

If you have any questions, I would be happy to answer them as well as many others here on the site that have experienced this incredible bite!

Good luck and have fun!

Steve,

Thanks for the links. Now I remember these posts from last year. There was some good information in these reports. Are you fishing above reefs or near them? What makes one reef better than the other? I have been told that the smaller males will hold on the reefs, but to get the pig females one needs to look for them suspended or maybe a little deeper than the reef. In your experience is this true? Do you fish any of the reefs within the Camp Perry range? Is it true that cranks perform better when the water is below 50 and as the water reaches 50 or above the spinners and crawlers are the ticket?

I’m full of questions, and I’m not looking for GPS coordinates or anything like that, just trying to get as much information as possible so I’m not wasting a bunch of time looking for fish in areas that don’t have them.

Thanks again,

Old Coot

Old Coot

You can also try this http://www.cliftond.com a lot of good info there.I went to Erie last year for the first time and it was a blast.Bottom bouncers and spinners with a crawler worked well last year.Good luck

More suggestions and pointers would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks,

Old Coot

2nd or 3rd week in October is best for the pigs! Launch out of Huron, OH. A lot of guys are trolling then too, but I think the best fish are caught drifting and casting a weapon (crawler harness) and drifting bottom bouncers. The weather can be somewhat uncooperative but you just have to watch it. Even when its terrible you are still able to fish in closer to port. The place to stay is called Rivers Edge Inn and is right on the water…pretty cheap too! This year will be my 12th year of going there in the fall. I also go a few times in the summer but wont be doing that anymore…too hot and the flies eat you alive! If you want more info feel free to contact me! Heres a picture of a few of last years hogs!

Carpking,

Thanks for your information. Those are truly a couple of sows. The October trip sounds good, however I am trying to put something together for next month. I am an avid waterfowler and am chaseing ducks and geese in Saskatchewan during that time period. Any additional information on the early spring bite would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks,

Old Coot

Try Port Clinton area in the spring, fish near the Islands. Same thing, casting weapons works best in my opinion. Try Fishermans Wharf bait shop, Tim McCann (419)734-9002. Hes a wealth of info!

Old Coot,

My experience out there has been to stay away from the reef itself. Right outside the Camp Perry Reef Complex (off to the NE) is expansive areas of open 28’+ water. Here is miles of area worth checking out while you are there. One key point is finding clean water as well as warm water. The further west you go i nthe western basin, the warmer water you will often find. THe further east you get (east of Kelley’s island) the colder the water temps will be.

Look for areas adjacent to prime spawning areas for these females. The reef complex is one of many good areas where females can dump their eggs at night and return to open water and hunt for their food. Fro mmy experience, our best depths were 14-17 foot down over 28-30+ fow. Keep an eye on your locator and watch what depths they are showing up on and adjust accordingly. Speeds have been 1.4-1.8mph pretty consistently.
Every year we go out there, we find active schools in new locations it seems. These fish are always on the move. IF the wind decides to blow hard, you will see the water “silt up” from being so shallow compared to the deeper basin. After a blow, I look for the interemediate clean water. Meaning that is transitioning from clean to dirty and fish the edges. These fish stay active through the day.

Good luck to you Old Coot