Lake Erie April

Anyone going out to Lake Erie in April? We are thinking the middle of the month. Last year we got out there May 1, and heard we should of been there two weeks ago.

We always plan to go the 2nd full week in April. The only bad thing with that time is the weather. It can be gorgeous and 70, or it can be miserable with 30’s for highs and the winds blowing. The hand full of times I’ve been out there has been all of the above and in-between.

The idea of going in April is to try and hit it when the water is around 48-50 degrees (right about the time the spawn is done), which can very depending on the weather. I will say this, its always a blast to get out there. Some days/weeks are more enjoyable than the others. But even a bad day catching giant Walleyes is better than a good day at work!

Last year we stayed on put in bay. We will do that again. Atleast you can fish the shots if the wind is real bad. The laanding on the back side of island is also helpful when the wind kicks up. We are planning the week of the 14th

Try to stay on the islands so you can fish otherwise only plan on fishing half the days. We have been out there twice and only been able to get on the lake 2 times.

We hired a guide and went out of Port Clinton. We did bring our rods with and did better fishing the river in Freemont.

After last years rough trip, we said next time we are staying on the Islands. I never have but a couple of the guys that we go with have and its a great plan! Hope it works out for you!

We tented it on the island last year. Not doing that again. We are going to go the vrbo route this year

When you stay on the islands make sure you have a plan for cleaning fish. A lot of places aren’t prepared to handle all the trash from cleaning that many fish.

There is only one place to clean fish. The state park. There is also only one place to dump the fish. The giant city fish dumpster

Call ahead to a bait shop or resort. If the lake is muddy,..its pretty much useless to fish. They won’t bite.

went there 2 years in a row in April for 10 days each time, the first year we only got blowed off the water for a day or so and the next year we only got on the water 1 day, and we stayed on the islands

What’s your go to lure out there? I really like the purple bandits

captddh wrote:

Call ahead to a bait shop or resort. If the lake is muddy,..its pretty much useless to fish. They won’t bite.

This is what happened to us last year. Got out there right as a big storm was coming in. Flooded Port Clinton inland a few blocks… After that, we got out on the lake, but i have had chocolate milk that wasn’t even as dark as the water we were fishing.. 9 days in Ohio, Fished 2.5 days, 0 fish……

David Blais wrote:

What’s your go to lure out there? I really like the purple bandits

Purple, Blue Chrome, Fire Tiger, & Wonder Bread have been good colors in the past for us. Reef Runners, Deep Diving Bandits, and Husky Jerks. Also If the water is temp is above 50 degrees we’ll pull spinners as well with crawlers. Locals out there will tell you not even to bother with crawlers until the water hits 50 degrees.

We had the locals tell us the same thing. We met some guys at the local watering hole from South Dakota. They caught limits of quality fish on slow death and crawlers. So we aren’t ruling that out this year

reef runners were hot for us but you have to put meat on them in the spring

Like a minnow head?

Sorry, no a small chunk of crawler on bottom treble inch or so long. we couldn’t hardly get a strike without it

Thanks for the tip! Would of never thought to try that. Does it affect the action of the bait

it will if you put it on the rear hook. if its to long of a crawler on the lower hook it will catch on the rear hook and mess with the action.also with the reef runners we found you have to tune it to run straight every time you use them. the guys we met up there said you don’t need the crawler in the fall,only in the spring. good luck.We only ran them about 10-15 ft. down behind boards and had to find clean water

It is much easier said… but if you can be flexible, do it. Go earlier if there is a good solid weather pattern, or be accepting to blow off a trip if it looks like constant NE wind days will ruin your trip. I’ve lost a lot of sleep worrying about it – but the guys with the most success have flexibility of when they go.

I changed last year’s trip three times, finally got out three of five days… was beat up badly the last day but hauled in a lot of good fish for limits each day out…. all ours were trolling deep husky jerks, and color mattered each day.

The blue silver kept flipping with purple tiger or anything purple. Man I hope to go again this year! As that time comes we should all arrange a way to stay in touch…. it can really help once out there. I did some texting last year with an IDO member that helped with the color adjustment.

Chuck, we texted last year. We were both out there around May 1.

We are flexible with dates, but worry about getting a place to stay. I would like to book early and plan the trip, but the weather thing does worry me.

Jan 1-April 30. A Lake Erie Permit ($11) is required for non residents. In addition to the $40 annual fishing license.

Just read that! Thought I’d pass it on.

Looks like the additional revenue will be used for improvements and management of the lake

Was out there last year as a ride along prefishing the MWC with a friend of mine. Used custom painted Bandits and HJ from Domka Outdoors almost exclusively.

David Blais wrote:

Jan 1-April 30. A Lake Erie Permit ($11) is required for non residents. In addition to the $40 annual fishing license.

Just read that! Thought I’d pass it on.

Looks like the additional revenue will be used for improvements and management of the lake

Is this new? I don’t remember paying this in previous years?

Honestly you guys have to decide what you want to target and what technique you want to use when you come to Erie. Later in the month of april will get you some more stable weather. Most guys I fish with this time of year jig fish which is 90% males.

If you are targeting big pre spawn females I would tell you to pick last 2 weeks of March or first week of april. When the percentage of pre spawn females out numbers post spawn. Now with that come a risk of more unstable weather.

If you just want to come and troll and catch fish I would tell you come june throu September and fish farther east and fish ports from lorain to conneaut. But lots of variables play in to that also. Have had many days in the past 2 years of catching over 100 walleye in 3 to 4 hours.

You have to take into consideration we had large hatches in 2014 and 2015 of which fish will be in the 17 to 23 inch range. We also had a mega hatch last year which was the largest in the recorded history. What does this mean to you guys is lots of smaller class fish to contend with. All in all erie is a very special place but weather can wreck havoc on a planned trip… trust me I live 45 minutes from the lake.

IceNEyes1986 wrote:

<div class=”d4p-bbt-quote-title”>David Blais wrote:</div>
Jan 1-April 30. A Lake Erie Permit ($11) is required for non residents. In addition to the $40 annual fishing license.

Just read that! Thought I’d pass it on.

Looks like the additional revenue will be used for improvements and management of the lake

Is this new? I don’t remember paying this in previous years?

Yes, new for 2019