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.

Larry Csonka sorry spelled wrong

Larry Zonka

Lets all hope we get this weather we need to lock up Lake Erie. The 14 day forecast looks very favorable, just need that following 14 days to keep cold. You and I both know James that this is a very special place, but lots have to come together to make it that dream season. Just keep sending that cold weather down from the north and she will lock up in no time.

For those of you that have never experienced Lake Erie ice fishing and are planning a trip. Please be very careful Lake Erie is like a big river with lots of current which can eat lots of ice in a couple of days. I would recommend going with someone who has ice fished it with knowledge or going with a guide.

On a side note the last 2 great ice seasons we had banner hatches in 2014 and 2015. These fish are now 2 and 3 years old, putting them into that 14 to 20 inch class range. these fish are hunger and we may be catching a pile of those smaller fish to get to a big fish of 28 to 33 inch range. Time will tell, still lots of big fish but the number smaller fish huge. There were days this summer it took over 130 fish to catch a 4 man limit of legal 15 inch or bigger walleyes.

Lets keep our fingers crossed and hope the cold weather keeps coming to lock up Lake Erie.

Juls is a good captain, but there are many more than just her. I fish lake Erie a minimum of 40 times a year. If you come down this way hit me up I fish all 90 miles of shore line in Ohio waters. Not sure if you are bringing your own boat or relying on just a charter captain. In any case lots of choices.

The swivel Lock on the cisco mounts pull strait up, once you have them up you turn it in the direction you want it to go. its an inter locking key system that will lock back into place after it is turned into the direction you want it to go and the pressure is released from pulling up on the electronic mount. Think of each side like inter locking teeth they will not turn unless the are pulled completely away from one another.

Hi Justin,

The best time for big pre spawn walleyes is March. Although with that being said weather in march is risky, as with early early April. The difficulty with Lake Erie is wind, you get over a 15 mile per hour wind out of any direction other than south you are going to be fighting 3 to 5 foot waves with your 6 foot rollers. Add that with water temps in the upper 30’s and lower 40’s and it becomes rather dangerous. I feel for you because you are coming from Wisconsin and is a drive.

So the question you need to ask yourself is do you want a crack at that true pre spawn trophy or do you want to catch those fish as they are spawning and may catch one or two pre spawn fish, were you will catch several females but 80% will be spawned out.

Honestly if you want the best fishing possible where you can jig fish the flats and reefs and troll the open water outside those complexes I would push for the 2nd week of April.

If you are on a True trophy hunt I would say the last week of march, but weather may keep you at the dock with ice still on the lake and or wind.

I am assuming you are talking dive curve related to the snap weight. Such as standard depth of lets say feet back of a particular lure of a tail dancer. A rough estimate I use is with each 1/4 of weight I will gain an extra foot of depth roughly. So using your dive curve will roughly gain 4 ft of depth with each ounce of weight added. Now this gets tricky because you need to take into consideration your speed, the line diameter, and the current in the water at which your lure is at. Also where you place the weight. I place my snap weights a minimum of 20 ft in front of the lure and a maximum of 60 ft in front of the lure. There comes a point that line out in the curve will be at max depth no matter how much line you let out. When those deeper depths need to be achieved switch to dypsies and tadpoles which will allow you to stay deeper more consistently due to the lip of the weight pulling the lure down.

Be very proud IDO, the work you guys do behind the scenes is amazing. 10 years in the business is a fantastic accomplishment to say the least. The show is growing with every season and the camera work and editing is by far in the top 5% in outdoor shows in the country. Thank you for the hard work and passion to the sport have a great off season!

The jig bite is just about over for the year, the spawn 99% done. The jig bite can be fun pulling mostly 18 to 24 inch males. jigging the flats of the shore line, the mouth of the Maumee river, and the reef complexs. Some have a real knack for it, while other struggle. It is very weather dependant were a cold front can shut you down. Most use hair jigs when water clarity is good and blade baits when water clarity is poor. On a good day in a couple of hours you can pull 15 eyes, on a bad day 1 eye is good. Lake Erie is a walleye factory, but you still have bad days, and also bad weather days. I would definitley suggest a couple of drift bags to keep your speed on a drift to about .7 to .9 mph, keep contact with the bottom, and try to keep your lure as vertical as possible.

Chuck you are pretty close spot on with the jig bite. Those big females the trophy fish can be caught jigging but not as readily as if you went after them trolling. Those big females are migration fish and head to deeper water once they do thier thing. Going east of catawba would not be recommend during that time of year. Head north of wild wings and/or west of catawba to target them in deeper water.

Now as stated earlier in this post the detroit river can hold some nice trophy females that can be caught probably easier jig fishing with jigs and plastics than in the western basin of lake erie, but heavy boat traffic can cause a lot of headaches.

Both systems are obviously attached but little bit different techniques to catch them in either one.

Honestly can launch right out of Port Clinton, or head a few miles west to wild wings and launch. Either way you will be only a mile or two from jig fishing all along the shore line and reef complexes. If trolling you will be out anywhere from 3 to 10 miles out depending where you want to fish and explore. If you just want to troll could head to catawba state park and launch which is a few miles east of Port Clinton.

Yes lake Erie is a magical place and I am lucky enough to have this beautiful lake in my back yard. The spring jig bite can be very good, and will be heating up in the next several weeks. Honestly the best bait for the jig bite is a 5/8 ounce purple hair jig with a stinger hook attached but maybe more or less weight depending on the current and wind, john deer green with orange mixed in is also an excellent color. Water temp is currently 34 to 36 degrees but will be warming up. Once water temperature hits the 40 degree mark males will began staging, some eyes are pushing up the rivers as we speak. Traditionally the first three weeks of april are the best. Water temperature isn’t everything, need to consider length of day in terms of day light, which again reflects back to the first 3 weeks of april. Also with these rivers that are attached to lake erie especially the Maumee river will spew mud in the events of a wet spring. That water will be warmer and fish tend to be inside that edge of that mudline, if lots of mud visibility decreases and would recommend a vibe bait to cause reaction strikes. I hope this helps.