Lake Erie Walleye

[jamesbalog]

i know most of you guys fish in the salt but here are some pics of the last few weeks of walleye fishing on Erie. fishing has been fantastic.

2 man limit
http://i1091.photobucket.com/albums/i381/jbalog30/eyes23_zps946b6ccc.jpg (http://s1091.photobucket.com/user/jbalog30/media/eyes23_zps946b6ccc.jpg.html)

32 inch 11 pound hog
http://i1091.photobucket.com/albums/i381/jbalog30/eyes4_zps7c38a661.jpg (http://s1091.photobucket.com/user/jbalog30/media/eyes4_zps7c38a661.jpg.html)

another 2 man limit in the cooler

http://i1091.photobucket.com/albums/i381/jbalog30/eyes2_zps7f853b5f.jpg (http://s1091.photobucket.com/user/jbalog30/media/eyes2_zps7f853b5f.jpg.html)

a few shy of a 3 man limit
http://i1091.photobucket.com/albums/i381/jbalog30/eyes_zps9c27fcfd.jpg (http://s1091.photobucket.com/user/jbalog30/media/eyes_zps9c27fcfd.jpg.html)

fiance and her friend holding a few nice walleye
http://i1091.photobucket.com/albums/i381/jbalog30/eyes5_zpsce45b3bd.jpg (http://s1091.photobucket.com/user/jbalog30/media/eyes5_zpsce45b3bd.jpg.html)

and the after product
http://i1091.photobucket.com/albums/i381/jbalog30/eyes7_zps23701435.jpg (http://s1091.photobucket.com/user/jbalog30/media/eyes7_zps23701435.jpg.html)

[Redneck]

Those are some big wallies your catching

[SkunkBoat]

fish porn is fish porn, salty or not....:clap:

[WiseGuy]

NICE! Where you'd go out of? Drifting or trolling? I'm running out of West Harbor.

[jamesbalog]

NICE! Where you'd go out of? Drifting or trolling? I'm running out of West Harbor.


Beaver park which is right between lorain and vermilion.

weve been trolling and fishing has been on fire. 4 trips last week 3 man limit twice 4 man limit once and 21 for 4 of us the other day

[step up here]

I will trade you for the salt!!! Looks like a good time and excellent catch.:clap:

[spoggy]

Beaver park which is right between lorain and vermilion.

weve been trolling and fishing has been on fire. 4 trips last week 3 man limit twice 4 man limit once and 21 for 4 of us the other day
Are you just launching at Beaver, or are you docked there? When I had a dock, I was at Romp's, now I just hit the public launches.

[spoggy]

I see you're frying them. Have you ever just done them skin-side down on the grill?

[jamesbalog]

Are you just launching at Beaver, or are you docked there? When I had a dock, I was at Romp's, now I just hit the public launches.


im docked there. i was going to just hit public launches this year but the first trip to hotwaters resulted in me coming back to my trailer to find all my wires cut and my winch tied in a knot.

so i put it back in a slip and im happy i did, ive only had to run a few miles to be into the eyes all year... hopefully it stays that way.... the fewer trips to the buoy or the sand bar the better

[jamesbalog]

I see you're frying them. Have you ever just done them skin-side down on the grill?


those were pan fried with a lot of seasoning and a little bread crumbs... pan frying is my favorite, i rarely deep fry. my dad always talks about cooking them on the grill the way you mentioned but i have yet to try it

ive also been told to try boiling them, i guess they almost taste like lobster when boiled. havent tried that yet, ever hear of boiling them?

[spoggy]

those were pan fried with a lot of seasoning and a little bread crumbs... pan frying is my favorite, i rarely deep fry. my dad always talks about cooking them on the grill the way you mentioned but i have yet to try it

ive also been told to try boiling them, i guess they almost taste like lobster when boiled. havent tried that yet, ever hear of boiling them?
No, not walleye, but sheepshead, yes. Poor man's shrimp. If you take smaller ones and just take the back meat, roll them and toothpick them, boil them in salted water with lemon, chill and serve with cocktail sauce. Not too bad for a little beer party back at the dock.

[spoggy]

im docked there. i was going to just hit public launches this year but the first trip to hotwaters resulted in me coming back to my trailer to find all my wires cut and my winch tied in a knot.

so i put it back in a slip and im happy i did, ive only had to run a few miles to be into the eyes all year... hopefully it stays that way.... the fewer trips to the buoy or the sand bar the better
And that sucks about your trailer. It only takes one a**hole to screw up a great day of fishing. I am surprised though, hot waters is usually pretty safe.

[chromer]

I fish out of Leamington and Erieau, Erieau is just starting to fire up, fish are moving east around the point to the central basin. Limits of 'eyes and getting two to four chromers an outing. Can't wait for the Steel to get hot. Just love the F20, what a great platform to fish off of.

[jamesbalog]

No, not walleye, but sheepshead, yes. Poor man's shrimp. If you take smaller ones and just take the back meat, roll them and toothpick them, boil them in salted water with lemon, chill and serve with cocktail sauce. Not too bad for a little beer party back at the dock.


Guy who docks next to me claims he does it with walleye... ive heard of the sheepshead being cooked that way but this was the first time ive heard it done with walleye

[SkunkBoat]

Guy who docks next to me claims he does it with walleye... ive heard of the sheepshead being cooked that way but this was the first time ive heard it done with walleye

OK now I need a lesson in freshwater fish because I'm sure you're not talking about the same Sheepshead we catch in the Atlantic.

[Redneck]

One of my favorate ways to cook walleye is like scallops. I fellet an de-bone them then make 1" cubes and wrap in bacon marinate for an hour and BBQ. They go real good with a 6 pack

[spoggy]

OK now I need a lesson in freshwater fish because I'm sure you're not talking about the same Sheepshead we catch in the Atlantic.
Sheepshead are freshwater drum. They have about a million names. Silver Drum, Silver Bass, Gaspergou. Sheepshead is what I've always heard them called. On Lake Erie you can catch them regularly up to 20-25 lbs, I think the record is 45ish. They bite on almost anything, both live and hardware.
http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Freshwater_drum
Most folks I know consider them trash fish and will have nothing to do with them.

[chromer]

nice haul......what bait has been hot for ya'. We have been doing good out of Leamington, purple demon RR 800's have been the ticket the last few days off the boards. West of the point in 37 fow.

[jamesbalog]

nice haul......what bait has been hot for ya'. We have been doing good out of Leamington, purple demon RR 800's have been the ticket the last few days off the boards. West of the point in 37 fow.

800s and harnesses. both boards and dipsys. i havent fished for a week and a half, lost my steering and had to re do the helm and cable.

trying to get out tonight.

best reef runner colors have been greens and purples, caught the most fish on green flash, gator bait, mardi gras and blueberry/ day old muffin

[chromer]

fished the Leamington Tourney this past weekend, 31 1/2" won the event. The guy who won only caught 4 'eyes. We ended up with 36 'eyes with the largest being 22". Hot baits were the 800's in Purple Deamon, Toxic Purple Naked and After Burn (candy corn) off the boards. A regular Proking PK 146 Carmel Dolphin was on fire on the dipsys, along with PK173 Purple Nurple on the riggers........thanks for your info.

[spoggy]

fished the Leamington Tourney this past weekend, 31 1/2" won the event. The guy who won only caught 4 'eyes. We ended up with 36 'eyes with the largest being 22". Hot baits were the 800's in Purple Deamon, Toxic Purple Naked and After Burn (candy corn) off the boards. A regular Proking PK 146 Carmel Dolphin was on fire on the dipsys, along with PK173 Purple Nurple on the riggers........thanks for your info.

Sounds like a good day. Too bad yours were small. Good eating size though! :clap:

[chromer]

We had a great day, rain and wind all day. Just picked away at them.
Fished out of a Wellcraft 29 Coastal, nice platform to fish from, especially in inclement weather. Not use to cozy conditions on the F-20.

[spoggy]

fished the Leamington Tourney this past weekend, 31 1/2" won the event. The guy who won only caught 4 'eyes. We ended up with 36 'eyes with the largest being 22". Hot baits were the 800's in Purple Deamon, Toxic Purple Naked and After Burn (candy corn) off the boards. A regular Proking PK 146 Carmel Dolphin was on fire on the dipsys, along with PK173 Purple Nurple on the riggers........thanks for your info.

I'm assuming you stayed on the Canukistani side all day?

[chromer]

We stationed on Thursday afternoon and pulled out Sunday afternoon. Just a beautiful port, well space is awesome, great staff and a gorgeous town. Hoping to hit Wheatley some time next week, they have a tourney starting this weekend. Going to give the green 800's ago once this wind settles down.

[spoggy]

We stationed on Thursday afternoon and pulled out Sunday afternoon. Just a beautiful port, well space is awesome, great staff and a gorgeous town. Hoping to hit Wheatley some time next week, they have a tourney starting this weekend. Going to give the green 800's ago once this wind settles down.
I always thought Leamington was a great little getaway spot. Has a nice "towny" feel to it. If you're into tourneys, have you ever been on this site? http://www.wbsa.us

[randlemanboater]

Nice haul of walleyes!

We have them in some of the mountain lakes down here, but not that big.

[chromer]

thanks for the "link"

[spoggy]

thanks for the "link"
They're right around the corner from me. they run a few tourneys every year and they have a "public" area that they post tourney info in.

[jamesbalog]

Fishing has finally slowed down a bit for me. we still have been doing decent but not limits almost everyday.

weve been doing well numbers wise in the skinny water between lorain and vermilion, but most all fish have been small.

we fished the south end of the sandbar a few days and the number of fish we caught hasnt been great but the quality has. we fished for about 2.5 or 3 hours sunday and ended up with 6 fish for 2 of us but all 6 made Fish Ohio with the smallest just over 28in

next nice day weather wise that i have off will probably result in a run to the Buoy to see how its going out there

[spoggy]

...but all 6 made Fish Ohio with the smallest just over 28in...
Seems like this year is the year for big eyes. I wonder if it is because of the winter and the cool weather this year?

[jamesbalog]

Seems like this year is the year for big eyes. I wonder if it is because of the winter and the cool weather this year?

Could be... one thing for sure is the huge walleye hatch from 2003 is still producing a lot of monsters

weve caught a lot of small fish this year too which hopefully means all of the recent hatches werent as bad as they said they were

[chromer]

We hit Erieau Sunday, 'eyes were in tight, 27 to 35 FOW. All the fish were in the 24' to 27" range, anything orange/copper. Back again yesterday, fished off the "pin" in 40 to 46 FOW. Boxed 30, dipsys were on fire. Most of the fish were in the 22" to 24" range. Orange/copper spoons off of the 20 jets, anything purple off the dipsys, 700 RR were are smokers'. Just love the F-20 platform to fish from.........

[spoggy]

We hit Erieau Sunday, 'eyes were in tight, 27 to 35 FOW. All the fish were in the 24' to 27" range, anything orange/copper. Back again yesterday, fished off the "pin" in 40 to 46 FOW. Boxed 30, dipsys were on fire. Most of the fish were in the 22" to 24" range. Orange/copper spoons off of the 20 jets, anything purple off the dipsys, 700 RR were are smokers'. Just love the F-20 platform to fish from.........
Are you using downriggers, outriggers, planer boards or just trolling rods and dipseys? Big fish shut down pretty quick, couple of fronts coming through, plus all the algae blowing in from Canukistan trying to kill Toledoans. Been rough on this side of the ditch.:hide:

[jamesbalog]

motor issues for me... im done for awhile :cry:

get out there and catch some fish for me

[chromer]

fished Friday and Saturday over at Erieau, fish have scattered with
the NE winds. Just picked away at them, 14 on Friday with 3 chromers, and 18 on Saturday with 8 chromers. Most of the 'eyes were in the 3-4 lb range. Pink/copper small spoons were best, 30 jets and six color were the most active. Dipsys picked up a few.

[jamesbalog]

i hear they are stacking up outside of huron.... my boat is done, gonna go try to catch some tomorrow or friday if the weather cooperates