Lake Erie Walleye 2016

[jamesbalog]

Well the 2016 season has officially begun for me, I dipped the V for the first time yesterday morning and the first shakedown trip of the year went pretty well. Only boat issue i had was the mic on the radio wouldn't work.

on to the fishing, we launched out of Catawba State Park around 9am and we were greeted with thick fog, we couldnt see 100 yards. With the fog I didnt want to run to where i wanted to fish so we slowly made our way about a mile west and set lines. Within 5 minutes we had our first fish then went dry. We fished this area for 3 hours waiting for the fog to burn off, it finally started to dissipate around noon and we pulled lines and ran the 6-7 miles to D can where I wanted to fish.

Once arriving at D can the action started to pick up, we caught 7 more walleye in the next 1.5-2 hours then had to leave due to my buddy on the boat having an appointment later in the day. Im sure we could have finished the limit if we stayed.

Rapala dhj12s were the only thing we caught fish on, baits with an orange belly did best. We were running the baits 50-70 feet back and trolling at 1.2mph. Water temp was right at 40 degrees.

The quality of fish was absolutely amazing, we had just shy of a 9lb average after the fish were bled out. biggest fish went 11.4lbs

I feel so lucky to have this amazing fishery right in my back yard.

http://i1091.photobucket.com/albums/i381/jbalog30/fog_zpsd3jhmu59.jpg (http://s1091.photobucket.com/user/jbalog30/media/fog_zpsd3jhmu59.jpg.html)


http://i1091.photobucket.com/albums/i381/jbalog30/first%20fish%20O%2016_zpswuekoks7.jpg (http://s1091.photobucket.com/user/jbalog30/media/first%20fish%20O%2016_zpswuekoks7.jpg.html)


http://i1091.photobucket.com/albums/i381/jbalog30/big%20fish_zpseazj56jg.jpg (http://s1091.photobucket.com/user/jbalog30/media/big%20fish_zpseazj56jg.jpg.html)

[SkunkBoat]

WOW!:nice:

[Redneck]

I have a family that just moved here from your neck of the woods that got a lake lot next to mine. He talks about running lead core line and planer boards on Erie like an addict needing a fix With strings like that I know why. We get tones of walleye here in Lesser Slave lake but no were near the size average you get. Used to pick up a 4 pound average not enough to lakes for the amount of fisherman in the area. We run bottom bouncers with beads an blades tipped with a few worm or leach when tournament fishing or really slow mostly toss jigs on rock piles or weed beds.

Ps we know you've done more fishing since this post where's the updates of those monster eyes out there ??lol

[Destroyer]

Absolutely BEAUTIFUL fish. NICE!!! Wish I lived closer to Erie, but then again, I have the whole Atlantic ocean to fish in ...

Now, WHERE is your flotation device? With gear (clothes) like you are wearing in pic 2 you'll go down like a rock before you can get your jacket off if you fall overboard. (Ya, it happens... just do a you tube search of people that didn't think they were going to fall overboard and did... hilarious) We want to be talking to you, not about you. Wear a life vest dude!!

[jamesbalog]

Absolutely BEAUTIFUL fish. NICE!!! Wish I lived closer to Erie, but then again, I have the whole Atlantic ocean to fish in ...

Now, WHERE is your flotation device? With gear (clothes) like you are wearing in pic 2 you'll go down like a rock before you can get your jacket off if you fall overboard. (Ya, it happens... just do a you tube search of people that didn't think they were going to fall overboard and did... hilarious) We want to be talking to you, not about you. Wear a life vest dude!!

Not me in the picture... I wear a Mustang anti exposure float suit when the water is cold in the spring/fall.

I make people on board wear life jackets when we are running in cold water but its their choice if they want to while we are fishing (and no one wears them)

[jamesbalog]

I have a family that just moved here from your neck of the woods that got a lake lot next to mine. He talks about running lead core line and planer boards on Erie like an addict needing a fix With strings like that I know why. We get tones of walleye here in Lesser Slave lake but no were near the size average you get. Used to pick up a 4 pound average not enough to lakes for the amount of fisherman in the area. We run bottom bouncers with beads an blades tipped with a few worm or leach when tournament fishing or really slow mostly toss jigs on rock piles or weed beds.

Ps we know you've done more fishing since this post where's the updates of those monster eyes out there ??lol


Most of the big fish have migrated east for the summer, We are currently catching mostly small fish with a ton of throwbacks (under 15") fish every trip. There have been trips where we have caught 50 fish under the legal 15"'. Future looks bright

Limits of fish have been rare for me this year, since the spring i can probably count them on one hand. Thats how nature works though and in the next few years pretty much anyone with a fishing pole should be able to go out and catch a bunch of nice eater sized walleye!