Lake Erie produces large walleye. Most fish are over the 15 inch minimum. The average walleye caught off shore is in the three to five pound range. Seven and eight pound walleye are not uncommon.
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When should I start walleye fishing in Lake Erie?
Summer is prime time for Lake Erie fishing. July through September are the best months to target walleye when the water is warmer and the fish are on the move. Perch are productive as well.
Where is the best walleye fishing on Lake Erie?
The best time of year to hook a walleye is May and June along the shallow waters of Lake Erie after the walleye are done spawning. The leading hot spots are Monroe, Sterling State Park, Bolles Harbor and Luna Pier. The best anglers practice a slow troll while using a ThunderStick Junior.
Is there a season for walleye in Lake Erie?
Anglers can enjoy walleye fishing in the NY waters of Lake Erie from May 1-March 15 and can harvest 6 fish per day with a minimum size of 15 inches. Most anglers fish from a boat but there are also a few opportunities to fish from shore.
What is the best bait for walleye on Lake Erie?
When walleye fishing Lake Erie, be sure to put a few hair jigs or curly-tail grubs in your tackle box. You can make your jig offering even more enticing by tipping it with a live minnow. This lure and minnow combination can work particularly well in the early spring.
What month is best for walleye fishing?
Walleye fishing season is the best in spring during and after the spawning season. However, summer nights and fall months are just as good for fishing for walleyes.
How many walleye Can You Keep in Lake Erie?
The walleye daily limit on Lake Erie is six fish per angler with a 15-inch minimum length limit. Walleye hatch success has been exceptional for six of the past eight years. Anglers will mostly catch abundant 2- to 4-year-old-fish ranging from 15 to 22 inches.
How do you catch big walleye in Lake Erie?
Trolling is by far the most productive fishing technique for catching Walleye on Lake Erie. When you go fishing with your charter, chances are you’ll either be drifting or trolling. If you’d prefer to do be more hands-on, some good old-fashioned casting and jigging is always an option.
How old is a 25 inch walleye?
Generally, female walleye which are 25 inches long are about 10 years old, and 30 inch females are in the range of 20 years old. The oldest Lake of the Woods walleye we have aged was a 23 year old female which was 30.3 inches long.
How many walleye are in Lake Erie 2022?
Travis Hartman, Lake Erie fisheries program administrator, began the presentations with a graph showing the 76 million walleye that are believed to populate Lake Erie in 2022 are nearly eight times the lake’s estimated population of 10 million walleye in 1978.
What is the most common fish in Lake Erie?
- 1) Walleye (Sander vitreus)
- 2) Steelhead (Oncorhynchus mykiss)
- 3) Smallmouth bass (Micropterus dolomieu)
- 4) Yellow perch (Perca flavescens)
- 5) Northern pike (Esox lucius)
- 6) Brown trout (Salmo trutta)
- 7) Lake whitefish (Coregonus clupeaformis)
- 8) Round goby (Neogobius melanostomius)
What color attracts walleye?
In water green with algae, black was the walleyes’ preference. When no special water condition was noted, the gold-colored spinner produced the most fish among the casters, Gray and the team found. Walleye in inland waters are likely to respond similarly to colors, Gray said.
How deep should you fish for walleye?
Walleye are generally caught between 10-40 Ft. A typical mid-sized lake in the Midwest would likely hold Walleye between the depths of 10-15 Ft. during the Spring, 15-25 Ft. transitioning to Summer, 25-40 Ft.
What colors do walleye see best?
Walleyes do have color vision that peaks in the orange-red-green portions of the spectrum. They see colors on both sides of each peak, but sensitivity declines. So they see wavelengths shorter than green and longer than orange-red, but not well. Overall, they see orange and red well, followed green and yellow.
What time of day are walleye most active?
Big walleye especially, are usually most active from sunset to sunrise with the dawn and dusk hours being the hottest. At night, walleye move into shallower water where they are actively feeding on sheltering prey. During the way, walleye move much further offshore into deeper water.
Do walleye like warm or cold water?
The best water temperature to catch walleye at is between 65-70° but any temperature above 35° will yield walleye willing to bite. Water temperature is an important factor that drives walleye feeding and can dictate how easy they are to catch.
How do you catch walleye in 50 degree water?
For big walleyes, in the fall when water temps drop just below 50 – Fall Time is Hog Time. The key to success is to use subtle presentations. Crankbaits trolled at slow speeds can often initiate strikes. The key is to get baits that have a good action at slow speeds (less than 1.8 mph).
How often can you eat Lake Erie walleye?
The answer is yes! It is safe to eat Lake Erie walleye 52 meals a year, or an average of once a week. All fish from Lake Erie are safe to eat some of the time, but walleye are among the safest, covered only by the general “one meal a week” advisory that covers most game fish in Ohio.
How often can you eat Lake Erie perch?
These fish from Lake Erie should only be eaten once a month: channel catfish, common carp 27 inches and under, freshwater drum, lake trout, steelhead trout, white bass, whitefish 21 inches and over, white perch, brown bullhead. Common carp bigger than 27 inches should only be eaten once every two months.
Can you cull walleye on Lake Erie?
Yes as long as they are live and well.
What bait works best for walleye?
Live bait can be highly successful for walleye, which usually involves still fishing, drifting, or trolling the bait. A bottom-bouncing rig or slip sinker is effective for drawing the walleye’s attention in clear water. The best choices of live bait include leeches, minnows, and nightcrawlers.
Do you put a worm on Erie Dearie?
One of the most popular baits on Lake Erie is the Erie Dearie. The Erie Dearie or Original Erie Dearie walleye lure should be tipped with a live worm I have had my best luck catching walleye this way. The size of the Erie Dearie when fishing for Lake Erie walleye depends on water depth and drift speed of your boat.
What do walleye eat in Lake Erie?
The walleye are not choosy eaters and in many cases they will eat anything that they can get their mouth on. Their main diet in Lake Erie is threadfin shad. They are even known to be piscivorous, meaning that they eat other fishes, including other walleye.
How old is a 5 pound walleye?
5 – At age 5, female walleye are considered mature and continue to grow more than the males. The average weight of a 5 year old walleye is a pound and in terms of length they will reach about 36cm (14.2″). 10 – When they reach age 10, walleye will typically weigh about 2.6lbs.
What is the best size walleye to eat?
The best eating size fish: walleye 15 – 18 inches, perch 9 – 12 inches and northern pike 22 – 28 inches. We encourage our guests to enjoy eating while they are here when the fish are at their very best freshness and taste. Shore lunches where fish and food are cooked over an open fire are especially delicious.