Summer Walleye Fishing

The spawn is over and the hunt for the walleye continues. Summer is just around the corner and the walleye are doing what they always do. They are dispersing across the western basin. That means summer walleye fishing is upon us. Now the real walleye fishermen will come to the forefront. No more of the catch your limit regardless of your skill. Now you have to know where they are and what lures to use. That information is usually based on many years of chasing this elusive summer fish.

All longtime successful walleye fishermen have records of where the fish are at certain times of the year and what it takes to catch them. In the past it was hand written journals that contained all this information. Today the where is usually contained in a GPS system that keeps track of the locations for you. The what it takes to catch them is still in your head or in your journal.

A walleye fishing trip over Memorial day weekend reminded me of these basics. My oldest son (Captain Todd) invited me, my grandson and the other Grandpa to a day of walleye fishing. The fishing reports had the fish being taken further west than we wanted to travel so Todd headed for a closer spot they he said usually held fish this time of year. On arrival we made a slow pass of the area and didn’t scope many fish so we moved a little further west. Still not much on the fishfinder. Todd felt the fish were holding tight to the bottom which made them hard to see.

We set up to troll with six poles and it wasn’t long until my grandson had landed the first walleye. It was a nice fish in the 6# to 7# size. Todd quickly punched the mark button which marked the coordinates of where we had caught the first fish. We caught a fish on nearly every pass over that area. We had six nice walleye in the box when the wind suddenly picked up from the Northeast (the forecast called for light winds from the southeast). We fought the waves until they reached the 3’ to 4’ size. By then we had a total of eight nice walleye and decided to call it a day.

Needless to say it was a long ride home. The trip that had taken us 45 minutes on the way out took 90 minutes on the way home. Seas were in the 5’ to 6’ range which made for a very rough ride. My grandson was a little seasick but handled it well. He never complained once. Once in the boathouse he just said I’m glad that’s over.

The moral of this story is twofold. First Todd’s experience told him where the fish should be and second Lake Erie did what it does so often. It turned from a two foot chop to 5’ to 6’ foot waves in less than an hour.