Lake Erie Walleye Fishing Report

2012 may very well be considered the year of the walleye. Starting with the unseasonably warm weather in early March and continuing through Easter the walleye fishing has been phenomenal. The Lake Erie Walleye fishing reports have all been consistent in their reporting of limit catches. Also the number of trophy walleye has been much larger than normal.

The warm weather jump started the walleye spawn and after that it was game on. The fish moved onto the reefs just off Camp Perry and fishermen were catching them both by jigging and trolling. A lot of fishermen were starting their day jigging on the reefs in as little as 10’ of water. As the day progressed and the fish moved into deeper water they switched to trolling. Some fishermen were even casting crank baits and being successful.

Hair jigs are the most used jigging lure. It is a jig with a hair like shroud that goes from the head of the jig to the hook area. Husky Jerks and Reef Runners are the most popular trolling lures. The Husky Jerks are minnow like lures that will reach 20’ depths when trolling and 10’ when casting. The Husky Jerks are made by Rapala and are available anywhere fishing equipment is sold. The Reef Runner lures are also a minnow like lure but it has more body curve than the Husky Jerk. It is made by Reef Runner Baits and is also available anywhere fishing equipment is sold.

The weather in the western basin of Lake Erie has been anything but normal. 70 degree weather in March caused the lake water temperatures to hit 55 degrees off Toledo. This week has been cold and blustery which is more the norm for this time of year. The changing weather hasn’t seemed to affect the fishing results. If the lake was calm enough to go out the fish were biting. The lake water temperatures have moved back into the mid to high 40’s. If those temperatures hold very long the fishing may slow for a week or two.

There is a lot of speculation over how this big surge early in the season will affect the rest of the season. Most seasoned fishermen think the annual eastward walleye migration will start early if the temperatures stay above normal. If they are right we better get out there while we can because with gas prices where they are it will be very expensive to chase the fish eastward. We can only speculate what Mother Nature will serve up for weather the rest of this fishing season but there is little doubt about high gasoline prices.