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I decided to look into some new boat options, but first I need to sell my current boat.  If you're interested check out the listing here. Travis

July 28, 2010 (Wednesday) Travis 

The perch reports continue to roll in:

"Tuesday, 27 FOW, aprox a mile west of Kelly’s: four fishermen caught 120 keeper perch (7”+) in 3.5 hours: 28# live weight, Quite a bunch of undersized fish sent back, only a few WP and SH"

"Monday was another good day for perching on the North side of Kelleys Island. 31 FOW, Coordinates were 41d 37.30', 82d 42.25'

We were on the western end of the  pack of about 30 boats."

Travis

July 25, 2010 (Sunday) Travis 

I would have had a few of these reports up a few days ago, but my whole family got hit with a summer sinus/flu sickness.  I can't remember that last time that I was legitimately sick in the summer.  So much for that.

Here are the reports that have come in since Thursday or so.  It looks like most of you are perch fishing lately:

Sorry that we didn't mark the coordinates for this spot.

Fish and licenses were check at the Mazurik dock on our return."

"Thursday four fishermen: caught 32 perch over 7” from 8 - 9:30am a quarter mile NE of Ballast; quite a few under 7” returned to the lake; almost no SH, WP, etc, Then it turned off and searched several places NE of there to the bell buoy with no success. Moved to the NNW corner of Kelley’s, 27 FOW and caught 60 nicer keepers in 1.5 hours, with quite a bunch of undersized throw backs. Had to quit at 1pm w/o limits due to golf commitments."

"Good perch results at 1st Sail buoy just on edge of shipping channel  or by turtle island just off the shipping channel  some white perch and crap heads but decent size yellow perch...."

31 FOW. Same location as our Wednesday, 21 Jul report. (See the first report above)"

Travis

July 18, 2010 (Sunday) Travis 

Here is the only report that has come in since my last post:

Travis 

July 14, 2010 (Wednesday) Travis 

Here is a walleye report that just came in today:

"Fished west of N.W. reef last weekend caught 15 walleye a lot of small fish. Had to put 8 under 15in. fish back. All drifting no trolling."

Travis

July 11, 2010 (Sunday) Travis 

I just received the first report since my last post 9 days ago.  I haven't been out on Erie since our last tournament.  I did make it out on Lake St. Clair to cast for muskie over the 4th of July weekend.  My brother-in-law and I spent one evening and 2 full days casting the north end of the lake.   We ended up seeing over 20 muskies and landed 5 of them.  Two of the five were good fish, going 44.5 and 47".  It's really fun to have them hit right at the boat.  The 44.5 that I caught hit near the boat and then dove under the boat.  It pinned my rod against the gunnel of the boat and then doubled it over.  There was a split second that I thought the fish was going to blow up a 8'6" heavy casting rod that is designed to cast up to 1 pound lures.

Here is the perch report from Thursday that came in today:

Quite a few trash fish, including gobies at the airport area."

Travis

July 2, 2010 (Friday) Travis

I hope that everyone has a great 4th of July weekend.  Here is a perch report:

Travis 

June 30, 2010 (Wednesday) Travis 

Here is a report that came in today:

"Saturday morning from 10am - 1pm. 1 mile N of C can on the range.
I got to take my oldest daughter out this morning. Her sisters and mother were supposed to go too, but wanted more sleep. We took our time getting out there and started at Niagara. I didn't like the marks or farm animals we caught so we moved to C-can with a pack of 6 or 8 boats. She asked to troll this time, her second time trolling. We started south of them, in 30 fow and trolled up through with the wind. We kept 3 lines in, all harnesses, 2 off boards and a bottom bouncer in the middle. We caught our first eye about 3/4 mile N of the can with a cat and WP before that. I was setting lines as my daughter kept us downwind. We turned around to head back up and it was tough for her to keep the heading in 2-3 footers. A couple hiccups but we managed another eye and a sheep. All the time I'm taking over the wheel to let her reel them in. We trolled back to the pack with no more luck then turned downwind again. We got our 3rd eye as we reeled in the lines to head home. Great trip, not crazy but we found success. She learned more about steering and setting lines. All walleyes were 19-20 inches. The harnesses were green/ chartreuse beads with gold blades. Two were caught on the side on a 3oz. 27 and 37back, and one on the BB. Speed was 2.3 with wind and 1.8 upwind." 

Travis

June 27, 2010 (Sunday) Travis 

Dad and I had a good tournament yesterday in the LEWT out of the new Huron ramp.  It ended up being a tough day of fishing after a lot of reports of bigger fish on Friday.  32 pounds won the tournament and we got 7th with over 28 pounds.

Friday we fished east of the south end of the sandbar and made some other passes farther east over to the Lorain dumping grounds.  We caught fish in most of the places that we stopeed.  2, 3, and 4 ounce inline weights with harnesses caught fish at 25 to 40' back around 1.0 to 1.5 mph.  We had the best average size around the N 35/W 18 lines.  We never did get a bite over 6.5 pounds, but we were close to 30 pounds and didn't have many other options based on where we had fished.

Saturday we caught plenty of fish in the 35/18 area, but struggled to get the consistent size that we had Friday.  We ended up weighing in 5 fish between 5 and 6.5 pounds.  Early in the day 1 and 1.5 ounce weights 40 feet back were best.  Later in the morning 2 and 3 ounce weights 40 back got better.  Everything that we caught was on size 6 colorado blades.  Gold blades in pink panties, double orange crush, and orange bubble gum were best.  Basically gold colorados with combinations of pink, purple or orange worked.  Black and orange or purple and orange beads got hit the most.  Early in the morning fish were swallowing it, later in the morning they were barely biting and we ended up missing hits that wouldn't hook up.

It sounds like most of the heavier weights in the top 5 came from the weather buoy or west of the sandbar.  It was certainly a tougher day of fishing than most of us expected, although we probably handled around 20 fish or more with minimal trash, considering it was the sandbar and we were fishing worms.

Here are two other reports that came in.

"6/26/10 Trolled worm harnesses in 30-40 foot deep water about two miles northeast of Cedar Point and caught limit in about one and half hours. Lot of boats  went by heading further east. Home at 9:00 AM."

Second limit day so far this year."

Travis

June 23, 2010 (Wednesday) Travis 

Here are the reports that have come in today:

"Yesterday, 3 men from 930am-9 pm, 17 walleyes, drifted until 330pm approx 6 miles east of KI, got 6, mostly pink bladed harnesses, then once wind died trolled in 41-43 FOW closer to KI, approx 3 miles east of airport, got 11 in 4 hrs, dipsys with spoons (monkey puke), harnesses off boards."

Travis 

June 21, 2010 (Monday) Travis 

Here is a great perch report that came in today:

Travis 

June 20, 2010 (Sunday) Travis, Happy Father's Day

I just finished up eight straight days on the water.  I got to fish the MWC tournament out of Sandusky with my friend Shawn.  Dad and I pre-fished Sat. through Tuesday, I fished with a friend on Wed., and then Thursday with Shawn.  We really had great fishing leading up to the tournament.  We struggled to put multiple good bites together in the same day, but we rarely fell under 30 pounds and had as much as 35 for our best five.  Each day we caught between 15 and 30 walleye fishing 4 rods.  As bad as I wanted to fish structure around Pelee Island in Canada, it just didn't work out.  We caught plenty of fish in 18 to 25' of water, mostly on the east side of the island.  The best spots were Mill Point Reef, Middle Point, and the NE tip.  In the end, the fish that I was the most confident in were actually in open water E-SE of Mill Point Reef in 40' of water.  On our best day we caught a 10.25 pounder out there and had one other big fish on that got off.  On most days one pass would give us 5 fish over 5 pounds in short order.

On the day of the tournament we got out to that area and after catching fish out there every day they totally left.  I think it had to do with the water temp and different water coming in.  It went from over 70 degrees to 67 over night, and then yesterday it went back up to 74.  We finally found a good area just east of there, but it only gave us 28.9 pounds on Friday and we had to work for it.  If it wouldn't have been for an 8 pound bite we would have weighed in less than 25 pounds.  With no better back up plan we went back on Saturday and they had moved farther east again.  We caught a better grade of fish with 5 at 30.1 pounds without a fish over 6.5 pounds.  We really could have used a big bite.  We ended up on the sandar up in Canada, but by then we had come back out of the fish (the sandbar between Vermilion and Lorain actually continues up into Canada for those of you that haven't been up there).

During the week most of our best fish came on 1 and 2 ounce inlines from 25 to 35' back.  Gold blades with white and orange were best, mostly in size 6 colorados.  The last few days blades in "antifreeze" were best, also in size 6 colorados.  When fishing got tough for us during the tourney the bite moved deeper and 3 ounce inlines 35' back caught most of our fish.  Our speed all week was from 1.0 to 1.5 mph.

It was a really great experience fishing such a well run national tournament circuit.  I learened a lot as it really forces you to push yourself.  We ended up in the middle of the pack at 42nd place.  It's amazing how many places were within 2 or 3 pounds of each other.  The 2003 year class is really making tournaments an ounces game in the middle of the pack.

Today I went out with my dad and my son off of Huron.  We only fished a little over an hour.  It was a little rougher than we would have liked having my 3 year old with us.  We set up northwest of Ruggles and trolled two crankbaits and two harnesses with the waves towards Ruggles.  We caught two walleye, a few drum, too many white perch and one white bass.  It was great to be out on father's day with dad and Max.  Max played with the worms a lot and then insisted on netting all the fish with his little net.  He likes reeling the fish in, but if you give him a choice he prefers to net.

I hope that everyone had a great father's day.  Here is a report that came in:

"Fished Saturday - 3 guys and we trolled jet 20's with spoons, 3 miles NW of west sister  - caught 13 by noon.  Limits caught Sunday morning (same spot) - spoons would not catch anything - trolled harnesses with 3oz in lines - speed was a 2.2 - bite was fast and furious."

Travis

June 17, 2010 (Thursday) Travis 

Here are three recent reports:

(June 5-12)  "We ended up with 38 fish for our trip. Thursday and Fri. were bad. We fished North of Kelly. Most fish were caught on bright orange blades w/red beads. We fished 25 ft behind the boards with a 3oz sinker. I used double blades on my harnesses. Our largest was 7.4lb and the next day, 3 of our 8 fish were all 7lb."

Hope the hatch is done before our trip next week."

Travis

June 14, 2010 (Monday) Travis 

Two new reports today:

"A 4 man boat, some limits caught, some day’s short mostly gold spinners on harnesses hard days fishing to get them West of Put-in-bay

We went 9 miles South of Kelly’s Island in front of Cedar Point in the “Pack”, 26 to 29 inch fish some smaller.

We used gold, red & white and purple spinners on harnesses, 1.7 to 1.9 mph also caught a 15 lb Salmon.

We saw the debris in the water Saturday from the Toledo Tornado sorry to hear about that, also the Mayflies started midweek.

All in all it was a good week of fishing and vacation."

Travis

June 13, 2010 (Sunday) Travis 

Here is a perch report that just came in:

"On Friday out from Kelley's runway in 35' feet of water the perch were on.  One boat had four limits. All nice size."

Travis

June 7, 2010 (Monday) Travis 

Here is a western basin report from the weekend:

"had a walleye tournament from our yacht club lots of boats no limits most on any boat was seven biggest 3   70 inches  lots of boats 1-7 fish we are from western basin wards canal people fished all the way to canadian line to off crane creek to west sister to turn around to round reef to bass islands this walleye fishing is getting tough"

Everyone needs to keep the Toledo area families that had their homes and lives destroyed in Saturday's tornado in their thoughts and prayers.

Travis 

June 6, 2010 (Sunday) Travis 

Here are two recent reports:

"Went out of Vermillion alone -- set up around 0830 @ 28/19.  Trolled @ 2.2/2.4 mph to 32/18, caught 4 walleye. Smallest about 2 lbs, largest about 5 lbs.  All on a purple/lime spoon, same rod, 2 oz in-line weights, 110 back.  No hits after 1030, cashed in at noon."

"On Friday, June 4, four fishermen spent 4 hours catching only 35 perch > 7” in the area between Rattlesnake and Middle Bass. Just could not get them going in any of 6-7 spots we tried, including those that had been hot the two preceding weeks. We also tried a couple spots on the east side of Ballast. Never could find any good perch marks at the bottom. The day was not lost however as SH and WP were plentiful."

Travis 

June 1, 2010 (Tuesday) Travis 

Here is a report from Sunday evening on Gull:

"I fished Sunday eve from 5:30 to 9pm. We caught 2 walleye a 3# and a 7#. Both off gold harness with gold blade, off 1.25oz inline, 25 feet behind board at 1.3-1.6mph. Only Sheeps and white perch on flatline harnesses off back. We fished south side of gull island shoal."

Travis

May 31, 2010 (Monday) Travis 

Here are three reports that came in over the weekend:

"5/29/10 Trolled between Kelley's and Middle Island this AM and caught six walleyes on harnesses fifty feet behind boards with  two ounce inline sinkers. Fish were smaller than earlier catches."

"Fish Ohio Kelly's Island north west corner N41 38.391 W 82 42.679 got 12 very nice walleye. Some of the guys fished the north east corner of the Island and got some limits 18,24 limits all nice fish 3 to 6 lbs most productive were in line weights 1/2 OZ 1.OZ .08 TO 1.3 MPH with hareness in pink , gold , gold and purple, set back 21, 27, 35 of the inline board. The spoon bit was good orand & green MI HI spoon worked best. Jet 20 back 85 to 95 and min disks back 95 to 100 over 32 to 45 fow"

"Had a great weekend casting for high fish on the East side of South Bass. Fish were high splash count to a 10 count. Casting harness with blades with silver backs and all white weight forwards. We were close enough to shore to hear waves break on shore. Had to fight off the sheephead when the drift slowed due to light winds."

Travis

May 27, 2010 (Thursday) Travis 

Here is a perch report that came in yesterday.  I hope that everyone has a great Memorial Day weekend.

"Had a very good perch trip today; four limits in four hours; 28# live weight; a few small throw backs, usual SH, WP, etc; Largest perch – 13” and to top it off caught 5 walleye (12# total) on minnows and perch rigs. Was between Rattlesnake and Middle bass in 32 FOW; 5-600 yards off of MB."

Travis 

May 23, 2010 (Sunday) Travis 

I had a very fun weekend of fishing.  Saturday was the Fish Huron tournament out of the Boat Basin in the Huron River. I got to fish with my friend Aaron Humbert and his son Wyatt.  I hope that they had as much fun as I did.  We didn't finish as high was we wanted to, but we weighed in 29 pounds and I think we ended up in 19th out of 58 boats.  We fished one of our favorite spots up at North Bass in less than 20' of water.  We had two fish around 8 pounds followed by 3 smaller fish.  I didn't keep track, but we landed around 12 fish and missed a hand-full, all on harnesses with inline weights at 1 to 1.3 mph.  15' back with 1, 1.5, 2 and even 3 ounce weights all caught fish.  Colorado blades were best with both gold and silver catching fish.  The highlight of the day was catching one of the two bigger fish on a rod that was flat-lined behind the big engine while we were landing a fish on an outside rod.  We heard the rod tip tapping against the engine and noticed that there was a good fish hooked up.  It literally hit within 10' of the big motor.  The tournament was won between Ruggles and Vermilion in 27 to 32' of water on reef runners.  It took a whopping 47 pounds to win.  That's for 5 fish.  There were something like 4 teams over 40 pounds.  I might have a few of the details wrong, but there were a lot of quality fish caught.

Today was so nice that I decided to take my family out of Huron.  My wife and I had a blast with our 3.5 year old boy and 1.5 year old girl.  We only fished about 1.5 hours.  My son would have stayed out longer, but our little girl was getting restless.  We managed to catch two decent walleye, one big drum and one white perch.  We fished NE of the castle in 28 to 32' of water.  The marks are unreal down there.  It's no secret that fish are there, there were a lot of boats from Ruggles to Vermilion in that depth range.  One of our walleye came on a harness behind a 6 ounce inline weight fished like a bottom bouncer at 25' back in 30' of water.  The other came on a reef runner 100' back.  My son reeled in one of the walleye and the drum, and he wanted to net the second walleye so I reeled it in.  It really couldn't have been a better trip.  The lake was flat and my wife and daughter were able to enjoy it, and my son and I got to catch some fish.

Travis

May 21, 2010 (Friday) Travis 

Here is a perch report headed into the weekend:

"Finally made first our perch fishing trip Thursday. Started on the west side of Green and spent two hour working north toward Rattlesnake, using frozen minnows as no shiners available, and had no perch after two hours. Then moved east of Rattlesnake, actually closer to Middle Bass, 5-600 yards off the island, and caught 48 keepers (14#) in 2.5 hours. Several perch >10” and one 12.5”. Some <7’’ throwbacks, lots of WP, SH, one goby, one cat, and lost a huge walleye next to the boat. Four old guys very happy with this day of fishing."

Travis

May 16, 2010 (Sunday) Travis 

Dad and I fished Friday and Saturday this week for this month's LEWT tournament out of Lakevue marina near Mazurik.  Friday we went up to North Bass Island and tried the deep water along the line.  The water was stained, but not too bad.  There were great marks, but we couldn't make them hit.  We tried harnesses and crankbaits at different depths and speeds and only managed one monster catfish.  We decided to try in shallow along the island shoreline before leaving and had three good passes.  We ended up landing five fish and we lost another 6 or 7.  The size wasn't spectacular, but based on other reports it seemed like one of the more consistent bites happening.  We caught them all in 15 to 20 feet of water on harnesses 15' back with 1.5 and 2 ounce inline weights around 1.5 mph.

On Saturday we headed right back to North Bass for the tournament and even though the wind was much calmer we struggled to catch fish.  It really turned into a tough day for most of the 50 teams.  Our first pass in shallow we didn't get a single hit.  Our biggest mistake was not being patient enough.  We started making deeper passes instead of beating up the shallow water.  Around 10:00 we only had two fish and I was really starting to worry.  We finally did get our five fish with a few more shallow passes, but at 12:30 having 5 fish less than 20 pounds I decided to make a move.  We ran over to the Canadian border near Middle Island west of Gull Island shoal.  We made one pass with all spinners and only had one light hit that didn't hook up.  We decided to spend the last hour pulling reef runners between 1.8 and 2 mph to try and cove water and make something happen.  In that last hour we caught 3 fish and upgraded two of our prior 5 fish.  Cranberry Crusher reef runner 60' back took two and lights out 80' back took one.  We ended up with 23 pounds and we were 15th out of 50.  The 29 lbs that took third came from the same shallow water at North Bass.  I definitely didn't stick with it long enough.  We ended up catching 3 of our 5 fish at north bass on harnesses with silver colorado blades with blue and pink stripes on the edge (size 6). 

It was nice to finally have a pleasant weather day on Saturday that didn't involve fighting wind and waves or looking over your shoulder to watch for storms and lightening.  4 fish from the Vermilion area that weighed 34 pounds won the tournament.  Most of the field was under 25 pounds.  For this time of year around the islands it was a lot tougher tournament than most of us expected.  Hats off to everyone that cashed a check on a tough day.  Here are a few other reports that came in:

"I caught a 6.7# muskie Sat. near the green bouy on Kelly's Shoal.  about 23' long. Caught on a craweler harness."

"have not been out since the big  blow we did very well last 2 times out with bottom bouncers gold and purple harness and worms. best jig season in a while went 6 times and got limit every time but 1 and we was 1 fish short of a 4 man limit all around wild wings crane creek and off wards canal bigger fish this year the 2003 are getting big . we did get some smaller ones 13-16 inchers all on purple john deer green and orange and yellow with big minnows and without i need some info on where they are at on the west end of the lake i heard of a bite at the gravel pit but dont have first hand experience."

Travis

May 11, 2010 (Tuesday) Travis 

It has been a crazy 5 days of weather up here in Erie county.  It started last friday with severe thunderstorms with high winds, lightning, rain, and even tornado sightings.  After that all passed we got sustained gale force winds all day Saturday.  There were reports of swamped boats in western basin marinas after the wild changes in water level as the water dropped and then quickly came back when the wind let up.  Sunday it was still windy and then we got a break yesterday with decent weather.  Today we went right back into rain and wind with unexpected strong storms this evening that resulted in more tornados south of the lake and bay.    After Saturday's winds much of the western basin is a muddy mess.  Based on yesterday's satelite shot the only decent water is north of Kelleys along the line and also way west around the shipping channel into Michigan waters.

We'll see what this has done the location and mood of the fish.  My guess is that fishing will be tougher than it had been as we head into this Saturday's LEWT Lakevue tournament, but if Friday and Saturday are decent the fishing could really pick up.

Travis

May 3, 2010 (Monday) Travis 

Here is a new report that came in:

"Saturday fishing was slow - fished off Crane Creek and only managed to boat two in three hours,  Fished with Jigs and Minnows  couple boats did OK in the same area the fish were in small schools and if you found a pocket you had your tickets,  Sunday went out and fished bottom bouncers and worms in the same area and limited out by 9:00.  All were caught on Monkey Puke blades.  A buddy of mine fished in tight on Crane Creek and caught a few Monsters in tight with the shore.  I think trolling at dusk on the shoreline with stickbaits would yield a trophy or two.  Lastly another boat went all the way out to the Canadian line North of North Bass trolling harnesses and came back with some huge fish."

Travis

May 2, 2010 (Sunday) Travis 

No new reports have come in since my last post, but now I can tell you all about the week of fishing that I just had.  Today was the last day of this weekend's Gator Classic tournament out of the Sandusky City Ramp.  I ended up weighing in about 56 pounds for two days (10 fish total, 5 per day).  I had just over 30 pounds yesterday and 26 today.  The biggest bites escaped me, but I had a great week of fishing followed by a good two days of tournament fishing.

Wednesday I fished the Canadian line from North Bass to Middle Island.  We caught 11 fish.  The theme of the whole week was the fact that you could catch fish on either crankbaits or harnesses, and you could catch them from top to bottom, but good patterns were hard to nail down.  The biggest fish on Wednesday was 28.5" and was caught on a harness fished off a 6 ounce inline weight off the corner of the boat (similar to fishing with a bottom bouncer).  They key, though was to only let out 20 to 35' of line and keep it up off the bottom.  Pink lemonade reef runners 60' back were good as was a ripstick 60' back with a one ounce snap weight 20' in front of it.  On Wednesday I only caught fish over 1.5 mph (fast for me), and that was the case most days.  Thursday I fished north of Kelleys and caught fish north of the NE tip, up to about west of Kelleys shoal.  Again a mix of crankbaits and spinners caught fish at 1.5 mph, and the biggest fish of the day was a 9 pound 29" fish on the last pass of the day on a ripstick over at the NW corner of kelleys island.  Friday I fished around Rattlesnake Island and West Reef with a pass at kelleys at the end of the day.  The best fish were north of west reef between the reef and Taco Bell (the red bell buoy near the canadian line).  Same program as earlier days.  The biggest fish was a 28.5" fish at the NW corner of kelleys on an eriedescent reef runner 80' back.

Yesterday I caught 30 pounds between rattlesnake and west reef, but mostly north of west reef late in the morning.  We caught numbers of fish on reef runners 30 to 50' back, but caught quality fish on harnesses run on slider lines that were 20' long with 2 and 3 ounce weights.  34 pounds led the tourney from the same area after day 1.  Today I decided to take a shot at bigger bites and decided Kelleys and the Canadian line would be the answer.  We caught around 10 fish, but could only manage 5 that weighed 26.  As with other days we caught them 30 to 50 back on reef runners early and then did better on harnesses as the day moved on.  The heavier fish came from the canadian line west of Middle Island.  The biggest limit today was 36 pounds and it took the upper 60's to win for the two days.  I never did figure out how to get any number of 8 to 10 pound bites.  There are so many 4 to 6 pound post spawn fish right now it is easy to catch 5 fish from 25 to 30 pounds, but they guys that caught over 30 per day ended up in the money this time.

I came away with a few impressions from this week.  You can catch fish in a lot of places, but right now the numbers of fish are from Green Island up to West Reef.  Crankbaits will catch them, but fish them from 30 to 60 back early and then from 60 to 120 back later.  Many colors have worked, but the best for me were pink lemonade, gold clown and rebel queen.  Harnesses will catch plenty of fish, but you really have to play with how deep to fish them to have success. I caught them as high as 1.5 ounces 20 back to as deep as 4 ounces 40 back and 6 ounces 35 back. The best blades were size 6 colorados and size 8 indianas.  Gold or copper with white pink and purple were good, as were gold with pink and purple, and also antifreeze.  Today I caught some fish on silver blades with pink and blue.  I had never run slider lines much, but fishing was just slow enought that they made a lot of sense and I really got comfortable with them. You just have to be careful to stay legal by having no more than 3 hooks per line and no more than 2 "rods" per angler.

Travis

April 22, 2010 (Thursday) Travis 

One new report came in:

Grand total of 35 keepers for about 3 hours of fishing time. We were back at Mazurik by 13:00 hrs."

Travis

April 21, 2010 (Wednesday) Travis 

Two new reports have come in since my post on Monday.  Here they are:

"Fished Friday night last weekend - Locus reef and associated water - 15ft of water.  Caught 4 on hair jigs BUT caught the other 4 on a bottom bouncer.  I would say that it is safe to make the switch over to night crawlers for the walleye and to start casting.  Fish were average 20-22 but it was very very rough out there.  Did not even attempt to make it out on Saturday AM."

Next weekend (the weekend of May 1-2) is the WBSA Gator pro-am tournament.  This is the same format as the Gator tourney last September out of Lorain.  This year it is going out of Sandusky Bay right at the prime time for the Kelleys Island and Bass Islands fishing.  I'm in it again this year and I'm really looking forward to it.  Last year I thoroughly enjoyed the pro-am format.  It was my first pro-am and I came away from it with a lot of great memories.  It didn't hurt that the fishing was nothing short of phenomenal on the sandbar that week.  I've never caught so many fish so easily.

This year will be a real challenge.  Although this time of year can produce some really great big fish fishing, it can also be very different every day, or even changes by the hour within the same day.  I'm going to pre-fish as much as I can over the next week leading up to the tourney.  I hope that you all can understand that I won't post any personal reports until the tournament is over.  I'll continue to put up every report that comes in every day or two.  When the tournament is over I'll put up a full, detailed report about my pre-fishing and the two tournament days.  Thanks for keeping the reports rolling in.

Travis

April 19, 2010 (Monday) Travis 

One new report came in today:

"Went 3 - 3.5 miles South out of Bowes Harbor, MI (in front of TBM) in 12 -15 ft of water on Sunday morning. Two of us fished with crawler harnessess and a variety of crankbaits and managed to get our MI limit. All fish came on crawler harnessess fished .8 to 1.3 mph that were 17 to 25' back. Only one farm animal on the cranks. Pink and white harnessess was the preferred color the eyes liked. It was good to get a limit not only trolling but using a method we've never tried before."

I assume that the report above was talking about Bolles Harbor.  If you've paid any attention to the FLW tourney two weekends ago and then the MWC this past weekend you've seen that Michigan waters of Lake Erie are producing some impressive 5 fish, 30 to 40 pound tournament limits.  You Michigan guys have some great fishing right now in your back yard.

Travis

April 18, 2010 (Sunday) Travis 

Over the weekend a new report from Thursday came in:

"Fished 7am to noon out of Wild Wings.  Winds were freshening out of the SW, and moving to the west.  Wasted a good deal of time fishing hair jigs with shiners somewhat slow in 12 FOW directly off the cooling tower.  Clarity was three feet or more, lots of farm animals caught.  Everyone around me was catching fish, even the head boats.  After only one fish, and tiring, headed back to the entrance to WW.  Decided to make one more drift in 8 FOW, fairly stained, visibility less than 1'.  Caught walleye like crazy in purple and black hair jigs, no shiners, and fishing hard with a good rip each time off the bottom.  One of the males was over 24"."

Travis

April 16, 2010 (Friday) Travis 

With some poor weekend weather on the way, here is a report that came in yesterday:

Travis 

April 12, 2010 (Monday) Travis 

Thanks for all the weekend reports today.  Here they are:

"Fished in 15' of water in front of Turtle Creek at first light. Lots of boats out and after winding up in less traffic areas and moving a couple of times we landed our 4 man limit in 4 hours. White blade bait landed 9 of the 18 fish."

"3 man limits in about 3 hours - Friday and Saturday off Turtle Creek in 15 feet of water. Purple and Green Hair jigs tipped with minnows.  Fish ran from an 18 to 24 inches - most 20-22."

"Basically the same as last weekend, good fish in 8-12 fow early and as the boat traffic runs them over they become more scattered and less aggressive.

Great bite from 5:30-7:30 then it slowed noticeably.

We caught fish both ways- casting and vertically jigging.

Black, Green, Purple, Orange, Pink all worked well."

"Two of us fished out of Wild Wings, out in front of Wild Wings and to the west, 10-13 FOW yesterday from 7am-10am.  Got two walleye, one on a bare Purple hari jig 1oz, one on a shiner tipped purple hair jig, 5/8 oz.

Two of us fished today on Cone Reef, and in close in front of Bessie, about where K can should be (if the bouys were out).  Punched two tickets, but it took all day.  4 on the north side of Cone, 25-28 FOW in the morning, 1/2 on Chartreuse with shiners, the other half on purple hair jigs with shiners, then a lull, then the other 4 in front of Bessie in 13-14 FOW, same bait."

Travis 

April 11, 2010 (Sunday) Travis 

I did not make it out this weekend and I haven't received any reports since my post on Monday.  If you made it out lately send a report so that I can pass it along.

Travis 

April 5, 2010 (Monday) Travis 

One new report to pass along:

"Hour limits off of Turtle Creek, Purple and Green hair jigs tipped with minnows vertically jigged - the bite was not as good if you cast out and worked the jig back.  Cone, Locust, Turtle reefs all were holding fish.  The fish were larger and we averaged over 4 lbs for our eight keepers - all males."

Travis

April 4, 2010 (Sunday) Travis 

The fishing season is well under way and conditions are much better than the past two springs.  There is a lot of clean water out there compared to last year's mud.  I spent Thurs/Fri pre-fishing for Saturday's LEWT.  Dad and I had OK fishing, but never really got in sync with what was going on.  I can tell you without hesitation that the most fish are west of Green Island around the 53 and 54 west lines (minutes of the coordinates).  The water is dirtier there than around the reefs, but it is fishable.  We caught fish, but despite the incredible marks we never really got them figured out.  The tournament produced huge weights, and nearly all of them came from the Camp Perry cans (G, F, E, D, C, B, A).  I named nearly all of them because it sounds like fish were caught at nearly all of them.  The water is very clean around the cans (or at least was through Saturday morning).  The marks weren't good around the eastern cans, but they still produced plenty of big fish.

The fish that we caught nearly all came on gold deep husky jerks 30 to 60' back.  Two fish on Saturday came on size 14 shallow husky jerks 90' back.  We couldn't catch fish on reef runners depsite other peoples' success, but I did get one on a reef runner 15' back on Friday.  Everything that we caught came between 0.8 and 1.1 mph.  I couldn't buy a bite on a turn or a speed change.  Every single hit came on a straight troll even though I constantly tried to make something happen.  Thursday we had five fish on and landed 1.  It was a 26.25" 8.75 pound female.  Friday we landed 7 fish with the best five being around 32 pounds.  Saturday we struggled to get 5 fish in the boat and weighed in 26 pounds with one of the five weighing less than 2 pounds.  It was really frustrating.  We missed out on some great fishing.  5 fish over 44 pounds came from G can and plenty of huge weights were caught around the other cans.  I chose to stay on great marks in stained water and it didn't pay off.  I should have stayed in the clean water with minimal marks.

One other report has come in (From Friday):

"Went out in the AM.  Tried right out of Turtle Creek in 11 FOW (15 fish)  Action was very slow after the first light bite.  Went out to Cone Reef in the PM.  Fish were there.  Got the rest of our 7 man limit in short order. Great day of fishing on calm seas!!!"

It sounds like jig fishing has been fantastic.  I've also heard Cone Reef and Locust Reef mentioned.

Travis 

March 23, 2010 (Tuesday) Travis 

The weather is finally improving after a nasty weekend.  Most of the ice is gone in the western basin and fishing activity should really start picking up.  The first LEWT is next weekend and the last I looked 48 of the 50 spots were filled.  It will be great to get the season going.

We received an update from Dean and I know that all of you will be interested in reading it.  Here it is:

"Travis; looks like Sue and I have survived another winter, pushed more snow this winter than I can remember doing in the past, just glad its over.

We got a carry out fish dinner from a local church PTO Friday night, the fish was not very good due to having dark meat left in the fillet which gave it a fishy, got me to thinking about the Lake Erie folks and though it would be appropriate to remind all that when cleaning walleye to make sure all the dark (fat) and silver (skin) is cut off the filet before cooking. As you know this make a world of difference in how the fish taste.

We wish all of you and the good folks that participate in the Denied site a great fishing season."

Travis

March 17, 2010 (Wednesday) Travis 

Open water is finally here!  You still need to be careful as there is remnant ice out there, especially west of Port Clinton and from Cedar Point to the east, but boats are going out of Catawba and Mazurik.  It won't take much more of this beautiful weather to clear the rest of the ice out.  I've heard second hand reports of walleye being caught by basically ice-fishing from a boat between Catawba and Green Island.

I have a few annual maintenance issues to take care of on my boat and then I'll be ready to go within the next few weeks.  I love this time of year.  Let's hope that we avoid the big blows and keep the entire western basin from turning to chocolate like it did last year.  If you're interested in what it looks like right now there have been some great satellite shots from the last few days.

Travis 

March 1, 2010 (Monday) Marc 

I don't know about the rest of you but I'm ready for this white stuff to go away. December 7th seems so long ago. That was my last fishing trip and the ice on Erie was never cooperative enough for my taste. That’s about to change though because boating season is right around the corner.

Reminders that come to the top of my head are 2010 fishing licenses, checking all safety gear, especially flares, fire extinguishers, throwables and life jackets checked for mold, tears or mouse damage from the winter storage.

I don't know where my first trip will be at, that depends on the first open launch but my favorite ice out spot is NE of Marblehead and over to Cedar Point with jigs, blades and other metal lures jigged vertically with shiners on the hooks. I'll be anchored so I won't be near any packs of drifters unless they form around me. Soon after the ice leaves for good I'll get the trolling gear out and use a variety of Reefrunner, Storm and Rapala's for the most part but Bagley’s and Renosky's will see some action as well. I like slow in the .6-1.0 MPH range but I know people that have success much faster.

There is a lot going on right now in the regulation arena. Limits for 2010 won't be known for sure until late March when the Lake Erie Committee meets. There are people out there that want the lake closed to Walleye fishing during March and April and even some that would like to close it from October until May. Mostly they are the guys that don't put there boats in until late May and take them out in September and in between those times they catch more than most any casual angler would even dream of. Sounds kinda selfish to me. Personally I think the ODNR will do what they think is the right thing to do. I put the video of Travis's Jan 31st presentation on You tube. you can watch it by going to youtube and look under wbsa videos. 1st of 5 Travis videos from 1/31/2010

The big political thing going right now in my opinion is the Asian Carp issue. There are millions of these things in the Illinois, Calumet and Chicago rivers just a short swim away from Lake Michigan with a direct conduit to make that short jump. The only thing holding them back right now is some iffy science with an electric fence and leaky locks in the man made canals connecting them to the Great Lakes. It is scary as hell to think the damage these fish could do to the west Basin of Lake Erie let alone the feeder streams of all the Great lakes.

I could go on and on about this but there are things we can do and mostly that is to make noise and lots of it to our Federal and State legislators. There are only 2 things these guys understand and that is where is my campaign money coming from and lots of noise from voters. Since we as a group don't have lots of money you know what that means.

WBSA is having a meeting about Asian Carp on Weds. March 3rd in Huron, Ohio at the I5s (It's 5 o'clock somewhere). Dave Kelch from Ohio Sea Grant will be the speaker. If you have never heard Dave give a presentation on something he is passionate about you owe it to yourself to come listen. This meeting is open to the public and the special at I5s on Weds nights are wings so bring your appetite.

It won't be long now. Have a safe and rewarding spring fishing the West End and send us some reports if and when you can.

Marc

February 20, 2010 (Saturday) Travis 

I've been absent from the page for a while, just taking a break since I haven't had much to say.  There has been ice fishing going on, but mostly west of South Bass and now off Ward's canal.  There is good ice in those areas, but a lot of bad ice and also open water in a lot of other places.  There have been some recent satellite photos if you're interested in taking a look.

I have a few presentations coming up.  I'll be at Steve Carlson's South Shore Marina open house in Huron on Saturday March 6 after lunch, at the Mid-Ohio Walleye Club meeting near Mansfield on Thursday March 11, and then at Erie Outfitters in Sheffield on Saturday March 13 for an OGF get together.

Here is the first ice report of the year that just came in:

"there is a lot of ice fishing going on at 3-4 miles off wards canal lots of 3-5# fish seen a 10 pounder i just watched at the pier with binoculars and seen a coyote run across the ice then a eagle flew by probably a least a hundred people out there with 4 wheelers 3 wheelers snow mobiles and air boats i was told 5-7 inches of ice with open water 5 miles out even had some guys a couple hundred miles off shore they were walking cant wait for the spring"

Travis

December 27, 2009 (Sunday) Travis

As usual Marc and I must be on the same wave length.  I decided to put up a post today for the first time in quite a while and I see that Marc just posted yesterday.  He has a lot of good information, make sure to read it below.

I just wanted to wish everyone a belated Merry Christmas and also a Happy New Year.  Looking back, 2009 was another great year for me and my family.  As always I learned a lot out on the big lake and I hope to put it to good use in future years.

I really want to thank all of you that continue to use, and contribute to, this page.  Every single report helps, whether you limited out or zeroed.  I get a lot of e-mails thanking us for keeping this site up, but the e-mails should really be directed to all the readers that contribute and keep the site current.  I put almost every trip of mine up, but it wouldn't be nearly what it is without the readers' reports.  Thanks for a great 2009 and here's to a great 2010.

Travis

December 26, 2009 (Saturday) Marc 

Hi everyone, I haven't had much input for quite some time now but I wasn't needed. Travis is doing a great job!

I hope you all had a peaceful and Merry Christmas and wish you a Happy new Year! 

This has been a good year overall for most of us. It had it's ups and downs weather wise but I don't think I've ever seen such a promising fall turn into such a complete bust and come to such an abrupt end. Oh well thats Erie for you.

I have a couple of announcemnts and then a comment on the Jack Tibbels letter and the growing noise from his supporters that is making the rounds about closing the walleye fishing during the spawn..

First WBSA will be at the Bass Pro in Toledo on Sunday Jan. 31. We will have 2 sessions. 1 starts at 10:30 AM and goes till 12:30 and the second will be from 1:30PM til 3:30PM, Travis Hartman from the ODNR Fish biology research office in Sandusky and Matt Davis and Dan Gies, winners of the MWC championship and overall Team of the Year in 2009 will be our other guest speakers. Matt is the LEWT and Gator Classic tourney director and Dan is Vice President of WBSA.

Travis will address some of results of last falls trawls and gill net surveys and Walleye, perch and smallmouth numbers that will go to the Lake Erie commission for the March TAC's.  Travis always has a good presentation, answers questions well and can even give some good pointers on trolling techniques, lure presentations etc. It's also not far from his favorite muskie haunts at Lake St clair and the Detroit River.

Our 2nd set of speakers are proven tournament winners (along with Travis) on Lake Erie, the Detroit river and hell, anyplace they fish. Matt and Dan will be discussing worm harnesses for the most part but are expert handliners and aren't bashful about breaking out the jigging rods when needed. We're excited to be going to Bass Pro and have been wanting to set something up for our western Ohio members for quite some time now. I think it will be a good show for everyone.

Now...The Tibbels agenda. Jack Tibbles has started a campaign to close fishing during the spawn. Jack's heart is in the right place but I disagree and so did the LECBA and some other Ohio groups. He is getting some support though and it makes me nervous because it is the type of sentimental stuff the newspapers love and groups like PETA thrive on. It's not based on science or economics but a gut reaction to what is becoming a serious population problem for Erie Walleyes. I went back and read my Denied blog from April 11th if you haven't read it before read it now and if you can't remember what i said then read it again.  I won't change a word of it and it is still the way I and most of the sport fishermen I talk to feel. I say if you really want to make a difference in how many fish are caught, in a knee jerk way, then close it down in May, June and July. That's when the real TAC damage is done.

Something else I meant to put on here but forgot was an article by John Hageman a couple months ago about the futility of trying to increase walleye numbers in Lake Erie by a stocking program. You can read it here. It's very good reading but like everything else there are naysayers. You can make up your minds.

Travis will be busy at a few shows in January. He'll be at the Cleveland boat show, the Erie county outdoor seminars and the WBSA meeting at Bass Pro. Hope you can come listen to him at one of his talks about  this issue. If you can't and have broadband we have videos of his Sept WBSA meeting on you tube. You can see the first of a set of 5 videos here You can also search for wbsavideo. WBSA?LEWT will be at the boat show as well. Stop in and see uas if you go! We'll be right across from the stage with Cranberry Creek and Cisco Fishing Systems.

It looks like the 15 day forecast shows mostly sub freezing weather. It may set up for some icefishing in a few weeks but so far other than Sandusky Bay there doesn't appear to be any ice set up yet. When it does set up be careful, I sure don't want to hear anymore of  the Ottawa county sherrif's BS on national TV.

Have a good 2010 everyone!

December 2, 2009 (Wednesday) Travis 

I had a chance to do a lot of fishing this week and it has been a fun week.  The weather made the fishing challenging, but I tried some new places and learned from it.  Here's how the past 5 days have gone:

Saturday- Fished west of the Huron River from 7 pm to midnight.  I caught a 9 pound fish in the first 30 minutes and it was the only hit of the night.  I believe it was on a glass purple perch size 14 husky jerk 15' back (my memory is fading from 5 days ago).  It was flat calm and the water was pretty clear in less than 10' east of Sawmill Creek.  The fish never moved in and it was too muddy for my liking out deeper.

Sunday- Fished Cleveland harbor from sunset to 10:45 pm.  We caught a 9.25 pound walleye and 5 pound walleye, and one small steelhead.  It was a windy and wet night and we trolled the inner breakwalls in the east half of the harbor.  The bigger walleye came on a size 14 husky, and the other walleye and steelhead both hit a F-18 rapala.

Monday- NW winds during the afternoon led us to try fishing around Marblehead.  Before dark I caught one 21" walleye on a salamander ripstick about half way from Marblehead to Cedar Point.  After dark we landed six fish along the Marblehead shoreline in 8 to 14' of water.  The biggest was 8.5 pounds and came on a F-18 rapala.  Most of the hits after dark came on size 14 huskys.  At 10:30 the wind really started cranking out of the SW.  It was a slow bumpy ride back to Mazurik.

Tuesday- We fished the mud north of Ruggles Reef before dark and caught 2 four to six pound fish on rapala F-18's.  After dark we caught 3 fish on ripsticks in 15' on ruggles, but they were small.  We moved over west of the Huron River and caught a 7 pound fish on a size 14 husky jerk, and then caught one more 6+ pound fish later.  We finally quit after 1:00 AM with 7 fish total for the day.

Today- Based on wind and rain in the forecast for this evening we got out just before 11:00 and in the first 5 minutes I caught a 29" 10 pound fish in 35' of water north of Sawmill Creek on a F-18 65' back.  20 minutes later we caught a 5 pound fish on another F-18 and then only got one more pullback before surrendering when the rain got heavy and the waves hit 3' around 5 pm.  It's too bad that it got rough because the water was starting to clean up and we watched it get muddy in a matter of an hour or so.  My big fish weighed just over 10 on the water.  I'll see what it weighs tomorrow morning at a derby weigh station.

I really got hooked on fishing big F-18 rapalas.  It is one of the original floating balsa wood rapalas that is around 7 inches (18 cm, hence F-18).  This is the first time that I've ever fished them.  The walleye really seemed to prefer them over all the old favorites that I kept throwing at them all week.

Here is a report that came in over the holiday weekend:

"Two of my friends did go up to PIB on Nov 13, 14, and 15. Nothing on Fri., 4 fish on Sat nite and 0 on Sun nite. 3 were over 9# and 1, 5#. All were caught on South side of Isl near water plant. All on Thundersticks, from shore at nite."

Travis

November 26, 2009 (Thursday, Happy Thanksgiving!) Travis 

I hope that everyone is having an enjoyable Thanksgiving with family or friends.  I would like to take time to thank everyone that has contributed to this page this year and in past years.  We'll keep this page running as long as all of you keep contributing and using it.  Most of the information up here is thanks to all of you.

Here is a report that came in yesterday:

"I like others tried Huron last Saturday, but mud, mud, and more mud produced no fish.  Yesterday (Tuesday) I decided to give the far Western end a try in the afternoon.  I was surprised at how clean the water was.  I fished out of Sterling State Park (exit 15 Monroe, Michigan I75) in Brest Bay.  We were able to get five fish to go, landing three.  Two were nice fish.  One at 29" and about 8lbs., and one real nice one at 30.5 and weighing nearly 11lbs.  I used reef runner 800's 40' back (one was mojo and I can't remember the other).  I was at about 1.4 to 1.8.  The water temp was about 48 degrees.  Others were doing pretty well in 22' of water I was in 19' of water.  The wind shifted NE on us and shut things down, but up to that point they were starting to go.  I've heard others doing pretty good for a couple of weeks. (some at night doing well out of Monroe, no specifics)."

Travis

November 25, 2009 (Wednesday) Travis 

I heard that the new Huron ramp finally opened today.  They will be pulling the floating docks out soon, but the ramp will remain open.

This evening I created an index page that you can access all the past reports on.  Please let me know if any of the links are bad or link to the wrong month or year.  I copied a lot of links in a short amount of time so I could have made mistakes.  The link is available on the top left of this page and also on the Denied index page.

Travis 

November 22, 2009 (Sunday) Travis 

Last night dad and I went out and for the second straight week I fished until midnight on a beautiful, flat-calm Saturday night and only landed one fish.  We had 5 hits within an hour of each other and only landed one 5 pounder.  All the hits came on black ripsticks (salamander and lights out) 15 and 20' back in 6 to 9 feet of water west of Vermilion.  Before sunset we tried to catch them in the muddy water NW of the Vermilion breakwall in 26 to 34' of water.  The marks are good and although the water was muddy it was as good there is anywhere offshore.  After dark we went into the clear water around Sherod Park and that's where we got the hits.  Before we quit we tried down at Ruggles Reef and Cranberry Creek in 8 to 18' of water without a hit.

This fall has been frustrating around Huron.  The fish are there for sure, but they've been very tough to catch.  We seem to get just enough wind to keep it too muddy.  I wonder how good it would have been with even decent water clarity.  It has definitely been a good fall for big fish over at Cleveland harbor.  Just take a look at the recent threads with the pictures of 10 to 12 pound fish on Ohiogamefishing.com.

Travis 

November 17, 2009 (Tuesday) Travis 

We had a lot more wind today.  The waves were over 9' at the buoy.  I'm sure that we have a royal mess out there right now.

Here is a report that came in right after I posted yesterday:

Travis 

November 16, 2009 (Monday) Travis 

The wind is blowing out of the NE again today.  We had 3 feet waves all day according to the buoy on the sandbar.  It is supposed to blow for another day or two and then settle down.  It looks like we're in for some more muddy water this week.

Here are two reports that have come in:

"Fished sat morn and had a limit before noon and the 25 fish weighed 12lb. culled some fish and when i got home and put them in the freezer there still was 5 that I should have switched out !! Fished about 1.5 mi out from lakefront marina in 14' of water, so you huron addicts better get going west where the fish are!!!! I have heard more than once that the trolling around B can has consistently great!!!! day and night!!!!!"

"We fished Saturday- Started on the line east of Middle and worked our way all the way down to east of the airport.  We cleaned 25 perch- was a really slow day-water was very cloudy!  I did want to mention to people who may not be aware but several charter captains from west harbor and some from the Canadian shoreline have been absolutely slamming perch in Canadian water north to northwest of Pelee.  I heard from a very reliable source yesterday that these guys have caught over 900 perch with their trips in the last several days.  I believe they have been running double trips because its so fast and furious!!!!  I am also hearing they are catching (20  to 30)-14� fish out of 100.  And the average size is 11�, 12� and 13� fish.  I saw one cooler of fish and it was amazing.  I do not know the exact coordinates but I do know you can find them.  There will only be several boats up there."

Travis

November 15, 2009 (Sunday) Travis 

I couldn't resist the 50 degree calm weather last night.  I talked Jim Stedke into going out with me after dark.  We trolled from Ruggles to Vermilion in less than 10 feet of water.  The clarity was decent in shallow, but it is bad out any deeper.  We fished from 8 pm to midnight and only caught one small fish on a ripstick 30' back.  We didn't get any other hits.  The good news is that the water is still 50 degrees and there are still a lot of fish around Huron.  We really need the wind to help out and let the water clear up.  It's frustrating to see all the fish offshore and not be able to catch them because it's so muddy.

Here's a perch report that came in:

Travis

November 10, 2009 (Tuesday) Travis 

Dad and I fished out of Huron yesterday and had a good day.  From noon to 4:00 pm we caught 5 walleye in 40 to 45' of water about due N of the Huron River, with 42' being best.  Bare naked varieties of reef runners caught fish at 80 and 105' back, with a deep husky (120') and deep tail dancer (70') also catching fish.  The biggest fish that we landed was 8 pounds and I still wonder how big the fish was that got off with 7' out on the line counter (the water was dirty enough that I never got a look at it since it stayed straight down right until it popped off).  We probably missed as many short hits as we caught.  After dark we caught 5 or 6 more fish in less than 10' of water around the Huron River.  The size was good with Dad's biggest at 9.2 and my biggest at 8.8.  The nine pound fish was only 26.25" compared to the 8.8 pound fish that was over 28".  They really seemed to be tentative with plenty of missed pull backs and most fish falling off in the net.  Size 14 husky jerks 15 to 20' back caught most of the shallow fish.  Our speed was 1.0 to 1.4 mph during the day and then mostly 0.9 to 1.2 mph after dark.  The two biggest fish that we weighed in for the derby were both packed with big gizzard shad.  I guess they just didn't know when to stop.

The water temp is still in the low 50's.  The water was a lot dirtier offshore than I hoped that it would be.  In the shallow water nearshore it was crystal clear in pockets, but dirty in some places.  I'm sure that it is all dirtier now with the NE wind, and it is forecasted to keep blowing from the NE through Thursday.

Here's another report that came in today:

"Got a total of 16 eyes. Most were 5lb. and bigger. One was over 10 easy and one was closer to 9. Long leads with reef runners were the ticket. 135-145 feet back was the best and cranberry crusher caught 3/4 of the fish. All white reefrunner was good as was bare naked. Usually I run short leads in the fall but Monday was different. I stayed s. of the small pack in between Huron and Cedar point in 36-40ft of water. Speeds were between 1.3 and 1.6mph. I cant emphasize enough to mark the fish you catch on a gps and go back over the same area repeatedly. I talked to a couple guys that didn't have a gps. You can find them on sale for under a hundred bucks. You will catch a lot more fish that way! My best area was 27/34.5. There is another good area of fish in the 26/28 area."

Travis

November 4, 2009 (Wednesday) Travis

Here is a perch report that came in yesterday:

So far this year, we have fished this area 9 times, and have averaged just under 20 fish per man, while our overall average is just over 18 fish per man."

Travis

November 2, 2009 (Monday) Travis 

Here is a perch report that came in today:

"My Last three perch trips for the year were all NW of Kelly�s off the rock wall in 20 � 28 FOW.

Last Thurs. before the front went thru., 3 person limit, 23 lbs. Good day.

Sun. after the front, 2 guys, 37 perch, 11 lbs.

Today. (Mon.) 2 guys, 50 Perch 12 lbs.

Except for last Thur. bite was slow and lite most of the time. And there are plenty of Gobi�s out there. I have to say I am sad to see another fishing year for me end."

Travis

November 1, 2009 (Sunday) Travis 

I have to say that I'm happy to see October go.  We had yet another blow Saturday to send the month out.  Maybe we can get out of this once or twice per week blow pattern now.

Dad and I made it out this afternoon and fished from 1 pm until sundown around 6 pm.  It was slow going with plenty of stained water out there.  The trip was worthwhile, though, as we ended the day by catching a 28" (barely) 9 pound 15 ounce fish.  We started out fishing in 45' of water out around the 29/28 lines.  The marks are great out there, but like most other places the clarity is less than desirable.  We caught two smaller fish (5.75 and 4 pounds) and missed one out there.  The 5 pounder came on a pink lemonade ripstick 80' back and the smaller fish came on a skinned squirrel reef runner 60' back.  Around 4 o'clock we moved in to my favorite area in 28 to 34 feet of water NW of Ruggles.  We started at the north end and trolled in with the north breeze.  In 28' of water we caught the 9 pound fish on the skinned squirrel reef runner 50' back.  At 28" it was definitely fat.  We missed a few other hits in the same area.  Our speed was 1.0 to 1.3 mph most of the time.  The marks weren't stacked, but they were pretty good.  The clarity was at least as good as it was offshore, but still too stained in my opinion.  The big fish didn't exactly inhale the lure, as it fell off as soon as it was netted.  All together we only landed the 3 fish, but with the 9 pounder it felt like a good warm up for what's to come (if we get any decent weather this month).  It was a beautiful afternoon on the lake complete with a rising full moon at sunset.

Here is a perch report from Friday:

Travis