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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

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