| 2004 Archived Reports |
December
30, 2004 (Thursday) Just to brighten your day, the temperature
at 11am
here is south Texas is 74 degrees and the price of gasoline is $1.479 J.
December
28, 2004 (Tuesday) Well we made it, about 1pm today. We are set
up on
our lot and are trying to get everything in order. The temperature (now
don’t
drop you snow shovels) is 79 degrees, winds are light out of the SW and
the
palm trees are gently moving. The oranges are not too good but I guess
I can’t
ask for everything.
Anyone
still wanting a copy of the “Maps and Fishing Guide” hold
off until we get back
home, maybe sometime in February, it all depends on some other things I
have
going as to when we have to be back.
December
27, 2004 (Monday) We are setting is a Flying J truck stop just
off I-20
in Greenwood, Louisiana about 5 miles out of Texas. We left Sunday
morning
about 4am, with a foot of snow on top of the bus and left dripping all
the way
to here. It looks like all the ice and snow are clear of the bus but
just
barely. We will get to (hopefully) Huston or a little beyond this
evening and
on into Alamo the next day. Doing 500 miles per day is not too hard in
the
motor home since we only stop for gas. BTW gas is cheaper in Louisiana
than any
place else we have been, just paid $1.559 but even that takes a chunk,
75
gallons at a time.
December
23, 2004 (Thursday) Ole mother nature gave us a kick in the
pants, we
got around 12 inches of show here in SW Ohio and I have been plowing
snow all
day. Got to get it cleared out so we can get the motor home out of the
driveway
Sunday morning. Just getting that thing out onto the road is a chore
without
all the snow. The temperature is 14 degrees at 8pm and supposed to drop
before
morning, Merry Christmas to all.
Sue
and Dean
December
19, 2004 (Sunday) It looks like winter has finally caught up
with us, I
am looking at 10 degrees and a 7 to 10 knot wind right now and it is
suppose to
get colder by morning. Between getting ready for Christmas we are also
packing
to leave for Texas next Sunday morning. We are supposed to have cable
access to
the Internet once we get set up at the RV park, so I may be able to
update you
on the weather in south Texas and how well the orange and grapefruit
crops is
doing J.
Sue
and I wish each of you and your families the best Christmas and New
Years ever.
I also want to thank you for taking the time to read our little web
site; it’s
the appreciation of you that keeps us going.
December
16, 2004 (Thursday) It is with much sorrow that I report the
death of
Rudy Gaal. Rudy was the owner of PA’s lures in Cleveland; he was
a “good guy” and
nice person we last saw Rudy at the Walleye Central get together the
last of
October and he was his normal friendly self. I am told that he had
cancer and
was not feeling well back then but he never let on.
I
would like to think that the angles in heaven were having problems
catching
enough fish and needed his help. May God bless Rudy and his family, I
will miss
him.
December
14, 2004 (Tuesday) I am still getting a few reports from
“shore fisherman” reporting good and
bad days. The walleye seem to be moving back and forth between Sandusky
and
Huron but when the weather permits there are fish to be caught.
As
orders come in for the “Maps & Fishing Guide” we are
trying to get them out
the same day we receive them. Any that come in now will be shipped
priority
mail to try and get them to you by Christmas.
December
9, 2004 (Thursday) About the time if think most folks are
giving it up,
I got two reports today of good sized walleye being caught off the
shore at
Sandusky in the area from Damon’s restaurant to the police
department off the
rocks, casting husky jerks and rip sticks. The weather surly has been
kind to
these folks.
Merry
Christmas and Happy New Year to you each and every one.
8
slices bacon, chopped
2
small onion, chopped fine
2
carrot, chopped fine
2
celery rib, chopped fine
4
tablespoon unsalted butter
4
teaspoons all purpose flour
1-teaspoon
paprika
16
ounces bottled clam juice
2
cups water
1
can, 12 oz. carnation canned milk.
2
russet (baking) potatoes (about 1 pound)
1
1/2 pounds firm white fish fillet such as walleye, halibut or cod, skin
discarded and flesh cut into 1inch pieces.
4
tablespoons minced fresh parsley leaves
To
make the fish chowder:
In
a heavy saucepan cook bacon over moderate heat, stirring, until crisp
and
transfer with a slotted spoon to paper towels to drain. Pour off fat
and in pan
cook onion, carrot, and celery in butter over moderately low heat,
stirring
occasionally, until softened. (You may have to add a little water to
keep from
sticking)
Sprinkle
flour over mixture and cook, stirring, 3 minutes. Stir in paprika and
cook,
stirring, 30 seconds. Add clam juice, water, and canned milk and bring
to a
slow boil, stirring occasionally. (Add canned milk last when mixture is
cooled
down)
While
mixture is coming to a boil, peel potato and cut into 1/4inch dice. Add
potato
to mixture and simmer chowder, uncovered until potatoes are close to
done. Stir
in fish and simmer until just cooked through, about 5 minutes. Stir in
parsley,
bacon, and salt and pepper. (I like to use red pepper) It seems to be
better if
fixed and allowed to set for a few hours, then reheat and eat.
1
10 oz bag, soup and oyster crackers
1/3-cup
canola oil
1
tablespoon, dill wed
1
t spoon, garlic salt
Combine
in a large 1-gallon zip lock bag, shake or stir until crackers are
coated.
Yield:
4 servings
Notes:
If you are afraid of the grease in the bacon, the chowder is almost as
good
without it.
December
1, 2004 (Wednesday) Even though there are still big walleye to
be
caught from Cleveland to Kelley’s Island the “die
hard” are giving it up one at
a time. I have had a few reports recently, one sending a picture of a
32-inch
walleye caught off 72nd Street in Cleveland. Really the
weather is
becoming worse each day and going out is becoming more dangerous.
Sue
and I have been busy with the holidays, getting the bus ready to leave
for
Texas on the 26th and still sending out a few cds and map
booklets.
We hope to have everything wrapped up by Christmas and make a fast exit
the
next morning. I am hoping that I will not have to put the snow blade on
before
we leave J.
November
27, 2004 (Saturday) For lack of anything better to do, I have
been
doing some research on why the walleye are practically jumping out onto
shore
in the late fall. It seems a food source for walleye; the
“gizzard shad” prefer
warm water and as the deeper lake water-cools the shallow inshore
waters are
warmed by the sun during the day so the gizzard shad come to the
shallows
seeking warmth. They are followed by the walleye. I am told that later
in the
season when the shoreline is no longer warmer than the lake this will
stop.
(Thanks John)
BTW
sales of the “Maps and Fishing Guide” are 5 to 10 per day,
if you are looking
for stocking stuffers for Christmas for a fishermen this could fill the
need. Please
get your orders in soon; we will be “out of here” December
26th
until spring.
November
25, 2004 (Thursday) Thanksgiving day I would like to give
thanks to all
our service men and women on this day for your service and sacrifice to
our
country and for what it stands. Too many times we take our way of life
for
granted and forget that freedom is not free. God bless and keep you.
November
24, 2004 (Wednesday) There is a cold front stalled just
southeast of
Lake Erie that may spell the end of fishing for a while. Waves are 4
feet or so
and predicted to get bigger the rest of the week. Reports from the past
weekend
and earlier this week say that trollers took limits of 24 to 26 inch
walleye
north of Kelley’s Island in 40 foot of water using reef runners
40 to 70 feet
back.
The
perch bite was hot off Cedar Point over the weekend with limits of big
perch
being taken. Perch are also being caught in limits around the islands,
one
reports says the water has been very clear and he has been taking a
limit in
less than two hours.
November
22, 2004 (Monday) I got a couple of reports from over the
weekend, both
are from Gordon Park (E 72nd Street, Cleveland) where perch
fishermen took limits of 9s and over (up to 13 and one 14”) perch
no more than
2 miles out from the ramp. Walleye fishermen are still taking very nice
6 to 10
plus pound walleye slow trolling around the perimeter of the park,
staying in
10 FOW (feet of water) or less which has to be within “rock
throwing” distance
from shore. The same baits and program that has been working for the
last
couple of weeks, if the weather continues to hold these folks will have
to eat
fish for Thanksgiving dinner, no place else to put them J.
November
20, 2004 (Saturday) This past week has been a good one for
folks still
fishing from Cleveland all the way to Kelley’s Island. Reports
tell of trophy
size walleye taken at 72nd street, Cleveland, Lorain at
29.26 /
11.65 which is just off the break wall, where perch were taken in
limits with
nothing kept under 9 inches, same area produced numerous steel head
with the
largest being 29 ½ inches taken right up against the break wall,
big walleye
are being caught between Vermilion and Huron in close, 10 FOW or less
by slow
trolling rip sticks and husky jerks, mostly at night. Some folks are
doing very
well north of Kelley’s Island taking limits of walleye. If I knew
the weather
was going to stay this nice I might plan to stay at the lake until
Christmas
next year J.
November
19, 2004 (Friday) Some hearty soles are still fishing nights
off 72nd
street, Cleveland between 8 and 12 midnight. They are taking nice sized
walleye
up to 10 lbs or so. The program seems to be slow trolling; down close
to 1 mph
or so, husky jerks in fire tiger, silver/chrome, green/chrome and
blue/chrome
are the color of choice. Baits were run back 15 to 25 feet off the
boards and
flat lined back 50 feet. If the weather holds this could go on all
winter.
The
“Maps and Fishing Guide” sales have slowed down
some with 3 to 5 orders per day still coming in, if you have not
ordered yet
please get yours in soon or hold off until April. We will be leaving
for Texas
right after Christmas and won’t be filling orders after that
until we come back
toward spring.
November
16, 2004 (Tuesday) Got a report from a good friend who lives
near Port
Clinton. He said they have been trolling around Ruggles Beach and off
Catawba
State Park and taking some walleye each trip. They are trolling #14
husky
jerks, blue chrome with orange bottoms. Clowns and gold rip sticks.
Our
guys still fishing off E 72nd in Cleveland report taking 6
nice size
walleye, one near 9 lbs., last evening. Fish were in 30 FOW “on
the rocks” best
colors were clown, green/chrome, silver/black and blue/chrome.
November
15, 2004 (Monday) Got another report from E 72nd
street,
Cleveland. They are still taking some nice walleye by trolling husky
jerks (12s
and 14s) clown color seems to be the best. Reports from Port Clinton
and Huron
both talk about murky to muddy water.
The
“Maps and Fishing Guide” sales are going strong with over
100 copies sent out
so far. If you have yours and feel it is worthwhile please tell your
fishing
friends, most of our orders come from “word of mouth”
referrals between
fishermen.
November
13, 2004 (Saturday) As you can imagine, we eat a lot of walleye
around
here. We continually look for different recipes for fixing walleye.
Recently I
have got turned on to a very simple and healthy (IMHO) recipe. I take a
piece
of aluminum foil about 18” long, place enough walleye for one
serving on the
foil, spray the fillets with butter flavored Pam. Then shake on a
goodly amount
of “Cajun seasoning”, turn over the fillets and do the same
to the other side,
them wrap so the fillets stay flat and put on the grill. I try and get
the
temperature around 350 degrees and leave them on for around 20 minutes.
That’s
it, could not be simpler and they are great. If you don’t like
spicy then try
lemon pepper or just salt with the butter flavored spray. By the way if
you
have never tried the “walleye chowder” recipe, which is on
“favorite recipes”
link on my front page, you are missing out on a cold weather treat.
November
12, 2004 (Friday) A recent reports says “the bite was
HOT off Huron on
Wednesday night - 6:00 to 10:00 pm. West of the pier on shore and in
boats lots
of fish taken -12 lbs+ BIG Fish”. Another “Huron
resident” said the Sunday
through Tuesday bite was slow with 1, 2 and 2 walleye taken each
evening. He
also says he took his fish on husky jerks in blue/orange colors. The
best shore
bite seems to be between 5pm to (very) dark. Reports indicate the fish
are up
high so trollers, between slow and stop is about as fast as you need to
go, get
your boards out away from the boat as far as possible.
November
11, 2004 (Thursday) On this Veteran’s Day I
like to take
time and reflect on what it means to me. The thing I remember best is
that “Freedom
is not free” and without the folks who have and do defend
this nation
no telling what language we would be speaking. I thank you each
and every
one.
Reports
are thin, one from Cleveland off E72nd Street where our reader reports
his
“best night of our lives”, including on 12-pound walleye.
They were trolling
husky jerks (12 and 14s), in clown and silver.
Perch
fisherman report good to limit catches off Marblehead and from Huron to
Vermilion.
Note: I have added an option to the “Maps and Fishing Guide” of a laminated copy of the print version for $50 each. See above.
November
10, 2004 (Wednesday) I found the following link posted on
another web
site and thought you might enjoy it. http://theinterviewwithgod.com/windowmovie.html
November
8, 2004 (Monday) One fisherman reported trolling off
Marblehead over
the weekend and picking up a few walleye in 15 feet of water. He saw
better
marks further out but the bite was in the shallows. The Huron pier
fisherman
did fair over the weekend but the bite is still off and on.
November
7, 2004 (Sunday) Night fishermen pulled some good size walleye
around
the mouth of the Huron River and down to Chappel Creek last evening.
They were
night fishing but these fish are still in the area during the day
though they
may be harder to get to bite. Perch fishermen are doing will also just
outside
the mouth of the Huron River and off the Huron light. I have a couple
reports
from off Marblehead of good perch fishing also.
Friday and Saturday I received several orders for copies of the “Maps and fishing guide”. They are ready and will go to the post office tomorrow morning.
November
6, 2004 (Saturday) The weekend is not looking good, wind is out
of the
WSW at 23 to 30 knots, waves at the buoy are 4.6 feet, the temperature
is 47
degrees with a wind chill of 39 degrees and the water temperature is 54
degrees. Weather predictions through Monday are for more of the same.
November
5, 2004 (Friday) The wind has kicked up today, 21 to 26 knots
out of
the west, the temperature is 45 degrees at noon, the waves at the buoy
are 3.6
feet and the water temperature is 54 degrees. Fishing reports are few,
some
folks are still night fishing off the Huron pier, Lakeside pier and
Catawba
Island state park and are taking some nice walleye but it is still hit
or miss.
I also got a report saying walleye were being caught on shore from the
north
side of Kelley’s Island.
Thanks
to one of our readers who had access to commercial printers and ran off
copies
of the “Maps and Fishing Guide” where my cost was only for
supplies, I now have
paper copies for anyone wanting one. They are loose leaf, plastic ring
bound
with a card stock backing. They would be nice for someone who is not
equipped
with a color printer. They are the same price as the cd, $25 each
including
packaging and postage. Nice Christmas gift.
November
4, 2004 (Thursday) The morning temperature is 50 degrees, wind
is SSW
at 8 to 10 knots, waves at the buoy are 2 feet and the water
temperature is 56
degrees. Some reports are still coming in; walleye fishing off Huron
pier is going
very well with nice size walleye being caught most nights. Some folks
are
trolling between the Huron River and Chappel Creek (west of Vermilion)
not far
off shore. This area is good this time of year both during the day and
at
night.
The
“Maps and Fishing Guide” orders are going well.
I am getting feedback from some folks who have already receive their
cd’s that
they like what they see (thanks for that). I am hoping to be able to
announce
soon that I have found a source for printed copies at a price I can
afford and
will have them available for those who want one. (More to follow).
November
2, 2004 (Tuesday) Reports from Catawba and around Mouse Island
say the
water is still murky and the fish have lock jaw, good report from the
bank
fishermen off the west side of Huron Pier where good sized walleye are
being
caught soon after dark but it is still an off and on thing. Wind
direction,
water clarity and the presence of baitfish make the difference.
November
1, 2004 (Monday) The weekend weather never got as bad as
expected, wave
did not reach the double digits and are less than a foot at the buoy
this
morning. Reports are few but I did get one report of excellent perch
being
taken off the Avon power plant in ½ pound size. Nice sized
walleye are being
taken off the Huron pier by shore fishermen and by trollers off
Cranberry Creek
at night. They are trolling in close to shore in 10 feet of water or
less and
using electric trolling motors to keep from scaring off the fish. Rip
sticks
back less than 50 feet seems to be the hot bait.
The
first batch of “Maps & Fishing Guide” will go in the
mail today. I have not
given up on doing a printed-paper version and am looking into the cost
of
getting into it myself. I think I can upgrade to a commercial color
printer and
do them myself for a lot less than the $1.00 per sheet price I have
been
getting from commercial printers, hopefully more information to follow.
October
30, 2004 (Saturday) Reports of limit perch coming off the red
can north
of West Reef (North Bass) in the last couple of days.
October
29, 2004 (Friday) this morning forecast starts with “A GALE WARNING IS LIKELY TO BE NEEDED SATURDAY”.
It
seems “gale” has been around a lot this year. The after
effects of no less than
four tornado’s a few assorted hurricanes and more high winds and
storms than I
could keep track of seem to highlight this season, but I should not
complain,
we get to spent seven months at the lake and can wait out the bad
weather and
be ready when it clears. It does seem that most bad weather begins or
end on a
weekend.
I
guess you can tell fishing reports are getting thin. The only good
reports I
receive are from shore (may be where we belong this time of year). The
night
fishing continues to be on the rise with big walleye are being caught
nightly
off the Huron Pier.
October
28, 2004 (Thursday) One of our readers reminds me that high
powered
rifle matches are going on at Camp Perry, he tells me that if a boat
gets into
the range by mistake, the matches are shut down until they can get the
boat
into the clear. This means lots of shooters waiting until all is clear.
The
matches normally start at 8am and last until 5pm. He further says they
don’t
shoot into any dirt banks or backstops; all rounds go into the lake
with
nothing to slow them down but the paper target. If you are out in the
area of
the range stay clear, we don’t want anyone getting unneeded holes
in their
boat.
October
27, 2004 (Wednesday) Perch continue to be hitting big time off
Gull
Island Shoals and northeast of Kelley’s near the red buoy off
Kelley Shoals,
also walleye are still hitting off Vermilion. The one report with
numbers was
at 28.5/18.3.
I
make the rounds of the printers today, boy was I surprised, most wanted
nearly
$1.00 per page for color which would ran near to $20.00 per book.
Needless to
say that’s way more than I had anticipated and would drive the
cost to high in
my opinion. Black and white does not do justice to the maps or really
show the
contours.
So,
back to the drawing board, I am now thinking about sending the maps
(book) out
on CD-rom and let each person print them as they wish. I could send
them in a
Microsoft word document, which is nearly universal. If we go this way I
think
the cost could be held at $25.00 including postage.
What
do you think? Any ideas? Let me know.
October
26, 2004 (Tuesday) The perch are starting to hit again, several
reports
from around the Islands and off Huron / Vermilion area, especially
south of the
red can off Gull Island Shoals. It sounds like shore fishing may be
starting
with quite a few people fishing off Catawba and Huron pier. If the
weather
holds and does it does not turn nasty the “late stay” folks
could be in for a
good week.
I
spent the day working on the fishing guide and maps; it looks like I am
nearly
finished. I hope to get to the
printers later this week.
October
25, 2004 (Monday) Some reports are still coming in; good size
perch
were caught over the weekend near Gull Island in limit numbers. The
walleye are
a little east of Vermilion around the 28/18 lines; they are still up
high and
coming on stick baits. The night bite is reported getting started off
Lakeside
and Catawba State Park with nice size fish being caught.
October
23, 2004 (Saturday) The lake is a little rough today but
fishable. I
got good reports from yesterday, perch off the sand bar at 35 to 36/ 18
to 19
lines where limits were taken. Walleye fishing was extremely slow but I
did
hear of some folks taking nice sized walleye further east around the
32/13
lines. IF the weather would cooperate I suspect the coming week could
be a
great one. Unfortunately I will have to wait and hear from others since
we
pulled out this morning and are back home trying to get everything put
away.
We
had a great time at the walleye central get together last evening, I
got to
talk the some really nice folks who were only a name on an email
before. I hope
to be able to now put a few faces with already familiar names. I hope I
got it
all right, with my hearing problem (can’t hear very well) it is
difficult to
understand with all the background noise, so if I did not respond as I
should
have please forgive me.
October
22, 2004 (Friday) I talked to a good friend last evening who
had fished
both Wednesday and Thursday taking only one walleye, others experienced
the
same results. Today also seem slow with very few fish reported. In my
opinion
the muddy and stained water is the culprit, hopefully this will clear
soon and
the walleye will turn back on. All reports say they are marking fish
out around
the 30 lines but are having to run all the way north to near the 40
line to get
clear water. If the weather does not again turn bad there may be some
good
fishing this weekend but only time will tell.
We
will be leaving Port Clinton for home tomorrow morning. I am sad to see
another
season come to an end but that’s the way it works. I will
continue updating the
reports page as long as I have anything coming in to report, I will
also keep
you updated on our trip south starting in January.
October
21, 2004 (Thursday) The walleye central get together will be
tomorrow
(Friday) evening at German Village Banquet Hall locate at 3330 Liberty
Street
(SR6) in Vermilion, Ohio. The following is a link to information
regarding the
get together. http://www.walleyecentral.com/get_together.shtml
Sue
and I hope to see you there.
The
fishing is still slow today, several boats are out off the 30 line but
report
slow going and murky water.
October
20, 2004 (Wednesday) Very few boat out today and they reported
few or
no walleye and lots of muddy water, clear out to the 31 line. They did
mark
fish between the 30/27 and 31/18 lines which indicates to me that the
walleye
are continuing their move south along the west side of the sand bar. IF
it
clears for the weekend I would suggest starting around the 27/27 lines
and
working east toward the south end of the bar (31/18).
Denied
got her winter cover today and is laid up until spring. We will attend
the
walleye central get together Friday evening and leave for home Saturday
sometime. We hope to see you at the get together, be sure and look us
up.
October
19, 2004 (Tuesday) The 7:30AM temperature is 53 degrees, wind
is out of
the north at 15 to 19 knots, wave at the buoy are 5.2 feet and the
water
temperature is 57.
After
looking at the weather for the rest of the week we decided to move the
boat
back to West Harbor yesterday. The morning looked fairly well with only
about a
1-foot chop and the wind was out of the east. The trip back from Huron
was
uneventful, I was surprised that the water was not very muddy, as I had
expected. A few boats went out fishing but the catching was slow with
only a
few walleye reported caught. We will now start the process of getting
everything ready for winter. We plan to attend the walleye central get
together
Friday evening and then pull out some time Saturday.
As
usual I will keep up with fishing reports as long as I am getting
anything to
report.
October
18, 2004 (Monday) The morning temperature is 46 degrees, wind
is out of
the NW at 4 to 6 knots, waves are 0.7 feet and the water temperature is
58
degrees.
Even
thought the waves have laid down this morning, 3 to 5 footers are
predicted for
this afternoon and Tuesday with 2 to 4 footer Wednesday and Thursday.
Following
all the north winds this weekend I expect the lake to be muddy for a
couple of
days but we will have to wait and see. We are down to the short rows
(nearly
done) now and well be bringing the boat home soon. I am not sure we
will get
back out again this season, but we have had a good year, caught lots of
walleye
and even put a few in the freezer.
Our
tentative plan is to close up this coming weekend and head home for two
months.
I need time to put the final touches on the fishing guide (maps) and
have some
other things to take care of, then we will leave for Texas in the motor
home on
the 26th of December. We are going back to Alamo Texas on
the Rio
Grande Valley for two or three months then back home of a while before
coming
back to the lake sometime in April. I will continue updating the
reports page
as long as I am getting feedback from anyone, I will also update
regarding our
winter in Texas for those of you who can’t find anything to do
between
shoveling snow.
October
17, 2004 (Sunday) The morning temperature is 45 degrees, wind
is out of
the WSW at 25 to 31 knots, waves are 5.2 feet at the buoy and the water
temperature is 58 degrees. The predictions for the rest of the week are
not
looking good with winds and wave higher that I want to fish in. Add to
that the
cold temperatures and you have a miserable week at best. Its too bad as
it will
be our last week at the lake this season, I had hoped to get out a few
times
this week but my have to settle on catching a day that the wave are
small
enough to bring the boat back from Huron. We have had a good season and
caught
enough fish to fill the freezer so I can’t complain at least not
too much.
October
16, 2004 (Saturday) As the weather people promised yesterday
was not
fit to be out, rain and high winds were the order of the day. This
morning the
temperature is 51 degrees, wind is WSW at 27 to 30 knots, waves at the
buoy are
5.2 feet and the water temperature is 60 degrees. Expect more of the
same for
Sunday while Monday through Wednesday is supposed to be 2 to 4 foot
wave. With
all this wind and waves I don’t look for the fishing to pick back
up until
midweek IF it does lie down after Sunday.
October
15, 2004 (Friday) The morning weather does not look too bad but
rain is
closing in on us with the radar showing a front both west and south of
us. We
are supposed to get high winds and rain this afternoon with Saturday
and Sunday
being really bad. The forecast is for 10 to 14 foot waves tonight and
tomorrow
followed by 5 to 8 footers on Sunday. Monday it is suppose to lie back
down to
1 to 3 foot. Next week will be our last week at the lake this season,
we plan
on attending the Walleye Central get together at Vermilion on Friday
and start
closing up Saturday. It’s been a great season but after seven
months of fishing
we are ready for a change of pace (for a while).
Update:
9AM the rain is really coming down, radar shows we are surrounded by
rain and
thunderstorms, with the big wave predicted for Saturday and Sunday I
don’t
expect fishing to be worth much before Tuesday.
October
14, 2004 (Thursday) The morning temperature is 53 degrees,
wind is WSW
at 13 to 15 knots, waves are 2 to 3 feet and the water temperature is
62 degrees.
After two days fishing we are taking today off, tomorrow and Saturday
look like
blow days so I don’t expect to get back out before early next
week. We are
getting down to the end of the season.
Excellent
perch report from just SE of Middle island, both good size and limit
numbers.
Also north of the dumping grounds (35/25) about 3 miles.
October
13, 2004 (Wednesday) The morning have been slow for us so we
decided to
go out about noon today, we arrived at a spot near the dumping grounds
(35/25)
and trolled north toward a large pack of boats, within minutes we took
our
first fish, in the first hour we took 8, the second hour we took 3 more
and it
took another ½ hour for a total of 2 ½ hours to take our
limit of 12. Six are
26 to 29 inches the rest are over 20 inches. We did get rained on for
about an
hour and I suspect this storm turned the fish on. All walleye came off
dipsy’s
and spoons. The hot color was “blueberry muffin” I had a
couple of them from
net crafters that I had put together and we sorted through the box and
found
several spoons similar by PA’s fantails called
“Barracuda” that have yellow
backs which worked very well. Dipsy’s were run #1 back 50 feet
and #3 back 70
feet. The weekend weather is looking bad with gale force winds
predicted. That
will tear up the fishing for a while and we are getting close to the
end
anyway.
October
12, 2004 (Tuesday) We ran out to the 35/25 lines this morning,
the
marks looked good but the takers were slow. We were out about 3 hours
before taking
the first walleye, it was 28 inches, we took several more but did not
limit.
All fish came high up, 10 to 20 foot deep in 45 foot of water. All came
on
dipsy’s and spoons; the flavor of the day was “blueberry
muffin”. Darker colors
seemed to work best but nothing really set the world on fire. I did
hear that
later in the afternoon and evening was a better bite than earlier, we
may try
that tomorrow. Basically the walleye were north of the dumping grounds
(35/25)
a mile or two north and west.
We
heard that the perch were hitting around 35.5/18 lines, this came over
the
radio and is not verified.
October
11, 2004 (Monday) The Huron Boosters tournament scheduled for
Saturday
was held Sunday after a one hour delay it started at 9AM. The waves
were good 2
to 4 feet with a 5 every now and then. One contestant said it took
1-½ hours to
run out to the dump (35/25 lines), which was about 14 miles, and just
under ½
hour to come back after the waves laid and with a north wind pushing
him back
to Huron.
It
sounds like it was a tough fishing day with 5 fish totaling around 24
pounds
winning the tournament. Most boats were north of 35/25 lines but some
stayed in
close (good decision) and some good size walleye were caught a few
miles out
from Ruggles Beach. We are going to try and get out today it sounds
better with
2 feet waves or less predicted BUT I will take a look and see before
going.
Some
walleye are being caught in the western basin about mid way between the
Bass
Islands and West Sister Island, perch limits are coming off B can on
the range
and west of the NW tip of Kelley’s as well as in front of Huron
River and the
Vermilion River.
UPDATE:
I talked to a friend who went out this morning about 3 miles and
decided the
wave were too bad so they came back in, one of the big charters is
saying 3 to
5 foot waves, the weather buoy is saying 2.6 feet at 8:50AM and shows
an upward
trend. We are going to wait until noon and then decide to go or not.
October
10, 2004 (Sunday) The morning temperature is 54 degrees, wind
is out of
the North at 15 to 18 knots, waves at the buoy are 3 feet and the water
temperature is 64 degrees. It does not look like a very good day for
fishing.
The “big boy” charters were still north of the dump (35/25)
yesterday and were
struggling to catch walleye. I did get a good report from north of
Niagara reef
several miles of good catches of walleye up to 25 inches. Perch are
also
reported in limit number from off the northwest corner of
Kelley’s Island.
October
9, 2004 (Saturday) Sorry about not being able to update
since
Monday, the site that hosts my web site had problems and I could not
get in,
anyway we are back in business.
Sue
and I went out west of the north end of the sand bar yesterday, waves
were 3 to
5 feet so it was not a very comfortable day. We fish north of the
dumping
grounds at 35/25 and up toward the Canadian border. All fish came off
big
dispy’s back 70 to 110 feet pulling PA’s spoons. Bull Shark
was the big winner
of the day. We kept 10 good size walleye, the biggest being two 25 inch
ones.
The wind is blowing hard today, there was a tournament scheduled at
Huron that
was canceled due to the weather.
Good perch report off Lorain around the 31/11 lines which is a little over 3 miles NE of the lighthouse.
October
5, 2004 (Tuesday) We got back to the lake this afternoon, the
water
looks calm with less than a foot chop off Port Clinton. The weather
buoy says
0.7 feet, I hope this holds tomorrow so we can get out and see if we
can locate
the walleye again. No new reports to pass on but I did hear some folks
on the
radio telling of limits of perch taken somewhere off Huron. Hopefully I
will
have more to pass on tomorrow.
October
4, 2004 (Monday) The waves were over 4 feet at the buoy this
morning
but have started to lay down and are 2.6 feet at 1PM. Some good walleye
were
taken over the weekend even though it was a bumpy ride for most. The
walleye
were still on the northern part of the sand bar up around the 35 to 40N
lines.
Limit perch catches are reported a short distance out of Lorain. We
will be
heading back to the lake tomorrow around noon and hope to get out
sometime
Wednesday.
October
2, 2004 (Saturday) The morning temperature is 64 degrees, wind
is WSW
at 21 to 29 knots, waves at the buoy are 3.3 feet and the water
temperature is
67 degrees. Winds at South Bass weather station are 16 to 23 knots,
looks like
not too good of a day to fish. No reports so far.
A
question from one of our readers prompted me regarding fall walleye
movement
off Huron/Vermilion. The early September walleye fishing started (for
us) well
east of the sand bar around the 17 line, after a couple of weeks the
walleye
move over to the center of the bar around the 20 to 23 lines and a week
ago
they move still further west to the 26 to 28 lines. This seems to be
the normal
movement, but about the time I think I have them figured out they show
me how
little I know. Personally I expect them to start moving south soon
toward the
27/27 lines, IF the weather or something else I don’t understand,
does not
screw up their pattern. Hopefully the coming weeks (before cold weather
runs us
off) should be terrific fishing.
October
1, 2004 (Friday) The wind and waves laid down some today but
predictions for Saturday and Sunday are not good with 5 to 7 foot waves
predicted for Saturday and 4 to 6 footers for Sunday.
I
have a good perch report from 2 to 21/2 miles in front of Lorain today,
in 36
to 38 foot of water; perch were nice size 10 to 12 inch fish.
September
30, 2002 (Thursday) The water is very muddy and the prospects
for the
weekend are not looking good. The wind and wave are supposed to lay
today and
then start picking back up Friday evening with 3 to 5s for Saturday and
2 to 4s
for Sunday. Anyway it looks to me like the fishing is going to be
“iffy” until
early next week, so we are going to take a few days off as we have
doctors
appointments next Tuesday (routine) and will be back at the lake that
afternoon
ready to go full out until the end of October when we will hang it up
for
another year.
September
29, 2004 (Wednesday) The morning temperatures is 58 degrees,
wind is
out of the NNE at 19 to 22 knots, waves are 4.9 feet at the buoy and
the water
temperature is 68 degrees. The wind blew hard all day yesterday and all
night
last night. The buoy show waves around midnight near 7 feet. With all
the north
winds once it lays down the lake will be muddy for a couple of days, so
I don’t
expect the fishing to get good before early next week IF the lake
starts laying
down today as predicted.
I
have good perch reports from 39/29 to the 40/26 lines, a long ways out
but they
are nice sized fish, this was from before the blow so who knows.
September
28, 2004 (Tuesday) The morning temperature is 66 degrees, wind
is 12 to
14 knots, waves are 1 foot (5:50AM) and the water temperature is 69
degrees. So
much for the good news, remnants of the last hurricane to hit Florida
are due
to reach northern Ohio later today. Predictions are for waves from 1 to
3 feet
increasing to 3 to 5 by evening then Wednesday and then predicted to go
to 4 to
6 feet so there goes the fishing of a few days. I talked to a friend
who stayed
out yesterday after we left who said the walleye turned on some later
in the
day and they ended up with near limits of nice sized walleye, they
worked
between 36/26 and 35/25 lines.
September
27, 2004 (Monday) It was a slow day on the lake today, the
water was
flat, and zero waves not even a ripple. We ran out to the dumping
grounds near
35/25 lines and in four hours boated 6 nice sized walleye with the
biggest
being ~ 25 inches. The marks were there but the walleye were not very
hungry.
Good
perch reports from; 30/11 off Lorain, Marblehead light, stone docks
west of
Kelley’s and ¼ mile off the turn around buoy (#1) in the
Toledo shipping
channel.
September
26, 2004 (Sunday) Went out to the 35/25 lines today, lots of
good marks
we pulled 12 really nice size walleye in about 4 hours but the waves
were
pushing 4 foot so we called it a day. Weather “guessers”
said 2 feet or less
and the weather buoy said 1 foot when we left home. The further out we
got the
worse the wave became. Same program as last reported.
Perch
are reported in limit catches off Lorain around the 30/11 lines also
there was
a large pack north of where we were today around the 40/25.
September
25, 2004 (Saturday) We went out last evening and found the
walleye have
moved west toward the west side of the northern end of the sand bar. We
worked
the bottom looking for bigger walleye and took a dozen or so of 20 to
27 inch
walleye while throwing back numerous ones under 20 inches. The program
was
dipsy’s and jets30s with the dipsy’s ran back #1 65 to 75
feet, #3 dipsy back
100 to 110 feet and jet 30s back 125 to 150 feet all in 45 to 47 feet
of water.
Best spoon colors seemed to be copper backs with red or pink marking
line PA’s
“Dolphin” and some old Netcrafters “Confusion”.
Perch
fishing is going good out around the 35/18 lines, off Ruggles Beach and
Marblehead Light House.
Sepetmber
24, 2004 (Friday) The walleye are still out around the 38/18
lines give
or take a couple of miles in any direction. Limit catches were taken
yesterday
and it sounds like today is going to be about the same. We are planning
on
going this afternoon to the same general area.
Perch
fishing is very good around the 35/18 lines, there has been a big pack
of boats
in this area for the late week.
September
23, 2004 (Thursday) The morning (7:30AM) temperature is 67
degrees,
wind is out of the south at 4 to 6 knots, waves are less than 1 foot
and the
water temperature is 69 degrees. It sounds like most folks are heading
back out
east of the north end of the sand bar (38/18) lines today, we will see
how it
goes. Perch fishermen are just outside the mouth of the Huron River and
are
taking fish. In the western end, walleye are hitting out around B and C
cans on
the range (18 to 22”), perch are being taken west of Rattlesnake
and in
Sandusky Bay but the bite is on and off, also up a little west of the
weather
buoy (45005) on the Canadian border north of Vermilion.
September
22, 2004 (Wednesday) Two of us ran out to the center of the
sand bar
but could not locate the walleye, then up to the north end, still
nothing,
finally we went east of the north end to 38/18 lines where the marks
started
looking better. Ran two big dipsy’s at 1 and 3 settings back 75
and 110 feet
respectively and two jet 30s off inline boards back from 125 to 150
feet (we
keep changing setups until something works). Took four walleye between
18 and
22 inches then they move out on us, found them again a little further
west and
really got busy. Took seven in less than ½ hour (kept two old
folks going) and
the size was much better, finally at 12:30PM we limited with four over
25
inches and the remaining were 18 to 22 inches. Even though these fish
were near
the 38/18 they were moving all the time and I don’t expect them
to still be
there tomorrow, so we will have to go hunting again.
Two
things to think about, 1st the bigger walleye were closest
to the
bottom, I equate this to the fattest hog on the farm, he is not up
chasing chickens,
he is laying in the mud taking life easy, the big walleye have the same
mentality in my opinion. Second over a 24 hour period these fish move
around a
lot so you need to be able to know what to look for and find them
before trying
to catch them.
September
21, (Tuesday) Last evening we took a run out off the Huron
River to see
how the water looked, we it was not good, still bordering on muddy and
we had 3
to 4 foot waves. We only stayed a couple of hours and caught a few
small
walleye. According to reports this morning the water is clearing north
of the
center of the sand bar and charters are taking walleye but I think we
will wait
until tomorrow before trying again.
I
am spending the day working on the maps. At what point in size does a
few maps
become a book? This thing may be getting out of hand J.
Depending on the printers I
hope to have “IT” ready for mailing in November.
September
20, 2004 (Monday) The morning temperature is 59 degrees, wind
at the
buoy is 13 knots but here on shore it is 5 knots, waves are 2 feet and
the
water temperature is 68.5 degrees, which is nearly 5 degrees cooler
than a week
ago. Hopefully this fall in temperature will cause the walleye to
become more
active.
Water
off Port Clinton and Huron is still murky but is clearing. We hope to
get out
this evening depending on how others do today.
I
have heard of a few folks being out over the weekend but most reports
were few
fish caught.
September
19, 2004 (Sunday) Not much to report today, the wind has laid
some, the
waves are 3 feet at 5PM and the water is still some muddy. I
don’t expect much
in the way of “fishable” before tomorrow afternoon or
Tuesday. I did get a
couple of reports from before the storm of boats taking walleye west of
Rattlesnake Island and around the sand bar.
September
18, 2004 (Saturday) The wind was strong all last night and is
still
blowing this morning. Yesterday was really bad with 6 to 8 foot waves
and wind
so bad even the sea gulls were walking.
This
morning the temperature is 59 degrees, wind is NNE at 17 knots with
gusts to 23
knots and the water temperature is 69 degrees.
Predictions
for Sunday say the wind will start to lie down and wave will drop to 2
to 4
feet, but I don’t look for the fishing to pick back up much
before Tuesday or Wednesday
at best. The lake is going to be very muddy and it usually takes two
days or so
once the weather gets better for the fishing to get back to normal.
September
17, 2004 (Friday) The morning temperature is 66 degrees, wind
is ENE at
21 knots with gusts to 25 knots, waves at the buoy are 4.3 feet and the
water
temperature is 71 degrees. The weekend weather is not looking good with
4 to 6
foot wave predicted for today and Saturday and 2 to 4 footers for
Sunday.
Yesterday
afternoon with the prospects of getting out today not looking too good
we went
out in front of Cranberry Creek about 5PM in 26 to 30 feet of water.
Two of us
ran two big dipsy’s back 35 feet set on #2 with
“bonefish” color spoons, the
two jet 30s back 50 feet with confusion color spoons. In 3 hours we had
7 good
size walleye in the 22 to 26 inch range and a dozen or more throw
backs. All
the walleye we caught were in close proximity to each other no more
than a ¼
mile circle. Once it got dark the bite quit for us, it was a moonless
night,
too dark for the walleye to hit in my opinion. Spoons were PA’s
and Net
crafters. Also yesterday charters were working 38/20 to 38/17 lines.
UPDATE:
Waves at the buoy are up to 6.6 feet at 11:30AM, wind is really blowing
out of
the northeast. Thanks to hurricane Ivan the weekend looks to be a waste
of time
unless you want to come up and watch the wind blow with us.
September
16, 2004 (Thursday) We did not make it out yesterday, had a few
other
things to do that took longer than expected. Talked to several people
who
“tried” perch fishing off Mazurik’s and
Kelley’s with very slow and small
results, the only good spot I have heard of was inside Rattlesnake
Island where
some limits were taken. I don’t know why the perch fishing is so
poor this fall
when we had really nice size fish this spring. Walleyes are still being
caught
off West Reef and down toward the west side of Rattle Snake one to
three miles
out. Good to limits were taken off the sand bar and along the 17 line
from the
32 to 38 lines. This morning the wind is kicking up and waves at the
buoy are
2.3 feet, temperature is 72 degrees and the skies are overcast.
September
15, 2004 (Wednesday) Several boats report good to limit catches
around
the same spot we were on yesterday (34/17). It looks like walleye are
all along
the 17 line, which is on the east side of the sand bar from north to
south. The
wind kicked up a little this morning and 2 to 3 foot waves were
reported, I am
hoping it will lie this afternoon and if it does we may run out for an
evening
trip. The weekend weather is not looking too good with wind and waves
picking
up all the way through Sunday.
I
added two maps of the sand bar area to the “Pictures and Maps
Index” page. See
link on the home page or above.
September
14, 2004 (Tuesday) We ran out to the north end of the sand bar
this
morning around the 37/21 lines. Pulled a few walleye but it was slow
and the
size was nothing to brag about, 17 to 19 inch fish and we have enough
of them.
We worked our way back south toward the center of the bar looking for
better
marks and found them around 34/17 lines. We caught a goodly number of
walleye
putting back all the smaller ones and ended up keeping 8 (two of us)
bigger
fish. The biggest was 27 inches and the rest were some smaller. The
walleye were
suspended between 35 and 40 feet in 45 foot of water; we ran our baits
at 35
feet. Jet 30s were ran back 125 feet and big #1 dipsy’s were back
55 and 90
feet on 1 and 3 settings. We switched around trying to find what worked
best
and most of the bigger walleye came off the jets and small boards. All
fish
came on spoons; today the blue and purples seem to be working best.
PA’s black
molly, stingray and swordfish were the best producers along with a
couple of
fish on confusion.
September
13, 2004 (Monday) Radio traffic from Huron sounds like the walleye
fishing
picked up today with limits being reported around 33/17 and 36/19.
Perch are
also doing better off the Huron river mouth, just a little west. We
plan on
going tomorrow. Spoons were working down close to the bottom but they
were also
running some stick baits up high.
Make a trip to Cabela’s today and bought a small electric smoker. I am going to try and smoke some walleye fillets; if anyone has a good (simple) recipe I would appreciate hearing from you.
September
12, 2004 (Sunday) Much to the surprise of the weather
prognosticators
today was a great day, waves off Huron were less than 1 foot, the wind
was
light and it was sunny all day. We started near the center of the sand
bar and
worked over toward the 33/17 lines. Fish until 3PM and took ½
limits of
good-sized walleye with the biggest being 25 inches. The walleye are
still
scattered and in small schools which don’t seem to be much in the
feeding mood.
I expect the next few days fishing will get much better but look out
for later
next week with hurricane Ivan coming ashore around the Florida
panhandle we
should get the effects late next week. Lots of boats perch fishing both
off
Huron and Vermilion river mouths. Most walleye were 35 feet to the
bottom which
was around 45 feet, big dispsy’s were ran back 65 and 85 feet on
1 and 3
settings, jet 3os were ran back 125 feet behind small boards. Speed was
varied
but 2.3 to 2.7 seemed to be best. Spoons were PA’s, the ones with
pink such as
the new dolphin, angle fish and reef shark as well as a bloody nosed
one called
pilot fish.
September
11, 2004 (Saturday) We took the boat to Huron Boat Basin this
morning.
After finding our dock and getting the lines in place we ran out to the
sand
bar and on east near the dumping grounds off Lorain looking for water
conditions and walleye marks, I am taking some folks out tomorrow and
did not
want to start “cold”. First of all the water near shore was
still muddy but the
further out you got the clearer the water became. Out around the 41
32.000N
line the water was much clearer. The walleye were still scattered and
while we
did not spend much time in one place fishing we did manage to take a
few decent
size walleye with the biggest being 25 inches. From what we saw I will
start
near the center of the sand bar and work toward the 33/17 line tomorrow
morning. BTW everything we got was on PA’s new pilot fish and
dolphin spoons.
Dispy’s were ran back 63 and 85 feet on 1 and 3 settings (target
35 fow).
Lots
of boats perch fishing just west of the mouth of the Huron River and
out off
Cedar Point channel though I don’t know how they were doing.
September
10, 2004 (Friday) Here is what I know at 11am. The waves are
less than
a foot, winds are 5 knots or less, the lake is VERY muddy all the way
to the
Canadian Border and I expect beyond and from Green Island north to the
boarder
it is covered with grass. All this is to be expected following the big
blow we
had the last two days. I look for the water to start clearing tomorrow
and hopefully
some fish will be caught Sunday BUT if you have a choice I would
recommend
waiting until Sunday at least.
September
9. 2004 (Thursday) We have fairly strong winds here in Port
Clinton, the
trees are still waving hard. Winds at the buoy off Vermilion are 23
knots with
gusts to 25 knots, waves were 5.9 feet at 9am and the temperature is 64
degrees. Waves are predicted to subside to 2 to 4 feet this evening and
2 feet
or less Friday but back to 2 to 4 feet and 3 to 5 feet for Saturday and
Sunday
respectively but we will wait and see. Hopefully once this lays down we
can get
to some serious fishing, I expect the next 6 weeks or so to be the peak
of the
season.
Yesterday
I mentioned the “gravel pit” west of West Sister Island and
find it is not
marked on all maps so if you can’t find it the numbers are 41
45.071N 083
13.380W.
UPDATE:
2pm
Just took a
ride out to Catawba Point, the lake is still
rolling with what looks to be to be 4 plus foot waves and she is really
muddy
with a good stiff north wind. Maybe Saturday and Sunday will be
fishable but I
would want to wait and see.
September
8, 2004 (Wednesday) It looks like the remains of hurricane
Frances have
come to the lake. The winds are whipping the trees around, I have 7 to
10 knot
winds on my little gage, the weather buoy off Vermilion shows 23 knots
with
gusts to 27, South Bass weather station is down and Huron Boat Basin
shows 22
knots with gusts to 45 knots (whoosh). Waves at the buoy are 6.9 feet
so we
will be cleaning boat for sure.
On
the good news side I received reports of limit catches of walleye on
the gravel
pit west of West Sister Island, 2 to 3 miles northeast of Cranberry
Creek and
lots of spots east of the sand bar (30-33/17 lines). Reports indicate
that
fishing off the sand bar us picking up but we will have to wait and see
what
this blow does to the lake. I hope to get out this weekend if it does
not get
to stirred up.
September
7, 2004 (Tuesday) We got back to Port Clinton about noon today,
the
temperature is 80 degrees and the wind is light to calm. I just got
back from
checking the boat and the lake is near calm (FLAT) but listening to the
weather
they tell me the waves are 2 to 4 feet building to 3 to 5 feet?? Is
there more
than one Lake Erie? One of us had no idea what is going on out on the
lake and
right now I don’t think it is me.
Good
catches of walleye are still coming from west of Rattle Snake Island
and north
toward f-can, it looks like the walleye are going to hang around there
for a
while yet. Limits of walleye are reported off Cranberry Creek, 2 miles
outside
the Huron River and numerous spots east of the sand bar. Limits of
perch are
reported all along the lake shore line from Marble Head to Vermilion.
September
3, 2004 (Friday) Some nice size walleye are being caught west
of Green
and Rattlesnake Islands in the last few days. Also the area east of the
sand
bar off Vermilion is giving up some nice catches along with shallow
water off
Cranberry Creek. Good catches of perch are reported north of the turn
around
buoy in the Toledo shipping channel, north of Marblehead and off the
center of
the sand bar. It sounds like fishing in general is on the up swing;
hopefully
it will stay that way if hurricane Frances does not mess us up.
NOTE:
PA’s Fintail Spoons
have come out
with some new colors; I have modified their link on my home page to
show these
new spoons.
September
2, 2004 (Thursday) Perch fishing is getting a little better
south of
Northwest Reef and north of Rattlesnake Island. Lots of small ones but
if you
are patient you can sort through them and get some nice keepers.
Walleye
reports are still good from f-can area and up into Canada a mile or so
with
some nice size fish reported. The shoreline off Cranberry Creek toward
Huron is
producing some limit catches of good-sized walleye as well, both
drifting and
trolling is working in the 20 foot or less waters. The area east of the
center
of the sand bar is still giving up some limit catches as well as
further east
toward Lorain.
August 31, 2004 (Tuesday) Walleye
were taken
in the past few days in the area of F-Can, G-Can, Northwest Reef, Wagon
wheel
Reef (Canada) and North Harbor Island (Canada). Some reports have been
of good
size walleye up to 27 inches. The Huron/Vermilion area is looking
better with
good catches coming east of the sand bar around the 31/16 lines in 40
and over
feet of water. The walleye are reported lying right on the bottom and
baits
have to be pulled right past their noses to get them to hit. Perch
reports from
Marblehead and the center of the sand bar are also looking better with
some
larger perch reported.
We plan on heading back to the lake next Tuesday
after the
Labor Day crowd has left. We will move the boat to Huron Boat Basin the
following
Saturday September 11th.
August 27, 2004 (Friday) Some perch
have been
taken east of Ballast Island but it is good one day and slows the next,
same
way with size, some bigger one and lots of small ones.
NOTE: The Ohio Sea Grant
Discussion
Board Is Up and Running. They had a major computer problem but it
is now
fixed. Click on the above link to take a look, these are the folks I go
to for
technical answers.
August 26, 2004 (Thursday) What
reports I am
getting said that some walleye are still being caught west of Northwest
Reef
and F-can but it is slow and not too big in size. The same applies to
perch;
while limit catches are available the size is still small. The only
bright spot
is that the walleye fishing east of the Vermilion sand bar
(33-34/17-18) is
starting to pick up, while it is still some what east of the sand bar
reports
indicate there may be movement towards the bar. Also some walleye are
being
caught off Cranberry Creek and not too far off shore.
Since we have about had it with what fish are now
available
around the islands I am changing my plans and moving the boat to Huron
the
weekend after Labor Day (September 11th) a week earlier that
I had
originally planned.
August 24, 2004 (Tuesday) I have
received a
few more reports from the weekend, perch fishing has been fair to good
in a lot
of spots around the islands, but the size of the perch is still on the
small
side with much culling being done to get limits of fish less then 9 or
10
inches. Hopefully the larger perch will move into the islands soon.
Walleye are
still being taken around Northwest Reef, F-can and G-can but it is hit
or miss
with larger walleye some times and smaller the next. I think most of us
agree
the walleye-fishing west off the islands is on the decline, as one
would expect
that this time of year, in reality it has lasted a lot longer than I
expected.
Charters are working west of North Harbor Island in Canada (north of
Middle
Sister Island) and are taking nice size walleye in limit numbers. The
sand bar
off Vermilion/Lorain is still slow with most walleye being taken in the
17 to
23 inch range which indicates to me the bigger females have yet to move
in,
hopefully in the coming weeks.
August 23, 2004 (Monday) Reports for
the
weekend are just starting to come in but what I have so far indicates
that the
perch were small and the walleye were not too many;
Perch in limits were taken off Mazuriks access and
east
toward Marblehead 1 to 2 mile from shore in 22 to 26 feet of water.
Walleye are still being caught in less than limits
off F and
G cans on the border and north west of Northwest Reef.
Hopefully we will have a few more reports later in
the week.
Personally after the funeral of Sues uncle we have
mowed the
grass, trimmed a few trees and are now in the process of cleaning the
motor
home, lots of fun but it has to be done before winter and I don’t
want anything
getting in my way from Labor Day until the last of October. I still
need one
more walleye this year (a big one).
August 20, 2004
(Friday)
The following was
copied from the Toledo Blade and is quoting an ODNR fisheries
supervisor.
Lake Erie perch
hatch fares better than walleye
Preliminary results of trawls by Ohio Division of Wildlife crews show
that the
2004 spring perch hatch is slightly below average.
The walleye hatch, however, appears to be poor at best.
Jeff Tyson, supervisor of the division's Lake Erie Research Fisheries
Station
at Sandusky, said that June and July trawls averaged about 40
young-of-year
perch per hour. That indicates a year-class similar to 1992 or 1993 but
better
than 1995 or 2002.
Walleye trawls, however, are averaging just 1.5 young-of-year per hour,
which
he rates as "better than '95 and '02, but not much." The 2002 walleye
year-class is considered to be non-existent in practical terms, perhaps
the
poorest on record.
The primary survey of the summer, however, will come the last two weeks
of
August. It may be mid-September before the 2004 year-classes are
formally
rated, Tyson said.
The August survey will include 40 sampling stations in Ohio waters and
about 30
in Ontario waters.
Tyson said he is somewhat puzzled by the apparent low performance of
the 2004
perch and walleye hatches, inasmuch as the weather this spring was not
much
different from 2003, when super year-classes, especially of walleye,
were
produced.
The 2003 walleye, which are extremely abundant, are in the 9 to 10-inch
range
now. Any of these undersize fish taken by anglers should be handled
gently and
returned to the water quickly. The minimum keeper length for walleye is
15
inches.
"Recruitment is a pretty complex issue. It can't be just weather.
There's
got to be some other cue."
August 18, 2004 (Wednesday) Not much
going on
out on the lake today, the wind is 14 to 18 knots, waves at the buoy
are 1.6
feet but boats on the water are reporting 3 to 5 foot. The few folks
that are
perch fishing off Lakeside and Cedar Point report slow catch so far
today.
Walleye were still being taken yesterday west of Northwest Reef and
around
F-can on the border.
It looks like we will be taking some time off, my
wife has
had an elderly uncle pass away in Kentucky and we will be leaving
tomorrow to
attend the funeral and don’t plan on coming back until after
labor day.
Keep the reports coming and I will update as best
possible.
August 17, 2004 (Tuesday) Last
evening we ran
back out to the area between F-can and Northwest Reef. It was a little
slower
that Sunday but Sue and I got 10 nice size walleye, 18 to 23 inches.
The little
guys (2003) are 8 to 10 inches and no matter what I tried we could not
keep
them off the lines, I bet we got 25 or so during to evening. We ran an
all
dipsy program with #1 dipsy back 50 feet and the #3 dipsy back 70 feet.
Best
spoons were again PA’s Bull Shark, Blue Marlin and Mako. Also
PA’s is coming
out with some new colors and sent me a set the test. They have two that
have
some hot pink and they are catching walleye, they are called Dolphin
and Angle
Fish. The lake was nearly flat and it was a good evening to be out.
The folks that usually fish with us have company
this week
and they have been perch fishing. They limited Monday a little north of
a line
between Ballast and Gull Island Shoals marker.
August 15, 2004 (Sunday) We waited
until
4:30PM after all the weekenders had left, ran out the south of F-can on
the
border (about 2 miles south) around the 46/57 lines and marked some
nice
walleye. Started trolling north toward F-can and within two hours we
had taken
our limit (12) of walleye. It looks like the walleye have again moved
east back
toward Northwest Reef. Dipsy’s were set on 2 and were ran back 57
feet and the
jet 30s were run back 100 feet. All fish appeared on the sonar to be
lying
tight to the bottom. Best spoons were PA’s Blue Marlin and Bull
Shark. I
received a report of a charter taking limits between West Reef and
Rattlesnake
Island also.
August 14, 2004 (Saturday)
It’s a nice day
with temperature in the low 70s, wind is not much and the waves are 1
to 3
feet. Perch are being caught between Middle Bass and Gull Island marker
while
walleye are also being taken west of Rattlesnake out around the 44/55
lines.
While perch fishing yesterday I caught a walleye
that was just
under 15 inches, this is the third one I have caught this year and a
buddy has
taken three or four of this size. What is significant about this is
they would
be from the 2002 class which was thought to have had zero survival but
as usual
mother nature saw fit to let a few make it.
I have had a few reports from the folks who should
know, the
2004 walleye and perch hatch is looking to be much less than 2003
hatch. While
the weather was little different between 2003 and this spring in my
opinion,
most folks who deal with this sort of thing feel that a lot of the 2004
hatch
was most likely eaten by the 2003 hatch. We know that walleye are
cannibalistic
and will eat anything that they can get a hold of so it makes sense
that with
the large numbers of 2003s we see that they could have had a major
effect on
this years hatch. Ohio DNR will start their trolls next week to
determine how
many of this year’s young have survived so we should know
something in the next
weeks.
August 13, 2004 (Friday) Today was
a rerun of
yesterday, waves were 1 to 3 feet wind out of the north and a little
cool (I
thought this was August J). We went out between Ballast and the marker
on Gull
Island Shoals where us and a bunch of other folks perch fished. We
limited (4
of us) by noon though it was a little slower than yesterday. Walleye
fishing
seems to be slow, I did have one good report from west of Northwest
reef
yesterday but today I did not hear of anyone really doing much good.
August 12, 2004 Boy was the weather
guesser
wrong today. They were calling for 4 to 6 foot waves at 6AM when I
first
looked. The wind was calm around here, the South Bass weather station
was down,
the weather buoy said 1.3 feet so after looking at the trees which were
not
moving we went perch fishing. Waves on the lake were no more than a
foot at 7AM
but by the time we got anchored they were 1 to 3 foot but as the
morning passed
they flattened out and by noon we had a foot or less.
We went out east of Ballast Island and searched
with the
sonar until the marks looked fairly good, anchored and by noon pulled
four
limits of perch, decent size, kept nothing under 7 inches and the
biggest was
12 ½ inches with several over 10 inches. The perch were in 30 t0
31 foot of
water. Other boats perch fishing were off Loci’s point and off
the northwest
corner of Kelley’s Island.
Walleye reports are sparse but it sounds like they
are one
to three miles west of the south tip of Northwest Reef. Walleye are
also
reported east of the center of the sand bar off Vermilion and inside
between
Vermilion and Huron in 20 to 27 feet of water and at the far western
end of the
lake near the Michigan / Ohio border.
August 10, 2004 We had intended to
get up and
go perch fishing this morning but the wind blew all night and the waves
at the
buoy were 3 feet. Not much going on today, the walleye fishing seems to
be
slowing down during the week, even for the charters. Reports I am
getting from
the weekend indicate the school from F and G cans have moved a little
south but
are still around F can. Weather is not looking very good before Friday
so it
may be a slow week for me.
August 9, 2004 (Monday) It’s a
nice cool
morning, temperature is 67 degrees, wind is SSW at 8 knots with gusts
to 12
knots, waves at the buoy are 1 foot and the water temperature is 71.6
degrees.
Good to limit catches of walleye are still
possible between
West and Middle Sister Islands and up along the border between F and G
cans. We
went out yesterday afternoon, started at Northwest Reef but only caught
little
guys; they are now approaching 10 inches in length. We moved west
toward a pack
of boats about mid way between F and G and with the help of one of our
readers
found a small school of walleye, we (3 of us) took 10 walleye while
throwing
back a dozen or so that were less than 17 inches. I am at the point
where we
won’t keep any less than 17 inches and may try perching later
this week. Our
plan is to take the rest of August easy and wait for the bite to turn
on off
Huron / Vermilion.
Limits of perch were reported from over the
weekend in 47
feet of water off Cleveland and between Ballast and Gull Island. Good
catches
of walleye are reported from the area of Hen and Chicks Islands in
Canada.
August 7, 2004 (Saturday) It is
looking
better, wind is down and the waves are 2 feet or less. Lots of charters
are
working north of the border around Hen and chicks Islands and catching
some
good walleye. Today several boats are between F and G cans on the
border and
are taking some walleye but the small ones continue to be a problem.
Perch
reports have yet to come in but I expect the will do well today off
Kelley’s
and the dumping grounds off Cedar Point. Tomorrows weather is looking
good, 2
foot wave or less, we plan on getting out in the afternoon once the
weekend
crowd leaves.
August 6, 2004 (Friday) The morning
temperature is 65 degrees, wind is out of the NNW at 17 to 22 knots,
waves at
the buoy are 3 feet and the water temperature is 71.4 degrees.
The wind blew all night, several boats started out
on the
lake this morning but turned around and came back, those that stayed
out are
reporting waves of 3 to 5 feet and very rough. The wind is predicted to
lay
this afternoon with wave decreasing to 1 to 3 feet later today and
tomorrow BUT
we will wait and see.
Weather Update; 8:30PM the wind has lain a
little and
the waves are 2 to 4 feet, tomorrow is looking a little better with
Sunday
being 1 to 2 feet.
August 5, 2004 (Thursday) The
morning
temperature is 67 degrees, wind is out of the northeast at 13 to 16
knots,
waves at the buoy are 3.3 feet and the water temperature is 72 degrees.
Some folks were up along the border both off
Northwest Reef
and Middle Island yesterday morning and did catch some walleye but once
the storm
came through about noon most ran for home. The radio is totally silent
this
morning, I guess everyone is staying in today, we sure are. Tomorrow
and the
weekend are PREDICTED to be a little better with wave in the 1 to 3
foot range
but that remains to be seen.
August 4, 2004 (Wednesday) We
got back
yesterday and hope to get out tomorrow, last evening and early this
morning we
had some weather move through with rain and thunderstorms this morning.
There
is another front west of Toledo right now that will come through later
today
and is supposed to bring lower temperatures once it passes.
The walleye are still north of Northwest Reef on
both sides
of the border and out toward G-can on the border. Limits are still
possible but
most folks are running a few less than limits. The walleye are still
holding
tight to the bottom and baits need to be ran about 30 feet down in 32
foot of
water. Also good catches of walleye are reported east of the sand bar
off
Lorain by a few miles, northeast of Fairport Harbor in 50 plus feet of
water
and the Michigan folks are still taking fish out off Fermi plant. Perch
fishing
is picking up with limit catches reported east of the airport opening
east of
Kelley’s Island, on and round the dumping grounds off Cedar Point
Park, all
around Green Island and west of Catawba Island near the CIC can.
Weather
Update 2PM; the front came through about noon today and the lake really
got
angry, wave 5 to 7 feet, reports of two sail boats in trouble off Gull
Island
Shoals, one aground and another on its side. The weather guessers have
update
their prediction for tomorrow for 5 to 7 foot waves with 2 to 4 footers
for
Friday and Saturday.
August 1, 2004 (Sunday) I have had a
few reports
from the weekend so far, good to limit catches of walleye off F and G
cans on
the border, SW of west reef, off Fermi in Michigan waters and off
Ruggles beach
down toward Vermilion. I guess the walleye don’t know that they
are supposed to
be slowing down. Good perch catches reported out from Cleveland in 46
feet of
water and also some better sized perch reported off the CIC can west of
Catawba
Island.
Thanks to all for the reports, keep them coming,
we will be
back by Wednesday.
July 30, 2004 (Friday) It looks
like the
weather this weekend may be good, I have had a few reports of good to
limit
catches still off G-can on the border, I am surprised the walleye are
still
hanging around there for this long, I believe this is at least 6 weeks
they
have been in that location. Other reports from east of the sand bar off
Vermilion around the 33/16 to 34/17 lines also good sized walleye are
being
caught off Lorain but no closer location was give. Several reports of
good to
limit catches of perch from around the islands, mainly east of
Kelley’s and
around Green Island but the size is still small. If anyone finds bigger
perch I
would like to hear about it, I have a couple of perch trips planned
when we get
back next week.
Well the painting is about done but we have a few
more
things to do, I find that I am about beyond big jobs and wish I knew a
painting
contractor around Warren County, who likes to fish J.
July 29, 2004 (Thursday) It looks
like some
decent weather has moved in for a change. My neighbors got out today
and caught
a limit of perch northwest of Kelley Island but said they were on the
small
side. Good reports on walleye from the Michigan end of the lake
southeast of
Stony Point (Fermi) in 21 to 24 foot of water. As long as the Michigan
folks
are catching walleye we still have fish west of us, and that is a good
sign.
The walleye are east of the sand bar off Vermilion and going good with
several
good to limit catches being reported since the weekend.
We started painting the trim on the house today and got at least two more days to go on that, then some plumbing to do before heading back to the lake the middle of next week. See my life is not all fishing and traveling.
July 27, 2004 (Tuesday) I have
received
several reports from the weekend saying good catches of walleye from
the area
of G-can on the border back toward West Sister Island. Monday the
charters did
well 3 to 5 miles north of Niagara Reef and around the 44/57 lines.
Perch
fishing has slowed due to the rough weather, the weather looks to be on
the bad
side for another few days, time will tell.
Since it is not looking too good for a few days we
are going
to take a week off and get some things done down at our (winter) home.
If you
get out please send me a report so I will have something to pass on to
the rest
of the folks.
July 26, 2004 (Monday) The morning
temperature
is 67 degrees, wind is out of the NE at 17 to 20 knots, waves at the
buoy are
3.3 feet but reports from the lake say 2 to 4 or 3 to 5 depending on
how big a
boat they are in. Charters are fishing southwest of Northwest Reef this
morning
and around the 44/57 lines. They are taking some walleye but it is
again slow.
Reports of good to limit catches from south of G-can, on the border,
from over
the weekend also off Cleveland metro park in 19 to 21 foot of water
while
trolling warm harnesses and in line weights down near the bottom.
July 25, 2004 (Sunday) Today looks
like a
rerun of yesterday, cool, winds at 13 knots with gusts to 16, wave are
3 foot
at the buoy and reports from the lake say 3 to 5 footers. The lake is
muddy
about as far out as you can see and very few boats are out fishing.
Looks like
a good day to mow the grass or some other shore bound jobs.
July 24, 2004 (Saturday) The
morning
temperature is a cool 65 degrees, wind is NE at 17 knots with gusts to
21
knots, waves at the buoy are 4.9 feet and the water temperature is 72
degrees.
It looks like “weekenders weather” is with us and I doubt
many folk will be out
today.
Despite a very bumpy day several boats were out
off G-can on
the Canadian border yesterday and took up to limits of smaller walleye.
It
looks like the walleye that were down around Northwest Reef have moved
back
west again toward Middle Sister Island and G-can.
Several charters are fishing walleye in Canadian
water
around Hen Island, King George Reef and off the Peele Island
lighthouse. They
are mostly drifting with weight forward spinner or may fly rigs.
Perch fishermen yesterday took limits or near
limits off
Starve Island and on the dumping grounds out from Sandusky Bay but the
size was
small, 7 to 9 inch.
July 23, 2004 (Friday) We had a
series of
storms go through last evening with lots of lighting out over the lake.
This
morning the buoy reports 3-foot waves and folks on the lake are saying
up to 4
footers. It has been my experience that following electrical storms it
takes a
couple of days for the fish to school back up and start biting again so
it
looks like we will take today and the weekend off.
Some walleye were caught yesterday out off G-can
on the
border also 3 to 5 miles north of Niagara Reef. Perch fishing has been
good off
Kelley’s and between Kelley’s and the Bass Islands but look
for this storm to
slow them down for a few days. Still getting a few reports of good
walleye
catches coming from east of the center of the sand bar off Vermilion.
July 22, 2004 (Thursday) There was a
good
breeze this morning and I thought it was going to kick up the waves but
so far
it is not looking too bad. Waves are 2 to 3 feet, wind is out of the SW
at 8 to
10 knots and the water temperature is 73 degrees. The walleye that were
around
Northwest Reef seem to have moved out, I suspect southwest maybe out
into the
flats, north of Niagara Reef, I hope to get out there tomorrow and see.
Walleye
fishing is picking up a little east of the sand bar off Vermilion with
less
than limit catches of 22 plus inch walleye being reported. No reports
from west
of the islands for walleye or perch so far today.
July 21, 2004 (Wednesday) The
morning
temperature is 71 degrees, wind is 10 to 14 knots out of the SW, waves
are 1.3
feet at the buoy and the water temperature is 73 degrees. We have just
had a
rain shower at 7AM.
We went on another walleye hunt yesterday hoping
to find
some closer and away from all the grass that we have been finding up
along the
border. We checked all around Kelley’s and Middle Island but only
managed 3
walleye and they were scattered, so it looks like the only game right
now in up
off Northwest Reef and out toward G can on the border.
Perch fishermen were all around Kelley’s up
off Gull Shoals,
north of Kelley Shoals, off the airport opening, out from Cedar Point
and off
the SE corner of Kelley’s. While the size of the perch is not
great they are
coming in limit numbers.
July 19, 2004 (Monday) Despite what
the
weather people predicted it was a nice morning, wave were 2 feet or
less. Sue
and I ran out to West Reef and started looking for walleye marks, they
were few
so we slowly motored over past Northwest Reef where the marks were
better. We
started trolling off the SW corner of Northwest Reef and headed into
the wave,
which were mostly out of the north. We started picking up walleye and
trolled
about 1-½ miles to the north before the marks and the fish gave
out so we
turned back toward our starting point picking up two or three walleye
per
circle. It took three trips for us to limit our 12 walleye. Most were
nice size
with two 24 inch, 5 22 to 23 inches, four 17 to 21 and one little guy
just over
15 inches. We would have put him back but he had eaten the hook and was
bleeding so we kept him, the seagulls or us were going to end up
getting him.
We ran four dipsy’s with spoons, the #1 dipsy’s were out 50
feet and the #3s
was out 65 to 70 feet. Best spoons were PA fintails in Bull shark, Blue
marlin
and a put together in oil slick.