Fishing Reports

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Today was a beautiful day.  I wish that I could have been fishing instead of working.  I'm sure that I'll get some reports.  As calm as it was there were probably some boats out.  Tomorrow (Friday) looks questionable at best with the chance of strong thunderstorms.  Saturday looks like it will be windy, but Sunday is supposed to be a beautiful day.  If the forecast holds up look for a great day to have the first LEWT tourney.  It will be held out of Lakevue marina just west of the Mazuric ramp.

Unless much has changed in the last few days look for big fish to be caught by trollers east of the range cans and possibly around the islands.  Jiggers will probably catch plenty of males on the reefs.  Last year Kelleys Island produced over 40 pounds (5 fish) for two teams in this same tournament.  While Kelleys always has the potential to produce big weights this time of year I have the gut feeling that it's still a little early to depend on post-spawn fish around Kelleys.

The most recent report from the South Bass weather station has 15 knot east winds with a wind chill of 38.5 degrees and falling barometric pressure.

Travis

Sorry I haven't added anything since Sunday.  Work has been hectic to say the least.  Reports are coming in from the weekend.  Here's the quick and dirty.  Big fish (plenty over 10 pounds) caught by trollers north of Niagara Reef and off of the camp perry cans (see earlier reports where I caught them over the weekend).  Lures mentioned have been- trout size 12 husky jerk 80 to 100' back and pink lemonade reef runner fished 15' below the surface.  Jiggers have caught fish in the south passaged in 38' of water on purple hair jigs.

The weekend looks promising and if the weather cooperates it could get real good.  This is a great time to catch a trophy.

Perching has been very good.  One spot mentioned has been 27 to 32' off of Marblehead.

The rivers (Maumee and Sandusky) are extremely full of fish, but catching has been slow with the low water levels.  A little rain could turn it on.  Generally the river spawn peaks well ahead of the lake spawn.

Bear with me.  I'll keep reporting as information comes in.  I'll be fishing saturday and I'll be in the WBSA LEWT tournament out of Lakevue marina sunday.

Travis

Today was a much more pleasant day on the water compared to Saturday (at least weather-wise).  The fishing was very slow until later in the afternoon when the wind died and the lake calmed down.  We looked for new fish for next Sunday's WBSA LEWT tournament instead of going back to F and D cans where we found fish Saturday.  There are a lot of fish around the Camp Perry cans but we wanted to look for other areas to fall back on.  We primarily looked around Rattlesnake and Middle Bass, but didn't find anything until we went south of Green Island into the south passage.  There were great marks, similar to D can, but the water was muddier south of Green.  We caught two fat 24" females both on a fire tiger deep husky 60' back.  Our speed was around 1.5 again.  We had a third hit on the same lure when I put the motor in neutral to change speeds, but the fish came off since it hit when the lure wasn't moving.

When we caught a few fish it also sounded like the fishing picked up over at the range.  I heard a few reports on the radio of fish over 10 pounds.

A report from Michigan waters also verified slow fishing.

I will be getting back out by Saturday to pre-fish for Sunday's LEWT.  I will be busy the next few days so I won't have another report up until later in the week.

The 7:00 report from South Bass has 0 wind (imagine that!) with 39 degree air temperature and steady barometric pressure.  The surface temp ranged from 37 to 38 degrees today.

Travis

Friday I made it out for the first time this year and spent the afternoon breaking in my motor. It was a beautiful flat-calm day.
The break-in went well and I ended the day ready to do some fishing.

Today dad and I went out and had a good day.  The weather got worse throughout the day and the fishing was slow, but by the end of the day we caught three walleye up to 27" and 9 pounds.  We found good schools of fish east of "D" can and south of "F" can (both of the Camp Perry firing range).  We caught the fish on Reef Runners (white purple hot tiger and red head wonderbread) and a deep husky jerk (glass pink clown).  The reef runners were back 35 and 40 feet, and the deep husky was back 45 feet.  Our speed ranged from 1.1 to 1.7 trolling with the wind.

We marked a lot of fish, but I think that the north wind had them shut down.  From the sound of other reports it was slow for both the trollers and jiggers today.  The water temp was around 37 degrees.  I'm planning on going out Sunday, so I should have another report soon.

The 7:00 report from South Bass has 10 knot N winds with 36 degree air temperature and rising barometric pressure.

Travis

This weekend was a little on the windy side.  I ended up finally getting the boat that I traded for completely rigged and ready to go.  I have a 21' Stratos MSX.  Later on I plan to post some pictures of it.  All I have left to do is break the engine in and start fishing.  With any luck I'll have it broken in Saturday and get some fishing in Sunday.  The long term forecasts for next weekend look promising.  Hopfully they hold up.  This past week was brutal and I haven't received any new reports.  I don't think that many people made it out.

Today's satellite photo confirmed what I assumed.  After the N and NW winds most of the nearshore waters of the western basin are very muddy.  The best looking areas are around the SE corner of Kelleys and along the E side of South Bass.  Let's hope for a break from the wind to clear the water up a little.

The 7:00 report from South Bass has 18 knot WNW winds with 30 degree wind chill and steady barometric pressure.

Travis

Marc wanted me to post the following (See my post below for today's fishing report):

"Hi everyone! I won't be interrupting Travis' reports often but as President of WBSA, I want to welcome you all to the 2006 Denied reports page. Feel free to browse the rest of the site and if you are so inclined, you may post and share pictures on our picture page of those special memories that Lake Erie gives us all, at least once in a while. You will have to register on the picture program but there is no cost and no limit to the amount of pictures you can post there. Keep them Lake Erie related please. If you have trouble figuring the picture uploading out, send them to me at wbsa and I'll get them on there for you.

You are also welcome to post in the guest sections of the club Message board and to attend our monthly meetings if there is a speaker that interests you or if you just want to check us out. We realize that many of you travel long distances to fish Lake Erie and we hope to be able to increase your odds for success when you make that journey. Good Luck to you all in 2006!

Marc"

The weekend gave us some warm foggy weather, but now we're headed back into a more winter-like pattern.  From the weekend it sounds like most fish were caught near shore by jigging.  Many areas have been mentioned: Crane Creek, Turtle Creek, A-can, Catawba, Marblehead and  Lakeside have all produced fish.  Depth has ranged from 8 to 30' feet, depending on the area and time of day.  Most of the fish caught have come on purple hair jigs, swedish pimples or jigging rapalas, but trolling has also produced a few.  The size has primarily been 15 to 20" three year olds, but 10 pound plus fish have been mixed in.  I also got a report that said perch fishing has been good in the Black River off of the pier.

The most recent forecast has bad weather until Sunday or so.  This week looks to be in the 30's with rain, snow and wind.  It must still be March.  If stable weather comes in after this gets through look for fishing to pick up again.

The 8:00 report from South Bass has 35 knot west winds with 40 degree wind chill and rapidly rising barometric pressure.

Travis

It's finally March and even though the recent cold weather has made some new ice we are very close to fishing again.  The extended forecast has some 50's and 60's for highs.  The spawning walleye should be staged around the reefs and river mouths.  The early spawners are probably already starting to spawn.  Fish are showing up in the Maumee River and prime fishing could only be weeks away.  By mid to late March I plan to be trolling the islands and off of the reefs in search of big fish.

If you haven't already started working on your equipment it's time to get on it.  I've been making crawler harnesses and cleaning up the mess in my tackle boxes that was left from last year.  I'll also be putting some new line on my trolling reels along with cleaning and oiling them to make sure that they are ready to go.

The next update to the web page will be the helpful hints page.  I have some information to add to it along with updating the format.  Watch for updates in the near future.

As soon as I start getting reports I'll be updating this page as usual.  E-mail me if you make it out.  Last year was tough.  With any help from mother nature this will be a great year considering how many 3 year olds are in the lake.  Most will be over 15" and there should be plenty of limits to be had.  The new March/April limit is 4 fish.  Make sure you get your new fishing license for 2006.

Travis