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Mid-summer walleyes
by Joe Holly
http://www.badmancharters.com
"Mid-summer walleyes" by Capt. Joe Holly
Where have all the walleye gone, people ask. Fishermen
seem to think that when the dog days of summer arrive in
July, there favorite quarry vanishes. Everyone seems to
think that walleyes leave the western basin altogether and
migrate to the east. Wrong, wrong, wrong!! The latest of
Lake Erie's best kept secrets is nothing new, July fishing
is hot!! The past three years, the mid-summer fishing has
been fantastic and it's only getting better. Anglers were
disappointed during the lean years on lake Erie they
experienced in the late 80's. This was due to low fish
stocks and poor recruitment during the spring spawn.
Back in the late 80's, the lake experienced three
consecutive springs of adverse weather and other
unfavorable conditions for spawning walleye. As a result,
recruitment was low, while the catch rate remained high,
depleting of the numbers keeper size walleyes. Anglers
began to notice a lower rate of success and an apparent
shorter walleye season. By the end of 1980's, July fishing
nose-dived and anglers began to feel different about
midsummer fishing. Anglers felt that in order to catch
Walleyes on Lake Erie, you have to be on the water in
March through June. With mature catchable walleyes at a
ten year low, the numbers game finally switched in favor
of the sportsmen in the 90's. The recruitment of catchable
fish increased steadily with back-to-back record hatches
in 1990-91 and in 1993. Lake Erie was finally fighting
back.
The average depth of the western basin north of the famous
reef complex is between 32 to 35 foot. In late June,
anglers can usually mark a thermocline 20 to 30 foot down.
When this happens weight forwards are counted down and
fished at a 20-25 count to find active fish. When July
arrives, the thermocline vanishes and bottom temperature
to range between 68 to 72 degrees. When this occurs,
expect to locate eyes' near or on the bottom. When anglers
run their favorite sonar looking for walleyes on the way
out to the `Flats' or their deep water destination on the
Canadian line and graph no suspended fish, the first
thought is to think the walleyes moved out and headed
east. Actually the reason for no hooks on the screen is
because the fish generally hug the bottom due to the
warmer water. To find these fish, it is necessary to have
a boat equipped with a sensitive fishfinder that can
separate bottom from fish. This can very from the old
style chart recorders to the newer LCD's. Keep in mind
that all LCD's aren't alike. Expect the best results from
a LCD graph that has at least 128 X 160 pixels on a
screen. The more pixels you have, the more sensitive
sensitive your unit will be.
It seems that when the summer heats up, big fish cool
down. Normally, fish react to warm water much the same way
cold water effects them. The walleyes metabolism slows and
they expend less energy while pursuing a meal. The
`gators' are notorious for choosing an easy meal whenever
possible. During the month of July in the western Lake
Erie, big walleyes tend to follow the concentrations of
newly hatched bait fish around the lake, often into
shallow water, where the big eyes ravage them. Many times
the average angler overlooks this movement. If you can
locate bait early or late in the day, in near shore waters
or on reef structure, fishing can be hot. Remember, big
walleyes are looking for an easy meal and don't want to
work anymore then they have to in the warmer temps. So it
makes sense for big walleyes to follow a school of bait
and attack at will. Because of the walleyes sluggish
nature in warm water, their feeding habits change
drastically when compared to late May/early June lake
conditions. Hot summer fish are more affected by light and
boat traffic because of the brighter days and clearer
water. Low light conditions, such as cloudy days or early
morning and late evenings can produce excellent catches
that will rival any springtime day.
Bigger walleyes are generally looking for a more sedate
presentation. As an alternative to trolling, there are
methods that often produce consistent and regular catches
for the die-hard live bait angler. So many times when
novices use traditional weight forward spinners and worms,
most anglers often catch fewer fish then charter
fishermen. This is often due to the type of presentation
and different lures the professionals use. Over the years,
another of the best kept secrets and the `bread-and-butter
lure' used by many top professional guides on Lake Erie
when `Sloooooow' and depth is important, is the worm
harness or live bait rig! It only makes sense when using
live bait to work a presentation that keeps the bait at
the depth where your quarry is more often to react and
present it at a speed they desire.
A Key and very important point made when using these
bottom hugging lures, as similarly compared to trolling,
your bait is presented at a constantly maintained depth
where the fish lie in ambush of their dinner. When using
weight forwards spinners for bottom hugging fish,
generally after 10 cranks or more of the reel when fished
at a 35 count, your lure is often to far off the bottom
for a lazy and lethargic walleye to follow.
Unlike the higher water temperature's effect on the bigger
walleyes caught in the western basin, warmer water doesn't
effect normal feeding activity for the younger `eyes in
the 17 to 22 inch range. Smaller walleyes only concern
during midsummer activities are directed towards eating
and getting bigger, so temperature normally isn't a major
factor with this age class. Because of this, you can take
advantage of good numbers of aggressively feeding and
hungry walleyes in the one to three pound range. This
class of `good eaters' should show up in the overall
success by the angler's with increased numbers caught and
by topping off coolers this summer. This will make up the
difference between just an average `summer' day to
excellent day fishing on the Lake Erie. This undoubtedly
should make 1995 a banner year, much like 1992, when
limits were common well into August.
With Lake Erie's increased success during the `dog days',
don't you miss out on some of the lakes best fishing. The
pressure is gone, boat traffic has decreased by nearly 50%
and the fish are still hungry. When the Lake begins to
feel more like bath water, `slooooow' down your methods
and give them what they want, a more traditional live bait
presentation. Traditional drift methods do work and often
your success can be hot as summer!
More information can be found at
http://www.badmancharters.com
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