2006 Reports

Fishing Reports

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I don't really have anything significant to report as far as fishing goes. I did get out the day before Travis did (Sunday) and we struggled to catch fish in the same spot as had been procucing fish for a solid week before. That's life sometimes. Limit reports are coming in from scattered areas of the lake and a flasher is crucial to increase you odds of catching fish. Off Crane Creek, west of Catawba, Green and Rattlesnake Island areas. Most fish are the 03 class size but a few bigger ones are being caught. A large variety of lures are being use but Swedisah Pimples are being mentioned more than any others. 

What I really wanted to report is that the ice has broken away from the west end of the lake during the high winds on Thursday. A couple of Michiganders had to be removed from an ice floe by he Coast Gaurd. There is also a huge open area east of Kellys and some big cracks forming north of the islands that will allow the ice to shift north. It's been too cloudy to get a good view of the lake from the satellite pictures but my guess would be that a lot of big cracks opend up today and that shove ice is pilesd pretty high in places. Be careful if you go out on your own!

I added to my helpful hints page and the topic is about ice out fishing. My routine is similar to most ice out trophy seekers but I tend to start in a different area than they do. I like to target the Sandusky river staging walleye first. I feel that a large percentage of the males run up the river as soon as warmer water flushes the river and bay of ice but that the larger females wait a few days or even a couple weeks before heading up. These are the fish I target immediately after open water and ramps appear.

It won't be long til we hear them outboards running again and I can't hardly wait.

Reminder: Ohio 2007 licenses must be purchased for any fishing after Feb. 28 (It's not a leap year is it?) Don't forget!

Marc

Today I had the privelege of going ice fishing with my friend Bob that runs Cranberry Creek marina, Kim Endsley from Ohio gamefishing.com, and Kim's son.  Bob has a great airboat (that he built by himself) and I got my first airboat experience.  We headed out west of Catawba where he'd been catching fish last week.  That didn't work out so we went out to an area south of Green Island (west of the south tip of South Bass) in 30' of water.  Over two hours 4 of us caught 24 walleye from 15.5 to about 24".  We stayed an extra hour or so to fun fish after we kept our limit.  The fishing was easy with all of our fishing coming from the bottom up to about 20' down.  We were using a flasher and saw nearly every fish that we caught before we caught them.  It was just a matter of getting your lure to the same depth as the marks on the flasher.  I caught all of my fish on a silver swedish pimple with green tape.  I always had 2 shiners on the treble hook.  Hammered gold and hammered silver pimples also worked for the other guys, along with a rattling green snakie spoon.  The ice was 13" deep.

Other good reports have come from off the South Bass state park, west of Catawba, and the Mouse Island area (be careful with all of the current around Mouse Island...conditions can change quickly).  One report came from 4 to 5 miles off of Camp Perry in 18 to 20'.   Less than limits were caught with swedish pimples and Mepps Cyclops in chartreuse, gold, or silver.  I also received a report from the Vermilion River city boat ramp saying that steelhead are being caught through the ice.

The ice fishing is good right now, and I can attest to the fact that it's a lot of fun, but be careful.  Warm windy weather is on the way and this year's ice fishing could be over as early as this weekend.  No fish is worth getting stranded or falling in.

Travis

This winter storm is turning into everything that they predicted and more.  Wind gusts are over 40 mph out of the NE and the snow just keeps on coming.  It's one of the best snow storms that I can remember since a good one back in '95.  The next few days will tell what the wind and snow will do to the ice.

More reports are coming in from the past weekend and it sounds like the catching was pretty good.  Most of the mainland fishermen ended up within 5 miles of Catawba State Park, some stopping as short as 0.5 miles out and others ventured farther.  26' of water produced fish that came fast at times and at other times it took a subtle presentation.  Jigging Rapalas worked well when they were active and small gold Swedish Pimples held without movement worked when they were sluggish.

The following report is directly from John Hageman out on South Bass Island:

I'm getting quite a few second hand reports about the ice fishing.  A majority of the fish have come from about 1 to 3.5 miles off of Catawba State Park.  It sounds like mostly straight west and somewhat southwest of the park.  A report today said that around 60 anglers were in the area.  Ice is from 7 to 11" or so thick.  Jigging rapalas are the only specific lure that has been mentioned, and one report stated 20' of water.  Most of the fish are of the cookie cutter 2003 variety with some bigger trophies mixed in.  Fish are also being caught out at the islands.  The best spot that I heard of at the islands is SE of Rattlesnake Island.  Guys are also walking off of Crane Creek, but watch for thin ice and cracks as a few have taken a swim.  A report from Mazuric said that there is some open water from the Lakeside Pier to Carpenter's Point SW of Kelleys Island.  Another area to beware of.

As tantalizing as the ice fishing is the winter storm coming through Tuesday and Wednesday might drastically change conditions.  35 knot NE gales are in the forecast after 7 to 14" of snowfall supposedly.  That will bring a water level change as water surges towards Toledo and most likely will move around and even break up ice.  I would stay off the ice for the next few days and see what happens after everything passes through.

Travis

Based on the information starting to trickle in ice fishing went into full swing this weekend with fish being caught as close as 1 to 1.5 miles out of Catawba State Park.  Everyone is saying that the ice is rough and there are cracks that keep opening and closing.  Some reports have mentioned ice piles as high as 3 to 5'.  The bottom line is that you need to be careful.  Watch the cracks, don't cross them if the wind is going to open them up later on, and be ready for some tough going with the ice being so rough.

We are under a winter storm watch through Wednesday morning.  From 8 to 12" of snow with strong winds are in the forecast.  If the wind shifts to NE as predicted it could really change the water level and mess up the ice.  Watch the weather if you head out this week.

Travis

Yesterday's satellite photo really shows the western basin ice cover.  It doesn't show what is safe or dangerous, but it's good enough to show that there is a lot of ice out there.  I still don't have any reports with specific details.  I would imagine that a lot more people went out and gave it a try over the last few days.  Send me an e-mail if you caught any fish.

This time of the year is when a lot of Lake Erie fisheries management takes place.  The state wildlife agencies are finishing up there data analysis, lakewide task groups will meet to compile data and run models, and in March the Lake Erie Committee will meet to set lakewide Total Allowable Catches (TAC) after considering the population models presented by the task groups.  The TAC is then further split up into state and province jurisdictions and eventually is broken down into quotas by each agency.

The Lake Erie Committee meetings are open to the public, and even further there is a stakeholder input session.  On Thursday March 22 any angler, commercial fisherman, or other lake user will be able to submit comments.  All it involves is standing at a podium and stating your feelings on where this year's TAC should be set.  While it would be easy to write off the process and assume that the public opinions aren't taken into consideration, you would be wrong.  Last year a small contingency of Ontario anglers made it very clear that high TAC's are not acceptable.  If the committee only hears commercial interests they have know way of formally knowing what sport anglers are thinking.  I highly suggest that any of you that have strong feelings about where the TAC's should be set make the trip to Ypsilanti near Ann Arbor and state your opinions in front of the Lake Committee.  At the very least it's worth the trip it see how the process works.  After hearing all of the input and considering the data the TAC's are announced on Friday morning March 23rd.  The Great Lake Fishery Commission meeting schedule (including the Lake Erie Committee) can be viewed at the following link.  I would argue that if you don't get involved you don't have any right to complain later on.  A strong contingency of dedicated Erie anglers could have an impact on committee decisions.

Travis

Although we had up to 53 knot gusts last Saturday the bitter temperatures have managed to ice over the western basin.  Obviously a lot of the ice isn't safe, but people braver than I am are starting to venture out to fish.  I've heard of a few people off of Crane Creek, a few off of Kelleys and South Bass Islands, and also on Sandusky Bay.  The report off of South Bass (no details given) claimed that 37 walleye were caught over a few days.  Whenever the "safe ice" does set-up we could be in for a great ice season considering all of the 2003 walleye out there.

Please be extremely cautious if you decide to give it a try.  I'll guarantee that there are plenty of areas with thin ice or substantial cracks between Catawba and South Bass.  I heard that a handful of the air boats are running off of Catawba.  Flying to South Bass or taking an air boat off of Catawba are your safest options.  There was finally a decent satellite photo today.  Check out the western basin ice coverage.  A list of ice guides is available on the Ohio DNR-Division of Wildlife page.  It specifically mentions "air boat" for some of the guides.

Travis

The cold weather continues and all of a sudden it looks like we might get an ice season.  While the ice is definitely building I think that we probably have a good week or two before much main lake or island area action gets under way.  I would expect that after this weekend of single digit highs Sandusky Bay, Put-In-Bay and the main lake harbors will be fishable.  I have not yet heard of any "safe" ice.  If any of you make it out be sure to let me know.

If you decide to try any ice fishing please be careful.  Too many people need to get rescued each winter.  Don't let it be you.  Don't cross the cracks if the wind is going to shift or increase.  Don't venture out between South Bass and Catawba unless it turns into a really hard winter with thick ice.  Most of all, go with experienced ice fishermen or guides that know what they are doing.  If I was going to personally go out I would at least use one of the air boat "taxis" to get out to the good fishing grounds without risking the walk.

Travis