Early Spring Walleye on Lake Erie

Can you believe it? March is just around the corner, and in about a month the hearty Lake Erie fishermen among us will be venturing out for a little walleye action. Their bait of choice: a large, colorful hairy jig tipped with a fat emerald shiner. The spring jigging season on the big lake is getting enormously popular. Just five years ago only a daring few could be spotted on the just-thawed water. Nowadays, it seems that everyone wants to give it a try. And why not? It’s easy fishing. Just tie on a jig, add a minnow and drop it to the bottom and give it a little twitch every now and then. A limit of winter-sluggish walleye generally is only about an hour away on most days. Really, the only tough part of this fishing trip is the wind-chill. So it is imperative not to underestimate it. When I urge fishermen to dress warmly, that’s exactly what I mean.

Dress as though you are going ice fishing with insulated boots, bibs and a goose down, windproof outer layer. You can always take a layer off if the sun shines. Nothing will spoil a trip of this type quicker than a bone-deep chill. And even if you don’t like coffee, take it anyway. Ice-out walleye fishing on Lake Erie has gained a lot of attention in the last few years. So much so that anglers from all over the upper-Midwest are flocking to the Port Clinton area starting in late March and early April. Especially visible are anglers from Minnesota, south Dakota , Iowa and Wisconsin. Their lakes at home are still ice covered but here in Northern Ohio, spring arrives weeks earlier. For them, it’s a nice jumpstart on the fishing season and most are just a day’s drive away even while pulling a boat.

All of the Lake Erie jigging action takes place in the shallow Western Basin from Port Clinton to Toledo and up and around into Michigan waters. Even if you only have a small boat don’t despair because the jigging usually takes place in water depths of 8-15 feet. We’re talking less than a mile from shore. But some of the action takes place around the reefs. Because we have a lot of unsettled weather this time of year, the actual number of fishing days available is always the big question. Obviously, the best days come with a light, southerly wind and plenty of sunshine,. Clean water is a definite plus but it doesn’t always happen as windy conditions keep the water stirred up and off-color.

There really are no techniques to learn for this type of fishing. Many fishermen will either drift through the fish or they will anchor once they find a productive spot. I suppose if there is one recommendation to make it’s this: keep plenty of jigs handy. These areas are rocky and can eat up a dozen lures quickly. Also, keep the lure and minnow moving, but jig slowly. The water temperatures will still be hovering around 38-42 degrees and the walleyes will be sluggish from the long winter under ice. The best areas are from the Davis-Besse power plant to the Maumee River at Toledo. There are many launching areas along Rt. 2 and small marinas where you can tie up the boat for a few days.

The bait shops have been pretty good about offering fishing reports. My advice is to check some of them out and get phone numbers to call before making the trip either on a charter or your own boat