Blade Fishing Report: Walleye palooza continues on area waters
Apr. 14—The best angling information from area experts.
—Lake Erie: When the wind decides to settle down and give fishermen full access to the lake's bounty, anglers have been taking limits from a variety of Western Basin sites, including Maumee Bay, the reef complex, the open water outside the Camp Perry firing range, and west of the Lake Erie Islands. The fish are coming via three different routes. Many anglers are using the traditional spring jigging approach, with lead-head jigs, colorful tails or hair, and often dressing the jigs with large shiner minnows and stinger hooks. Others prefer to use blade baits that seek to induce strikes by sending out vibrations to mimic those of a struggling baitfish. The trolling crowd is sticking to their preferred method, which regularly produces more fish and bigger fish than any other approach. The trollers that have moved away from the packs of boats have usually done the best.
—Maumee River: The walleye run continues to produce fish in the traditional hot spots of Orleans Park, Buttonwood, the main channel side of Bluegrass Island, and the Jerome Road rapids area. The best bite has come in the lower light hours of the early morning and late evening. River watcher Joe Roecklein tours the fishing areas nearly every day and he reports improving conditions following the surge of new water following last weekend's rain. The staff at Netcraft recommends anglers use Carolina rigs with brightly colored floating jig heads, in-line or egg weights of one-half ounce or lighter, and dress those jigs with plastic tails or swirl-tail grubs.
—Sandusky River: Bernie Whitt at Angler's Supplies in downtown Fremont reports the river is a little murky and maybe up a foot or so following the weekend rains. Walleye are still being caught in the park access areas, and Whitt said white bass are starting to show up in the waterway, but not in the numbers that fishermen are used to seeing in the height of the Sandusky's white bass run. The best baits for walleye fishermen have been 1/8 - and 1/4 -ounce jig heads tipped with black or chartreuse tails. Some anglers are also having success utilizing the Carolina rigs with floating jig heads to catch walleye. The early-run white bass are being taken on minnows floated under bobbers, or on light-colored jigs and twister tails worked on a fast retrieve.
—Detroit River: It is hard to believe that an international border could mess with your walleye fishing, but that is just the case on this busy artery that divides Michigan from Canada. Guide Spencer Berman reports that some of the larger fish appear to have violated Ontario's closed border and spirited their way into provincial waters. On the American side, Berman is still putting his clients on plenty of walleye with the natural color baits working best. The Sylvania native said the water is quite clear and visibility is 10-feet-plus. The early mornings and late evenings have been best with fish up early in shallow 20-foot depths or less, but retreating quickly once the sun hits the water. The mid-day fishing has been in 40-foot depths or deeper. Contact Berman at spencersanglingadv.com.
—Costa Rica: Toledoan Scott Kozak and his crew finished third in last weekend's Marina Pez Vela Open Billfish Tournament while fishing aboard Pacific Fly. Kozak and company caught and released 34 sailfish over a three-day period, including 19 on the practice day and 15 in the tournament.
First Published April 14, 2021, 10:17am
