# Walleye fishing on Lake Erie - Ice Fishing



## eriequest (Feb 8, 2008)

Almost as if it were by fate, I got an e-mail from Bret N on Friday afternoon from Indianapolis, IN....talking about Lake Erie ice fishing and his plans to go there. He said he was going out with several walleye fishermen also from Indiana and they were meeting up on Saturday morning early in the western basin area of Lake Erie. I mentioned to Bret that I was going out Saturday morning as well. Bret said I was welcome to join them and I said sure. I had met several of these walleye enthusiasts at Summit Lake in Indiana last year and they were great guys to fish with.

We visited a local bait shop and got plenty of emerald shiner minnows. Then unloaded the quad 4 Runners, loaded up the gear and headed out for 3-4 mile on Erie's ice. We launced from Metzger's Marsh around 7:00am.

Targeting walleyes in the winter on big lakes isn't hard once you know that they pre-stage near spawning areas...early. On Lake Erie, these areas include the waters surrounding the Reef Complex, Bass Island area, and areas near the Maumee River Basin...these areas are target rich environments for walleyes.




























Lake Erie walleyes are like fish anywhere, they are definitely tuned in to their predominant food source. When ice fishing on Erie...it is very important to obtain the walleye's favorite type of food and offer it up to them. I watched a group struggling on the ice yesterday and then found out that they were not using emeral shiners for bait. Trust me...use emerald shiners boyz and put one on all three hooks of a treble, which is attached to your jigging spoon. It may look odd, but Erie Eyes want a smorgsboard.
































































We caught over 20 walleyes, with our biggest being 8 pounds. We had 4 or 5 fish between 6-8 pounds. No doubt there were over 10 walleye that "unbuckled" as we were bringing them to the surface...but hey, thats part of fishing on the Big Pond.

On Friday, High Tide (Doug) clebrated his birthday by catching an 11 pound walleye.

A BIG thanx to High Tide (Doug), Randy "Gaft Man", Bret (Super Seal), & John (FISHAHOLIC19) ......what a special day on the Big Pond !


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## Steven Homier (Nov 22, 2010)

Yes... indeed I'm surprised that no one has made any remarks. I have been fishing Lake Erie all my life and I totally agree with your blog. However, I never tried more then one shiner at a time. But, I do believe ya. Definitely, it has to be a shiner for sure. What jigs were you using if I may be so bold to ask? I live an hour away now but it's worth the drive. Some travel several hundreds of miles to try and tag into a Walleye. By the way, we did great with perch this year, too.

Thanks for the blog.

As always, good luck and good fishing.

Steven Homier


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