4-9-23 Lake Erie Walleye Fishing Report

Every year we look forward to the jig bite out on the reef complex of Lake Erie. Good Friday and Easter weekend are typically great fishing and this was true this year as well. The jig bite is heating up more each day and the stable weather forecast is really going to light things up over the next week. We went out and did very well and so did multiple members of our Pro-Staff. We have multiple reports below. Good luck out there and make sure to do your boat safety checks if it's your first trip out this year! FISH-ON! 

FISHING REPORT #1

Launch Location - Fenwick Marina - Oak Harbor, OH

Trip Date - 4/7/23

Report Provided By: Mike Schmitt - Fishing Addiction Gear

We fished Good Friday and had a great day on the water. The winds from the night before carried into the morning, so we waited until after 9am to launch. We left Fenwick Marina and knew the waves would still be rocking but we hoped the settled down at least a little bit. We were greeted with 3' waves at the mouth but they were manageable. We first set up in 15' of water and popped one on a blade bait right away. We picked off a few more but it started slow for us in the first area. The water was very dirty and we had about 8'' of visibility. We moved out a little bit and targeted 16-17'. We started to see some better action but we were seeing a lot of short strikes and lost fish at the boat. The fish were a little negative yet but we were still picking them off. Towards noon the bite really started to change and the fish were engulfing the jigs. Once they turned on, the flurries of action started to keep things hoppin. We proceeded to get our 3 person limit of walleye. We had a few 16-17'' fish but most were closer to the 20'' mark, which is great for jigging season! Most of the fish were caught on the Venom 3/4 ounce Jigs with a 2'' Removable Stinger Hook. We also tip the jig with a Gulp Alive Minnow. Captain Jays blade baits got a few fish. The water temp was averaging 46 degrees where we fished. We kept our drift between .5 - .8 early and as the waves slowed, we were able to stay on a drift speed of .5 consistently, which also helped produce more strikes. Two drift socks out all day and the trolling motor to help early on. Low and slow jig hops were most productive for us today. Good luck out there! 

FISHING REPORT #2

Launch Location - Fenwick Marina - Oak Harbor, OH

Trip Date - 4/8/23

Report Provided By: Denny Sharrone with 22 Sportfishing Charters 

The jig bite has been really good! We've been targeting 12-13 fow first thing in the morning until about 8am. After that we've been sliding out to 14-15 fow to stay on the bigger groups of fish. Anywhere in and around the reef complex is producing.  Black and purple based jigs have been producing the best for us. PRO TIP: A little dab of Pro-Cure Trophy Walleye scent instead of tipping the jigs with minnows works great, especially when we get these tough 15mph east winds. It's extremely important to remember to stay in constant contact with the bottom when jigging...you need to feel the rhythmic thump, thump, thump of the jig bouncing bottom. If you can't feel that then you're wasting your time. If the drfit is really slow (less than .5mph) then CAST and hop the jig back to the boat being sure to make a few hops under the boat before reeling up. This made a huge difference on Sunday with the calmer winds!! Good luck!

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