Post by eriequest on Dec 26, 2008 12:58:57 GMT -5
Trust me Troy, Capt Rick is looking forward to this trip too! We will experience walleye fishing using one of my favorite methods...jig fishing.
The jig-and-minnow fishing action for walleye on western Lake Erie in recent April's has been so hot you might scald yourself if you put your hand in the water. Fish are taken just about anywhere from Maumee Bay to the reef complex off Davis-Besse Nuclear Power Station between Toledo and Port Clinton, and action should remain excellent into mid-May . Walleye stage around western basin reefs and move onto them to spawn from late March into April.
They also congregate in Maumee Bay, some to spawn and others to run up the Maumee River to spawn. The periods before and after spawning can be times of feeding frenzy, and some of the largest walleye of the year are taken. Limits of four fish per person can take as little as 30 minutes, and anglers spend the rest of their trip catching and releasing Lake Erie walleye, which is legal. As for "sorting," that is, trading a fish in possession for a bigger fish you just caught, it’s OK. Just be sure the fish you release from the livewell is alive and well, or you could face a ticket for wanton waste.
For the most part the rig of choice we will be using, will be a heavier jig...say 5/8 to 3/4-ounce, with a hair tail jig and dressed with a minnow, preferably an emerald shiner. I have a 34" walleye on my wall, 14 lbs, 2 oz. caught on a 1/2 oz. orange jig in the Maumee Bay, during the annual spring spawning period.
The best part of April, 2009...I am going to be with Chase, Troy, and some BB&B guys...with a video camera. Heck yeah!
Capt. Rick
The jig-and-minnow fishing action for walleye on western Lake Erie in recent April's has been so hot you might scald yourself if you put your hand in the water. Fish are taken just about anywhere from Maumee Bay to the reef complex off Davis-Besse Nuclear Power Station between Toledo and Port Clinton, and action should remain excellent into mid-May . Walleye stage around western basin reefs and move onto them to spawn from late March into April.
They also congregate in Maumee Bay, some to spawn and others to run up the Maumee River to spawn. The periods before and after spawning can be times of feeding frenzy, and some of the largest walleye of the year are taken. Limits of four fish per person can take as little as 30 minutes, and anglers spend the rest of their trip catching and releasing Lake Erie walleye, which is legal. As for "sorting," that is, trading a fish in possession for a bigger fish you just caught, it’s OK. Just be sure the fish you release from the livewell is alive and well, or you could face a ticket for wanton waste.
For the most part the rig of choice we will be using, will be a heavier jig...say 5/8 to 3/4-ounce, with a hair tail jig and dressed with a minnow, preferably an emerald shiner. I have a 34" walleye on my wall, 14 lbs, 2 oz. caught on a 1/2 oz. orange jig in the Maumee Bay, during the annual spring spawning period.
The best part of April, 2009...I am going to be with Chase, Troy, and some BB&B guys...with a video camera. Heck yeah!
Capt. Rick