SANDUSKY — As the calendar flips for the fifth time in 2020, summer makes its official/unofficial arrival, the humidity reminds us that this is not San Diego or Vancouver, and there is a not-so-subtle changing of the guard out on Lake Erie. In this transition, the soldiers remain the same but their preferred armaments go through a major switch.
It is a wise and calculated transformation since the anglers are adjusting to the proclivities of the species they pursue — walleye.
The spring cold-water fishery is dominated by casting or vertically fishing hair jigs or blade baits in the areas around the reefs of western Lake Erie where millions of walleye have congregated for their annual spawning ritual. These fish are oriented with the lake bottom at this time, and targeting them with jigs and blade baits is highly effective.
“My opinion has always been that blade baits and hair jigs are great cold/cool water techniques for walleye anywhere in the Midwest, and the reef and nearshore fishing in spring is a result of the right technique employed in areas that have the highest densities of walleye in the world,” said Travis Hartman, the Lake Erie Program Administrator for the Ohio Division of Wildlife.
The change in the pattern of walleye movement and concentrations of fish comes as the spawn ends, the lake water continues to warm, and new natural food sources appear.
“As the spawning season ends in early May, the fish start migrating away from the reefs and are in lower densities, along with the water warming and bug hatches starting,” Hartman said.
He said that anglers find success in June by casting and trolling worm harnesses and casting weigh-forward spinners tipped with worms since these rigs present in the water column much like the billions of mayflies that soon emerge from the lake bottom sediment and begin a chaotic rise to the surface.
Trolling, which has taken on a major role in Lake Erie walleye fishing over the past couple of decades, dominates the summer angling landscape on the big water, and it helps fishermen cover much more area as they increase their opportunities to encounter those now spread-out schools of walleye.
“Anyone trolling spoons or crankbaits is catching fish that are interested in gizzard shad, shiners, or other small forage fish,” Hartman said. He recommends increasing the trolling speed as the lake water continues to warm and the fish become more active.
Netcraft owner and tournament walleye angler Bob Barnhart said that he believes water temperature and water clarity also play a prominent role in the seasonal movement of the lake’s most precious resource.
“The jig bite has a more definitive window with those huge concentrations of fish around the reefs, and it also coincides with a time when the lake water will have some color to it since the rivers are high and muddy and dumping a lot of that stained water into the lake,” he said. “As the water begins to clear, it is usually about the same time that the fish are done spawning and ready to move on.”
Barnhart said that following the intense spawning period, the walleye recover quickly and then shift into full feeding mode as the lake water temperature inches toward the mid-sixties.
“Those fish will move off the rocks and disperse pretty rapidly, and many of them will suspend in the water column,” he said. “We’ll see all kinds of bug hatches start to happen as the water warms, and those mayflies and nymphs will make up a big part of the walleye diet.”
Barnhart said many of the weight-forward rigs, harnesses, and other summer tackle options are designed to mimic the natural food sources. These lures have been continually modified and updated with changes to blade size, color and numbers in the continuing pursuit of the best presentation.
Captain Ross Robertson of Bigwater Fishing said he believes most of the lake’s walleye moved off the jig bite a while back and have migrated to deeper water areas of Erie. A recent bug hatch had the most aggressive fish pushing higher in the water column and provided Robertson and his clients with some intense action.
“This time of year you can do a lot of different things and catch fish, but when you really dial it in, you can straight up whack ‘em,” Robertson said, recounting a morning earlier this week that provided 30 hook-ups in less than two hours. “It was just straight reeling and netting.”
First Published June 2, 2020, 2:31 p.m.
