  Sundance Sportfishing Adventures 6-20-01 Western Bite is HOT!! The Walleye fishing in Lake Erie's western basin has been sizzling hot the past few days! The area from 4-5 miles W/NW of West Sister Island to the Michigan border has long been a June hot spot and this year if holding true to form. Limit catches, some taking just a couple hours, have been common in this area since last Thursday or Friday. The fish have been ranging from 13-23 inches with most fish in the 14-18" class. This size fish is the ultimate for eating quality and with the bite being "on" it's plenty of good fun too! Some other areas have been producing Walleye as well, but have been a bit more spotty because of the Mayfly hatch going on right now. If the west end of the lake is too far for you, try the area just N/NE of Niagara Reef in 30-32ft. of water and use weapons fished from the surface down to a 10 count with 1/2 oz. lead and gold blades. This area was good over the last weekend and also on Monday. Another area has been around the Ohio reefs near Davis Besse nuclear plant in 13-22 ft. of water. Best areas have been near Round Reef, Crib Reef, Flatrock, Little Pickerel, and Cone Reef. These areas are mostly rocky and have less areas for Mayfly hatching. Use weight forward spinners such as Tom's Walleye Lure, Tiny Teasers, Erie Dearies, etc. Best colors have been chartreuse, red & orange or Gold. Always tip the lures with night crawlers. Heading easterly out of Channel Grove Marina (my dock) there have been a few holdout Walleye in the Sandusky Bay area in 6-7 ft. of water and some decent fish are in there too! Look for the action to cool down in there soon though, as the weeds will soon take over the bay and make it impossible to fish with spinning lures. The area from Sawmill Creek to Ruggles Reef around Huron, OH. has been holding a few nice fish and soon the area just North of Lorain should take off. Smallmouth fishing has been good near Pelee Island on the Ontario side of the lake and should been prime for the opening of Bass season there on June 30. Remember to catch and release as much as possible to help keep the Bass population in good numbers. There are plenty of Walleye for eating purposes, so try to take it easy on your Bass killing!! Look for the Smallmouth to be anywhere from 12-30ft. of water and use tube jigs, twister tails or crank baits for the best success. Yellow Perch have been running near Kelley's Island and off of Cedar Point. Nice catches of Perch in the 9-12 inch range have been reported and even a few up to 14"!! The Perch action should continue to improve as summer wears on. White Bass have been hanging around the Starve Island area and out near the Sister Islands in good numbers. Good luck in all of your fishing adventures! Capt. Bob Brown, Jr. 5-17-01 Walleye Heating Up! The Walleye fishing on Lake Erie has seen great improvement this spring over the past couple of years. The warmer weather this year has turned the fish on and the bite has been good so far this May. the past tow days were a bit slower due to flat calm conditions, but the fishing in general has been very good. Nice catches of Walleye have been coming in from the area just north of Port Clinton from 1-6 miles offshore. Nice sized fish in the 3-5lb. class have been hitting the docks from all over the lake with a few 8-10lb. fish also. Other areas that have been producing fish the past few days are the area around "A" Can south of West Sister Island, in the South Passage between the Bass Islands and Catawba Point, and also near the mouth of the Sandusky Bay. A few fish have started to show up on the reefs, but mostly the bite has been in deeper waters with the fish being suspended up off the bottom. Best casting baits have been weapons with a gold blade and Tom's Walleye lure or Tiny Teasers fished at a 5-10 count. The fish seem to be hanging up near the surface where the water is a bit warmer and baitfish are congregating. This can change though if we get a cool snap and drive the fish deeper. So keep your heavier lures handy as we have a bit of spring weather yet to deal with. Smallmouth Bass fishing has been good around Kelley's Island and around the shoreline from Vermilion, OH. east. Look for the western basin and island Bass to be done spawning already and the eastern zone Bass to be bedding up now with the arrival of the next full moon. Most fish are still around the spawning areas in 5-20ft. of water but a few late arrivers may still be hanging out in deeper water in areas that have sharp drop offs to 30ft.+ Best baits have been tube jigs in the crawfish and dark gray color in clear water or the chartreuse and salt + pepper color in murkier water. Look for the Smallmouth fishing to really bust loose during the next warm spell! A few reports of excellent White Bass fishing have been reported around the Sandusky Bay area and also a few showing up in spawning areas around the islands. Hopefully we are seeing a comeback of this once abundant Lake Erie species. Nothing can match the action of a school of hungry Whities and hopefully this will be getting more common on the lake! If you are looking for more info on Lake Erie fishing please check out our website. Good luck in all of your fishing adventures! 9-30-00 Smallmouth and Perch still turned on! The fall Smallmouth Bass bite on Lake Erie continues to be good with nice catches coming in from a variety of areas. The Pelee Island area on the Ontario side has produced good numbers of big Smallies recently. Best depths have been 13-27ft. Look for the Bass to be on the drop offs or on the rough bottom in rocky areas. Other areas producing Bass have been the 12-30ft. ledge off of Vermilion and Lorain, OH. and the same depth range off of Ashtabula and Conneaut, OH. Best baits are live large shiner minnows and soft shelled crawfish. Best artificials are tube jigs in crawfish colors and spinner baits tipped with nightcrawlers. Also, fly fishermen should use crawfish patterns or Shiner minnow patterns. Yellow Perch action has remained strong in the Kelleys Island area and off of Huron and Vermilion. Best bait is shiner minnows fished on the bottom with a multi-hook rig. Best depths have been 40-44 ft. of water. Walleye fishing has been a bit slower recently after all the windy weather in the area. Some nice fish caught yesterday came out of shallow waters around Kelley's and North Bass Island and also around Pelee Island. Some deep water action has been reported in the Huron and Lorain areas but has been spotty due to windy and murky water conditions. Good Luck in all of your fishing adventures! For lots more fishing info and photos check out our website: www.sundancesportfishing.net . 9-16-00 The hot bite on Lake Erie right now is the great eating Yellow Perch! Lots of Perch anglers are coming to the docks with limit catches. Best areas are around Kelley’s Island in 30-48 ft. of water. The area off the east side after you fall off into 40+ foot has been great lately. Other areas that have been good have been just off the foghorn at Cedar Point off of Sandusky, OH., just west of Green and Rattlesnake Islands in 32 ft. of water and near Northwest Reef in 32 ft. of water. Shiner minnows are your best bet and fish near the bottom with a double hook rig. Walleye fishing continues to be good in several areas in western and central Lake Erie. Best areas have been around the island areas near Kelley’s Island and near Pelee Island in Ontario waters. Look for the Walleye on the reef areas in 5-22 ft. of water. Weight forward spinners such as Tom’s Walleye Lure in the lemon-gold or chartreuse colors and 1/2 oz. weight have been the best recently. Other areas that have been good for Walleye recently include the area west of the Bass Islands in 30+ ft of water and the area just Northeast of Huron, OH. in 30-45 ft. of water. Best methods in these areas has been trolling with spoons and drift fishing with weapons. Smallmouth Bass action has continued to be good in the near Kelley’s Island in Ohio waters and near Pelee Island, Hen and the Chicken Islands, East Sister and North Harbor Islands in Ontario waters. Best baits now are live large Shiner minnows or soft shelled Crayfish. Beware on the Ontario side if you are using live bait as they have some laws about bringing live bait into Ontario from outside sources. Bass have been hanging out at just about all depths lately, but look for the drop-offs around reefs right now in the 20-22 ft. depth range. For more info on Lake Erie fishing, check out our website! Good luck in all of your fishing adventures! Capt. Bob Brown, Jr. 8-10-00 The summer Walleye fishing on Lake Erie has been very good again this year. The slow fishing we experienced this spring has given way to some great fishing for Walleye and Smallmouth Bass this summer. August has been exceptional for Walleye with a variety of areas around the islands producing fish. Shallow waters have produced the best numbers of big Walleye and good numbers of 16-22 inch fish have been coming out of the deeper areas in the western basin. This past week has been exceptional in the areas around Pelee Island in Ontario waters. Most Walleye are hanging in the 12-30 ft. depth range with the larger fish coming out of the shallower water. Use weight forward spinners such as Tom's Walleye Lure in gold color with green prism stickers on the blades. This has been a hot lure for many years on the "Sundance". Also, pink or chartreuse lures have also been producing good at times depending on the water clarity. In the deeper waters in the western basin, the best areas have been between North Bass Island and West Sister Island in about 32'. Use the "weapon" with a hammered gold blade and yellow & red beads and a 3/4 oz. weight. Trolling has also been producing well in these areas. Smallmouth Bass fishing has remained good for the past couple weeks. The Bass are definitely preferring live bait right now. Best baits are live softshell Crawfish or large Shiner minnows. Look for the Smallmouth to be in anywhere from 12-30 ft. of water right now, but some nice catches have been coming out of about 15-17 ft. lately. Remember to catch and release Smallmouth if you can and remember the new size and bag limits in Ohio if you must keep some. Ohio's Smallmouth fishing can continue to be good on Lake Erie if we use the resource wisely! Yellow Perch fishing has been decent but not spectacular here lately. It will improve as the fall wears on. Look for the Perch in 25-40 ft. of Water around the Rattlesnake & Green Island area, and between South Bass and Kelley's Island. Use shiner minnows on the bottom with a dual hook rig. Good luck in all of your fishing adventures! Check out our website for more fishing info and lots of photos! Capt. Bob Brown, Jr. fish@sundancesportfishing.net www.sundancesportfishing.net 7-10-2000 WALLEYE BITE IS ON IN WESTERN BASIN! Recent days on Lake Erie have seen an increase in the numbers of Walleye being taken from the usual summer hot spots in the western basin. The best area lately for catching numbers of Walleye has been in the Sister Islands "Triangle". This is an area of several square miles between the Islands of West Sister, Middle Sister, and East Sister. Walleye have been suspended off the bottom in about 32 ft. of water. Best baits for drifting and casting for Walleye have been the Weapon spinner bait tipped with a small piece of night crawler or weight forward spinners like the Tom’s Walleye Lure. Gold and Chartreuse seem to be the colors producing the best along with a lemon-lime color. The fish have sometimes been suspended high off the bottom so you need to fish the baits near the surface. Try a 5-10 second count after casting before retrieving the lure and then use a slow retrieve. Use this technique especially in the early morning. Once the sun gets up and boat traffic gets out on the lake, try fishing deeper for better results. Nice numbers of White Bass have started to show up again at times on Lake Erie after a long period of poor populations. On some recent trips in Ontario waters we have seen as many as 40 - 50 Whities accidentally bite on our Walleye lures. Quite a nice surprise and a lot of fun! Smallmouth Bass fishing has been decent in Ontario waters in the Pelee Island area but is a bit slower now than back in May and June. They seem to be preferring the live bait more now compared to hardware. Best live baits are soft Craws or large Shiner minnows. Check the Ontario regulations before taking live bait across the line. They have some rules about where you should buy your bait! Tube jigs and crankbaits are the best artificials right now unless you are fly fishing. Some of the top flies right now are Crawfish patterns and Clauser Deep Minnows in the Emerald Shiner patterns. You might have to look a bit deeper for Bass right now as the fish have moved away from the spawning areas and have started to migrate to some deeper waters. Look in depths of 15-35ft. where there are sharp drop offs. Don’t be afraid to "go deep"! Yellow Perch have been biting very good already on Lake Erie with lots of Perch anglers coming to the docks with limit catches. Best areas are around Marblehead Lighthouse and around Kelley’s Island in 30-40 ft. of water. Shiner minnows are your best bet and fish near the bottom with a double hook rig. For more info on Lake Erie fishing, check out our website! Good luck in all of your fishing adventures! Capt. Bob Brown, Jr. Sundance Sportfishing Adventures www.sundancesportfishing.net 6-14-00 SMALLMOUTH BITE IS ON! Smallmouth Bass season is heating up on Lake Erie this time of June as Bass start to move off the beds after spawning. Normally right after the spawn Bass are extremely hungry after going a couple weeks without much feeding while spawning. Recent trips around the islands in Lake Erie have produced some nice sized Smallmouth with some up to 5 lb. coming from the Kelley's island area. Bass are feeding aggressively and will hit hardware right now. Best hardware baits are tube jigs, crankbaits and twister tails. Try the Venom brand tubes in a crawfish or "smoke" color with some gold or silver flakes. These seem to be the top producers lately. Try the Smallies in depths from 10 to 25 ft. but the mid teens seems to be best the past few days. The slow start to the Walleye season on Lake Erie has put a damper on the spring season here on the big lake. The past few days have shown signs of improvement as some nice catches have started to come in. Best areas have been 4-6 miles west of West Sister Island and the Canadian waters near Pelee Island. The past two days were excellent on the Canadian side for the "Sundance" as we found some large Walleye that wanted to feed. Yesterday our crew of anglers from Marion, OH. went home with 42 Walleye that tipped the scales at 157lb! Today was equally as successful and hopefully the trend will continue. The Walleye fishing has been spotty plus the Mayfly hatch is on right now in the open waters which can add to the difficulty of catching Walleye. Your best bet for catching Walleye during the Mayfly hatch is to fish over rocky bottoms where the Mayflies aren't hatching. Fish shallow from 10-30 ft depths with weapons or Tom's Walleye lures. Gold has been the color of choice lately. Good luck in all of your fishing adventures! Capt. Bob Brown, Jr. Sundance Sportfishing Click Here to email us Return to The Outdoors Guide Home ____________________________________________________________ |
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