Fishing report for the week of May 1, 2011.: , ,
Fishing Report Posted: May 01, 2011

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[ Lake Erie & Tributaries Fishing Report ]

Posted by Capt. Walt Ermansons on May 01, 2011 at 20:52:12:

T G I M ! ( Thank God it's May ! ) I have NEVER, let me repeat myself, NEVER ever been so happy to flip the page on the calendar as I was putting this April behind us. Man, that was brutal ! And pretty much as I summarized it last week, by far the worst April here on the north coast that anybody can remember. Just plain terrible. And right to the bitter end of the month, it was relentless. Last week was "supposed" to start out OK and then get windy towards weeks end. Well let me tell you how it actually went down... It started out really bad on Monday and got just plain horrific by late in the week, capped off by sustained westerly gales on Thursday right around 40mph with gusts clear to 70mph ! That's not a typo... Yes, 70mph ! And the end results were getting very familiar by now. Yet another week with a string of lost trips and income for all of those fishing and tourism related business's that so much depend on this early kind of fishing. Starting the season out in the hole as most of us do, the hole just got a whole lot deeper for everybody. Couple that with what is happening at the marina's gas docks and on the streets and just one short month into the new season, most of us are panic struck and shell shocked !

And then almost unbelievably, we just had a very nice weekend and a really GREAT first day of May. At least for us aboard "The Trophy" we were both lucky enough and blessed enough to go out and actually have two really good days of Walleye fishing. Saturday I once again had my doubts as we headed out after so many days of high winds and churned up waters. But as I did last Sunday, we fished closer to home in what was once again surprisingly not all that terribly dirty water. After a slow start Saturday morning we finally started catching and ended up the day in the teens for fish caught with a fairly early quit to boot. Not all that bad. And then on Sunday, for us, it was game on ! We probably did 7 or 8 fish in the first 10 minutes before thing settled down to just a nice and slow steady pick. And by days end, we ended up with 27 beautiful Walleyes boated along with numerous fish lost. A very nice way to bring in May the 1st with the best catch yet aboard "The Trophy" for this season thus far. And I really do think we were very blessed because so many others really struggled this weekend. I guess it was just our turn. That and having my very best ace crew that's REALLY good at working these jigs on Sunday didn't hurt either ! LOL !

One thing I wanted to bring up is that the State of Ohio now has a new one day "charter" fishing license available. You can pre buy this tag for the same price as a regular one day tag with the difference beings that it does not go into effect until the day you actually use it and when you sign the license on that particular day. This is a really great idea because you can pre buy the license online in your leisure and not be pinned down to just any one exact day. This way should the fishing trip be cancelled or postponed as were most of everybody's trips just this past month, you are not out the 11 bucks for the tag for that day and merely just hold off signing it till you are actually are on the boat and on your way ! A most wonderful idea ! One other thing that needs to be mentioned for my Port Clinton guests that choose to stay at my #1 recommendation, The Commodore Perry Inn here in town. We've run into some problems with their cancellation policy of 72 hours or no refund for the room. Well with the rash of bad weather and the cancellations that I have had to make, a few have got burned with this hotels lack of understanding and compassion. Till I have more time to contact them and figure things out, I would NOT recommend making reservations especially Sunday night thru Thursday. There are plenty of other hotels in the area to choose from if it comes to that, however I still recommend the Commodore Perry Inn because of it's location to the boat, reasonable rates and the nice attached bar and grill plus it's relatively newness and cleanliness. Just be careful of their cancellation policy. Man, I hate it when I get put in the middle...

So we've now flipped the page to May and this weeks upcoming weather really looks to be good with no hints of any strong winds. They are still calling for a chance of rain most everyday here and there but no big weather systems. I believe we are in store for a GREAT week, especially with the Walleyes showing strong signs of really firing up now. I am hoping that we get at least one good week of this jig fishing in yet. It's quite possible that we can stretch that to possibly the next 10 days yet. It certainly would not make me mad. Everything after that becomes much more work and so much more expensive as we start to chase these fish further and further offshore. I am really at a loss how we're going to pull this off without passing some of the additional costs off to our guests should fuel go over 5 bucks a gallon. For now I want to thank most everyone for their very generous tips to help offset things.. Heaven knows most days so far the fishing hasn't necessarily warranted it. Thanks again guys. OK, I have the next 2 Wednesdays available for anyone that would happen to be looking. This Wednesday, May the 4th & Wednesday May the 11th are still open. This Wednesday would be really great to fill because I really believe things are going to peak out this week with the jig bite if today was any kind of indicator. Even the Smallmouth's are starting to hit good ! Anybody thinking about it can as always call me at any hour of the day or night @ 216-387-2656. Go ahead, make my day so that I can make yours ! Give me a call...

Capt. Walt





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