Lake Erie fishing report for the week of May 18, 2014.: , ,
Fishing Report Posted: May 18, 2014

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Posted by Capt. Walt Ermansons on May 18, 2014 at 17:05:18:

Rain! Rain! Rain! Holy Toledo was last week a wet week! Wow, it’s been a long time since I fished in so many rains all in one week. And of coarse along with all the weather systems that passed through this past week it was also back to cold and “breezy”. I was pretty eager to put the month of April behind me but so far this May has been nothing to write home about. Although that’s all I seem to write about anymore. The weather. Just not in a good way! lol! But as always, somehow, someway we managed to tough through it all and actually had a very good week catching fish. Catch rates were very decent and everybody took home plenty of fish for dinner.

“The Trophy” was strictly a trolling machine all of last week. It’s what I do best. It’s a lot of work but I’ve settled into my usual daily routine now and most everything I do out there, I do without having to put a lot of thought into it. Twenty eight years now of doing the same thing over and over. I sound like a Parrot giving the very same instructions over and over and probably look like a robot too as I rig lines and shuffle people around. Same thing again and again. But we make it work. All the drifting equipment has been sent home now and we are now truly committed to trolling here for my last week at the western basin. It’s almost like a pre-season dress rehearsal in preparation of what I do all summer long back home. And that’s troll. As we trolled here amongst the heavy boat traffic last week and started fighting more and more of the nuisance small junk fish, I couldn't help but start really looking forward to going home back out east.

Interestingly enough, while trolling out here at the western basin last week, we hooked and landed yet ANOTHER Muskie this spring out here! I made mention a few weeks back about the one we caught drifting and jigging closer to shore. Well this one came on a port side 2 1/2 setting Dipsey Diver, 30 foot back with a Poo Bear Purple Michigan Stinger scorpion spoon. We were fishing just north of the Niagara Reef in about 28 foot of water. Although it wasn't quite as big as the one we caught a few weeks ago, it certainly slammed the diver hard and put up quite the little tussle before getting himself netted. And as we did did with the last one, we took a few quick pictures and slipped it unharmed back into the water. Hmmmm... I wonder if this is a sign of things to come here in the western basin? Like I said, very interesting. I wonder what a Muskie charter could go for! Lol !!!

So it’s finally here. My final week at Port Clinton before running my boat back to Ashtabula for the rest of the season. Port Clinton is always exciting to get the new season going and pay off some winter incurred bills but Ashtabula Harbor is home and where I really make my living at. Seems like after the jigging bite is done and over with up here, I just want to go home. But it would not pay for me to come all the way out here just for a month so we make the best of my stay here. If the fishing would be a bit easier after the jig bite or the weather a bit kinder in the spring time, perhaps I wouldn’t be as antsy to go. But home is home and I can’t wait to go this year. As always, I am blessed with a good schedule for back out east and can’t wait to go looking for those big early summer fish. OK, as I always do each year and at the end of my final week here, there will be no fishing report at all next weekend as I will be very busy moving my entire operation down the lake. Look for my fishing reports to resume in two weeks from the central basin. If you’ve been following along on fishlakeerie.com’s website and in their western Lake Erie reports section, you will have to look for my reports on the same site but in their eastern Ohio Lake Erie section. Fishing reports on my own personal website www.trophycharters.com as always will be seamless so just continue to check in as you normally do. That’s it from the western basin for yet another year. See everybody in two weeks down the road for the summer seasons fishing!

Capt. Walt





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