Lake Erie Fishing Report by Capt. Walt Ermansons



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Lake Erie fishing report for the week of July 22, 2018.

Silly easy fishing in some not so easy conditions. Well it wasn’t exactly “Ground Hog Day” when it came to the weather this past week. We had everything from a dead flat lake and very hot weather to very choppy and cool conditions back to very nice and then back to really windy and super choppy days this weekend. But no matter what the lake threw at us, one thing remained a constant through it all. The Walleyes simply did not care! Everyday calm or rough the fishing has been just on fire. Our string of days of 100% perfect limits everyday aboard THE TROPHY is still intact including this weekend when it was just about unfishable. Yet, we “got er done”! I went back through my calendar and records and I can honestly say that we have limited out and EASILY at that every day since June the 7th of last month! And I found out this past week that the schools of fish right now out from Ashtabula Harbor are even more massive then I could have ever imagined!

After a beautiful but hot day on Monday, we awoke to a cold front or maybe I should just say a cool front on Tuesday. Winds were brisk and dead out of the north. It brought much needed relief from the heat and humidity that had set up once again last weekend on into Monday. So with the north wind I decided to take it out further then I have been at any time this summer. More out of curiosity then out of need. It took a while in the 3 foot seas to punch our way out there but I steered THE TROPHY due north and did not flip it around till we were exactly 10 miles out. I had almost forgotten how neat it is to be that far off shore. Far away from all the crazy boat traffic and pressure that the near shore and in front of the harbor area is receiving this summer ever since the word got out about the crazy easy fishing in close. But it mattered little. We opened up in fish good and never went more then a few minutes between bites as we trolled straight back towards home. It almost took as long to get out there as it did for us to get a boat limit of Walleyes!

Wednesday we headed out once again on a even choppier lake with the waves running about 4 footers but still dead out of the north. So like déjà vu, we cranked it straight out once again but this time just for fun I went several miles even further north then we went the day before. And guess what? ON FIRE! We again opened up heavy in Walleyes and by the time we finished up trolling homeward dead south, we were still miles north of the furthest point north that we had gotten in recent weeks of fishing the closer to home waters. It is simply mind boggling how many Walleye must be out there in the lake right now! Even out there the same exact trolling programs and line counts worked. The fish are very high and super aggressively feeding. Even those off shore fish are loaded up with tiny minnows. As we net and swing the fish over the stern they are spewing minnows everywhere. Amongst all the many things that are happening this summer out there that I have never seen before, you can add to that list that I have never seen that many Walleyes that full of so many tiny, tiny minnows!

So earlier in the week, Monday I think it was I rounded the break wall and shortly proceeded to put out all our gear. Somehow, someway we managed to get all the rods out and I was actually able to get back up to the helm and get a swig of my coffee. Something that on most days I don’t get to do from the moment I throttle down till we are done trolling. As I stood there sipping my coffee I was thinking, oh crap I started way too close. That thought had hardly entered my mind when all 10 rods took a hit at the same time! A 10 banger! In disbelief I thought “Oh ****” But with a little leadership and some frantic coaching from me, we landed all 10 Walleyes. 10 for 10 all in one shot! Lol! The picture above is what it looks like on my boat when the Walleyes wipe out all the rods at once. Quite chaotic, lol! I can’t help to think back how many days in the 32 years of chartering that I have had days where it took me all day JUST to catch 10 Walleyes. I have to shake my head. It will be fascinating to see how the rest of this season plays out. As August draws nearer, August is traditionally our very most productive month. If the fishing gets any better, I’m going to have to start taking sedatives!

Capt. Walt
www.trophycharters.com



Source: Capt. Walt Ermansons July 22, 2018 at 09:06:25


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