Stray Cat Fishing Charters Lake Erie / Monroe, MI
Lake Erie Walleye and Perch fishing Charter, near Monroe / Luna Pier Michigan
Walleye fishing off Stoney Point near the Michigan Ohio boarder, many limit catches using spoons and divers 70 to 90 back,
Walleye fishing charter Lake Erie
spoon color didn’t matter. Bandits produced well 70 to 90 back. E buoy and the Michigan dump always has walleyes on it but they seemed to slow up a bit this past week. Limit catches are still being taken on Bandits 60 to 70 back on a mixture of colors. Spoons and disks produced well but are taking more shorts.
“The totals are astonishing,” said Hale. “We had high numbers in the 1980s, but we’ve made adjustments to our methods of counting walleye numbers, and believe this year’s population one the best we’ve seen.
“We have estimated today’s population of walleye that are two years old, or older, is about 116 million,” said Hale. “Our forecast for 2021 is a walleye population of 151 million.”
“The largest year-class in our present population is the 2018 class, which makes up about 75 percent of the population,” said Hale. “Anglers will be catching lots of walleye that are under the 15-inch size limit this summer, but those walleye will be legal to keep in 2021.”
Perch fishing is beyond slow for this time of the year. Our average catch has been around 40 perch for 4 hours of fishing. The perch are either 5 to 6 inches or 10 plus inches. The surface water temperature has been 70 degrees since August. I am catching lots of 3 to 6 inch walleyes in with the perch. Lately I’ve caught 10 to 12 inch walleye right on the bottom where the perch should be. I’ve fished from the Toledo Lighthouse to Sputnik, Brest Bay and as far North as the Banana Dike with the same results, about 40 perch on average kept.
I will be attending a Lake Erie Committee meeting next week and hope to find out more about our dismal perch fishing. Hopefully we can get some trawl data soon to see if what we a marking as perch are really perch on the bottom.
Walleye fishing has been on and off depending on the day. Last weekend a few fellow captains caught limit catches but that petered out at the beginning of the week due to North East winds. They fished from E Buoy to the Raisin River buoys using Bandits 70 to 80 feet back and varying their speed.
Perch fishing has been super slow. I’ve tried spots from “E” buoy all the way up to Fermi, the average catch has been 30 to 50 perch. Northeast winds have not helped and the wind seems to switch every couple of days.
Walleye fishing has also been very slow around the Michigan dump all the way up to Brest Bay. 4 to 10 fish has been the average catch using bandits 70 to 90 back.
Perch fishing is still very very slow. I’ve fished from Turtle Island to Fermi and many points in between, with very poor results. The best was last Friday when 3 us us caught 90 perch and about 100 white perch. Most of my catches have averaged around 30 perch. I’m marking them but just can’t get them to go with any consistency.
Walleye fishing has been decent, not quite as good as June and July. The walleye are spread out from “S” buoy to #1 buoy off the Raisin River. Spots North of Fermi in 24 ft of water have produced anywhere from 12 to 20 walleye. Bandits seem to be the ticket 70 and 80 ft back. Trolling speed was 2.5 to 2.8 mph – color didn’t seem to matter
Walleye fishing has slowed to a crawl. You can still catch between 8 and 12 walleye but you have to work at it. We marked lots of fish but can’t get them to go with any consistency. The Banana Dike in 14′ of water, around #1 buoy off the Raisin River in Brest Bay and from the Michigan dump along the MI-OH north were decent. Bandits seemed to produce the best at about 80 to 90 ft back, color didn’t matter. The walleye we have been catching are fat and healthy.
My sister with a Lake Erie walleye
The Perch bit has been slow, no limit catches yet. we averaged about 35 per trip. I spent 3 day’s checking spots from the Toledo Light, water intake to West sister and the Canada boarder near Middle Sister with not much production. I caught perch at all the spots but not a lot for all the fuel I burned and time spent. Yesterday I fished for 5 hours from E buoy all the way to Fermi with many stops in between, we caught a handful of perch but lots of small white perch and drum were caught.
Lake Erie walleye fishing report
Walleye fishing is still good in the Western Basin. We had a real slow day Monday morning due to a cold front and a storm Sunday night. Fishing picked right back up on Monday afternoon. I’m still fishing wiggle warts on one side 60 to 80 ft. back, seemed anything with a red bill was out producing ones with out. The other side I’m running mini discs 70 ft. back with Silver Streak Jr.s color didn’t seem to matter, I believe it’s the larger profile. High divers set at 3 42 to 46 back and low divers set at 1 32 to 35 back. My speed varies from 2.2 knots to 2.4 knots quartering into the wind seemed to produce better.
Stoney Point seemed to have a good number of catchable walleye in 22 to 24 ft of water with no weeds. The Water Intake in 22ft water was a producer to. Seemed E Buoy area really slowed as with over the Michigan dump, the area around Turtle Island slowed but still holds fish. Around the contours just in front of the Edison plant is holding fish to.
Walleye fishing Lake Erie aboard the Stray Cat
As with all things be kind to your fellow trollers. Don’t sit with your back to the helm staring at your rods, that’s what your buddies are for, it’s a good way to piss off other trollers. I ran over someone’s gear who was not paying attention and approaching from my port side and I’m the bad guy? Remember a boat approaching from your starboard has the right of way
Lake Erie walleye fishing report
Walleye fishing is still good in the Western Basin. We had a real slow day Monday morning due to a cold front and a storm Sunday night. Fishing picked right back up on Monday afternoon. I’m still fishing wiggle warts on one side 60 to 80 ft. back, seemed anything with a red bill was out producing ones with out. The other side I’m running mini discs 70 ft. back with Silver Streak Jr.s color didn’t seem to matter, I believe it’s the larger profile. High divers set at 3 42 to 46 back and low divers set at 1 32 to 35 back. My speed varies from 2.2 knots to 2.4 knots quartering into the wind seemed to produce better.
Stoney Point seemed to have a good number of catchable walleye in 22 to 24 ft of water with no weeds. The Water Intake in 22ft water was a producer to. Seemed E Buoy area really slowed as with over the Michigan dump, the area around Turtle Island slowed but still holds fish. Around the contours just in front of the Edison plant is holding fish to.
Walleye fishing Lake Erie aboard the Stray Cat
As with all things be kind to your fellow trollers. Don’t sit with your back to the helm staring at your rods, that’s what your buddies are for, it’s a good way to piss off other trollers. I ran over someone’s gear who was not paying attention and approaching from my port side and I’m the bad guy? Remember a boat approaching from your starboard has the right of way
It seems you can’t troll past a spot on the Western Basin of Lake Erie without catching a walleye. Best action I’ve seen is around the #1 bouy off the Raisin River north to Stoney Point to in front of Fermi. There are fish south of the bouy, but the farther you go south of the bouy the less fish there are. There are also walleye between #1 and the Edison plant in 16 to 18 feet of water. Out in front of Bolles Harbor on an angle towards #1 has produced limit catches for my buddies. Seems like the fish are in that area first thing in the morning feeding. As the sun rises they tend to sink to the
Lake Erie Walleye fishing
bottom, so you may have to lengthen your leads to 80 ft. I’ve been running wiggle warts 60 to 70 ft. back with a trolling speed of between 2.7 and 3 mph depending on the angle of my troll. Best colors are ones with a red bill and gold belly. Straight upwind seems to produce the best for me. Mini discs and spoons have produced just as well at 65 ft back and they help keep the bits of string weeds off the spoons. Check your baits often for weeds. High drivers at 45 (set at 3) and low divers at 32 ft (set at 1) with Silver Streak Jr. are hot some days and not so other days.
Give way to fellow trollers there are plenty of fish for everyone so don’t crowd each other. We are all out to have some fun and catch some fish. Remember any boat approaching from your left has the Right of Way.
Looking to spend a few hours or a whole day fishing this summer? Michigan’s waters offer plenty of opportunities to catch a variety of fish, and summer is an ideal time to try. Charter fishing businesses throughout the state offer a great way to explore Michigan’s world-class fisheries.
Licensed charter captains provide the boats and all the equipment, plus the knowledge needed for a fun half-day or day on the water. Charter businesses in Michigan help children and adults have memorable fishing experiences – whether it’s reeling in a fish for the first time or trying your hand at catching a new species.
“Last year 72,000 anglers in Michigan participated in more than 18,000 charter fishing trips on the Great Lakes and other navigable waters,” said Donna Wesander, a DNR fisheries technician who tracks charter fishing data. “These anglers caught nearly 300,000 fish that included a variety of salmon and trout, walleye, yellow perch, smallmouth bass and muskie.”
Al with a Lake Erie walleye caught aboard Stray Cat Charter Fishing
When hiring a professional charter, customers need only to provide personal supplies and fishing licenses. Those licenses can be purchased online (mdnr-elicense.com) or through a DNR customer service center or license agent.
Find a fishing charter for a specific location by searching online for charter operators and regional charter fishing organizations, contacting the local chamber of commerce or city tourism office, or visiting the Michigan Charter Boat Association website at michigancharterboats.com.