From the Editor
F
all is upon us once again and boy, where did the summer go? As someone is sure to have said, "time flies when you’re catching walleyes". And by all measures so far this past summer has been a much more successful one than a year ago. Fishing in Erie’s western basin was great in July and August when the weather cooperated. Reports from the central basin also indicated that fishing was somewhat improved over last year, even though walleye anglers at times had to travel ‘miles out’ to get to the fish. Fishing in Erie’s eastern basin was tougher this summer, particularly in early summer. This was the opposite of last year when eastern basin fishermen were having particular success while western and central anglers struggled.This summer was also a good one for Lake Erie steelhead, in fact one of the best ever. There’s nothing like the added bonus of latching on to a steelie or two or three…, particularly if your cooler is already full of walleyes. This acrobatic fish is one of the best fighters, pound for pound you’ll find anywhere. The Ohio Division of Wildlife stocked over 238,000 age-1 steelhead trout into selected Lake Erie tributaries in 1999. The division continues to improve the Castalia State Fish Hatchery and plans are to hopefully stock 400,000 or more steelhead next year.
As we bid summer farewell and welcome the fall fishing season we are hopeful for another season of great perch fishing. All indications are that this should be the case. Some of my fondest memories are of perch fishing with family and friends. A lazy after
noon on an autumnal day, quiet lake with plenty of perch action is tough to beat.
Kudos to Ohio fish and wildlife managers for acting to reduce the walleye daily bag limit (beginning March 2001) to 4 fish during the March and April spawning period and to 6 fish for the remainder of the year. Their effort to do this is in the best interests of walleye fishermen. One has to think that perhaps biologists acted too quickly a few years ago when the limit was raised from 6 fish to 10 fish/day.
In this issue we provide a comprehensive look at the perch fishery using data from Michigan, Ohio, Pennsylvania and New York fisheries surveys. Mark Hicks, noted outdoor writer gives us tips on catching smallies in Lake Erie. Ted Takasaki discusses night fishing for walleyes. Michael Veine compares different strategies and techniques of using crankbaits to catch walleyes. Mark Martin recalls lessons learned from fishing a Lake Erie Walleye Tournament. Joe Fischer presents his view of eastern Lake Erie fishing, both the ups and downs. Finally in this issue we share the results of some of the walleye tournaments held around the lake this year, along with some of the trophy fish taken in these tournaments.
In August this year our web site (www.walleye.com) surpassed One Half Million visitors! Thanks to all that continue to visit the site. In celebration of this milestone, we are providing to all subscribers of the print version of Lake Erie Walleye Magazine, a FREE account and password to the Online Edition of the magazine.
This past June we launched a new web site, www.LakeErieBoating.com , the sister web site to walleye.com. This comprehensive web site for Lake Erie Boaters includes information on Ports O’ Call, Marinas, Boat Dealerships, Weather and a forum for Lake Erie Boaters to discuss anything and everything having to do with Lake Erie Boating. We hope that you’ll visit this site as well.
Till next time, continued good fishing.