If you’re looking for high quality fishing experiences this fall, look no further than our neighbors to the west. Ohio’s portion of Lake Erie boasts excellent fishing for both steelhead and walleye.

“Steelhead are certainly one of our best fall-winter-spring fishing opportunities on Lake Erie,” said Travis Hartman, Ohio Division of Wildlife’s Lake Erie Project Manager. “It’s a unique fishery in that it’s a shore-based fishery.”

Stocked Erie tribs include Vermillion, Rocky, Chagrin, Grand and Conneaut Creek. But as Hartman noted earlier, steelhead are attracted to flow. As such, they show up in unstocked waters.

Hartman said in the spring they even show up when survey crews are collecting fish in the Sandusky River, which is well west of the western-most stocked water, the Vermillion River.

“While they do primarily come back to the streams they are stocked in, they also stray to other streams,” he noted.  “So any of the tributaries from Vermillion east to Conneaut provide opportunities.”

Fall weather, precipitation in particular, has much to do with when the bite turns on.  Drier weather favors the boat angler, while stream fishers look to the skies hoping for rain.

“These fish start congregating around tributary mouths and harbors as early as September,” Hartman explained. “They don’t move into the streams until there’s the right flow event. What ends up happening, we have lots of small boat anglers, and by small boat I mean 14-foot jonboats, trolling in the harbors.  

Hartman said it can be as easy as holding on to a rod and trolling a spoon or crankbait around the harbor. Shore anglers can access steelhead by casting from the breakwalls. Some boat anglers choose to cast rather than troll. All are successful when the harbors are full of fish.

“It there hasn’t been a flow event, it just keeps getting better and better as these fish pile up outside of these streams. Then when we get a flow event, they migrate in and feed the stream fisheries.”

While steelhead certainly highlight the action regarding Erie tributaries, Hartman said lake trout also showed up last fall. The Ohio DNR has been stocking lake trout in Erie, from Fairport and Catawba, for five years. It’s part of an ongoing effort to reestablish lake trout in the eastern basin of Lake Erie.  

“Historically lake trout would migrate from the eastern basin to the western basin during the fall to spawn, and then migrate back to the central and eastern basins,” Hartman explained. “Now, five years later, we’ve actually had lake trout taken by trollers, as well as stream anglers.”

Switching from trout to walleye, Lake Erie can be a great spot for marble-eyes during the fall. But it’s a different situation than in the spring.

“It’s not as predictable as it is during the spring,” noted Hartman. “During the spring I can tell you where tens of millions of walleyes are as they’ll be close to the spawning areas. In the fall, they are migrating where they want, staying in the temperature they want, eating the food they want.”

Hartman said that the timing of the fall walleye trolling bite, which can be incredible, varies from year to year. It can come as early as September and October. But during warmer falls, it doesn’t get good until Thanksgiving or December.  

“But if you’re interested in targeting seven- to 12-pound walleyes, fall is a great time to do it,” he noted. “Basically, walleyes move toward shore, following schools of gizzard shad.”

Timing your trips to coincide with the best conditions is paramount to fall trolling success for Lake Erie walleyes. Online information sources such as fishing report, accurate weather forecasts, satellite views of the lake, all tip the hand in the angler’s favor for hitting it right.  

Hartman said periods of stable weather with light winds are what you’re looking for during the fall. Windy weather riles up the water turning it off-color. Clear water out from Huron and Catawba is important.

NOAA’s satellite view, providing the skies are cloud-free, is a great tool in determining water clarity.

Jeff Knapp is an outdoors columnist for the Butler Eagle.