According to the Ohio Division of Wildlife’s Lake Erie biologist, it’s a return to the good old days of walleye fishing on Erie, with plenty of fish well distributed throughout the lake. This means that good walleye fishing should be available this season — including fish of various sizes — ones willing to respond to a variety of walleye tactics.

“We are very fortunate to have had good hatch success and good recruitment lately,” reported Travis Hartman, Lake Erie Program Director for the Ohio Division of Wildlife. “The 2015-year class is a really big one. Although time will tell, I think it’s comparable to the 2003-year class. What’s interesting is that when we get those exceptionally big year classes like ’03 and ’15 you get them lakewide. So, in years when we don’t have as good of recruitment we tend to only have young fish in the west. Those fish don’t migrate until they reach adult age. With these large year classes, we get contributions lakewide, from walleyes that spawn in other places other than the west. Last year, in Fairport, Ashtabula, Conneaut, anglers casting from shore were catching two-year old walleye. So instead of having only young fish in the west, and older, migrating walleyes in the central basin, we had young fish everywhere. Our catch rates were as high in Ohio in 2017, honestly, as high as we’ve ever seen in a creel survey.”

Central Basin anglers fishing Pennsylvania ports experienced the same success rates as those fishing out of eastern Ohio ports. And anglers can also expect most of their hookups this season to result in fish-in-the-box, as few short walleyes should be experienced. Fish grown fast in food-rich Erie.

“Most of the 2015 walleye were legal or very close to legal by the end of the 2017 season,” Hartman noted. “The proportion of legal compared to short fish this season will be extremely high. The early assessment of the 2017-year class of walleye is positive, so there will be yearling walleye in the system in 2018, but the number of three and four-year-old fish combined should distinctly dwarf the number of yearling fish, and yearlings don’t tend to big enough to hit most common walleye baits.”

In addition to the younger fish, anglers will still have a good shot at putting larger, older walleyes in the boat.

“We still have trophies from ’03,” Hartman said. “And decent year classes from ’07 and ’10. There are plenty of bigger, older, migratory fish that you can follow all year and catch. And now we have these great young year classes which will be available in the west, as well as the central basin from what we saw last year.”

WALLEYE LOCATIONS AND TACTICS

Typically, staying on Erie walleyes throughout the open water months means being mobile, keeping in tune with the migratory patterns that see adult fish move from west to east as the season progresses. That’s certainly still an option, just not quite as much a necessity. With such an abundance of walleye in the system this year, there will be more options. And walleyes will be available to a greater number of anglers, including ones that might not usually fish for them.

“Early summer is a great time because you have the adult fish that have completed spawning and have already starting to migrate east,” said Hartman. “So, you can follow the migration of the big fish.”

Hartman said that specific to the Western Basin, June can be really good around the island area such as Kelleys Island. And, he added, depending on the weather and how quickly things warm up fishing can also be incredible in places like Vermillion, Huron, Lorain and Avon.

“So, as those fish migrate east the central basin fishery starts to fire up too. Now, with these young year classes, I honestly feel you can pull out of any port by late spring, and depending on the migration might catch big fish, but catch plenty of the younger fish that seem to be everywhere right now.”

In the shallower waters of the Western Basin, spring/early summer walleyes can be taken on a variety of presentations including trolled or drifted ‘crawler harnesses and long-line-trolled minnow shaped crankbaits. In the deeper waters of the central basin, flutter spoons fished behind Dipsey Diver directional are a top offering, particularly when fishing farther off shore. But this isn’t necessary when targeting younger fish.

“Those younger fish are much closer to shore in 20 to 40 feet of water,” Hartman explained. “You didn’t need to make the run out to 70 feet where those adult migrators hang out. They are definitely more accessible. And you even have the option to cast for them, which you normally don’t have in the central basin.”

Long line trolling a deep diving crankbait like Rapala’s Deep Taildancer is a good option for working the 20-40-foot depths that Hartman referred to.

Jeff Knapp is an outdoors columnist for the Butler Eagle.