Fishing Report for the Week of January 1, 2006: , ,
Fishing Report Posted: January 01, 2006

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[ Lake Erie & Tributaries Fishing Report ]

Posted by Capt. Walt Ermansons on January 01, 2006 at 12:15:13:

Hello again everyone and Happy New Year! While this isn’t an actual fishing report, I’d like to take a moment and look back at the past season and also focus on the new fishing season that will be here before you know it!

We can only hope that 2006 will be as productive as 2005 was to us aboard “The Trophy”. Right from the very beginning last spring at Port Clinton, I knew that this was going to be a very special year. Although the early spring didn’t go without its fair share of foul weather, the big difference was that it did little to shut down or even slow down the tremendous Walleye bite that we were experiencing. Limits for us were common and the size was impressive. Jigging for those early season Walleyes has become my specialty. Blade baits are our main weapons of choice although this past spring we experimented with these huge purple hair jigs with uncanny results. I am looking forward to working with these lures again this year to see if that was just a freak thing we experienced or something else we can count on to get the job done.

We wrapped up our stay in Port Clinton last spring by trolling for the post spawn Walleyes. I don’t believe we ran a single trip the last few weeks where we didn’t limit out easily. I was very impressed! By the time we moved the boat to Ashtabula in the central basin, there was no doubt that the Walleyes were plentiful and cooperative. The transition from the western basin to the central was almost seamless. Limits were common almost right from the beginning and continued right into September. The weather, although extremely hot a lot of days, was very cooperative with good seas almost every day. The Steelhead Trout action seemed down from past years although we took a good many including a 17 lb. beauty that we landed in August. Perch fishing started out a bit shaky with an incredible amount of smaller sized Perch, but by mid October it was “jumbo” city!

The only real down side for me in 2005 was the ridiculous fuel prices we were paying at the marina fuel pumps. On Labor Day weekend fuel topped out at $3.75 a gallon! At the end of the season, it had leveled off to a still outrageous $3.25 a gallon. I don’t know if we’ll ever see it below $3.00 a gallon at the marina pumps which are always so much higher than you can buy it on the street. We’ve all had to make some adjustments in our game plans. Although it would have seemed the right thing to do, I am pleased to announce that we will not be changing any rates for the coming year.

The coming year may smash all the existing records that we have seen thus far. By mid year last season the incredible crop of Walleyes from the hugely successful hatch of 2003 started to make the minimum size limit. We were catching on some days literally hundreds of these good eaters, and trying to sort through them. This year these fish should all be 3 to 4 pound fish! And all of those smaller Perch from the same successful 2003 hatch should all be close to “jumbo” size. I can hardly wait!

So to all of our friends and guests that have fished with us in the past, I say thank you from the bottom of my heart. I’m also looking forward to meeting many new faces, and hopefully showing everyone an awesome, fun filled day aboard “The Trophy”.

Capt. Walt





[ Lake Erie & Tributaries Fishing Report ]

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