Lake Erie is home to some incredible fishing. The walleye are definitely the most popular, however, the smallmouth bass and perch fishing is really good too. The bite can definitely be better during certain times of the year for certain species of fish, however, you can catch walleye, perch and smallmouth bass throughout the lake during the entire open water fishing season.
What You Need To Know
Spring Walleye Run Out West
In the spring, tons of walleye move west to spawn in the Detroit River. If you’re looking for a chance to catch a big walleye maybe even over 10 pounds, this is the time of year to do it. You will have plenty of other people you’ll be fishing near though because the walleye run attracts people from all over the country. Because so many fish move west, some of the other ports in the western basin will record some of the best fishing of the year during the spring.
This is One of the Best Walleye Fisheries on the Planet
Yes, it is big water. Yes, you will most likely need a big boat to handle the waves most days. Yes, it may take some time to figure out where the walleye are roaming. However, Lake Erie is home to some of the best fishing for numbers and quality-sized fish including trophy walleye over 10 pounds. You have so many ports to fish out of where you can chase after walleye on Lake Erie. It’s definitely a destination you should put on your bucket list.
Huge Smallmouth Bass Live Here
Lake Erie is arguably the best smallmouth bass fishery in the United States. There are a lot of good smallmouth bass waters now, but Lake Erie is still up there in the top 5 easy and you can argue that it is the best. The only real knock on the smallie fishing on Lake Erie is accessibility. Because of the big waves, many anglers stay away from Lake Erie in favor of smaller waters that are easier to navigate. If you can get on Lake Erie to go after the smallmouth bass, this lake is loaded with fish and big bass above 5 pounds are fairly common throughout the lake.
Yellow Perch Are Here Too
Depending on where and when you are fishing on Lake Erie, you can run into some awesome perch fishing as well. Many anglers will run into perch while targeting walleye, but you can specifically target them too. Big jumbo perch are here and on most years, the charter boats can find them and put lots of them in their boats.
There Are Some Awesome Steelhead Rivers
The steelhead fishery gets overlooked by many anglers, but there is some good fishing on the eastern end of the lake for steelhead in the colder months. Late fall and early spring tend to be best, but some anglers catch them through the winter too.
