Report Lake Erie | March 2023

With spring fast approaching, the walleye are on the move to the Western basin of Lake Erie. Every year a large portion of Lake Erie Walleye make their way to the Western basin of Lake Erie to spawn. Spawning locations include but are not limited to The Maumee River, The Detroit River, The Sandusky River, Sandusky Bay, and the reef complex. This week’s Lake Erie Fishing Report incorporates the last couple of weeks of walleye fishing in the West-Central Basin and Western Basin of Lake Erie.

Vermilion to Huron

We found Walleye from 28′ to 45′, targeting a column depth of 20′ – 22′. Water clarity was key in this area due to the recent rain and wind. We look for water where we can barely see the boat propeller. In the past couple of weeks, the best baits for us were Reef Runners in Barbie and wonderbread. Rapala Husky Jerks in Clown and Glass Blue Minnow also did well. Speed was 1.1 – 1.2. Fish are on the move in this area, so don’t be surprised if you have to chase the fish. We found fish in the areas marked red in the below image.

Lake Erie Islands

We spent some time looking for clean water each day before setting lines. The dirty water is traveling in the high current areas around Mouse and in between Middle and South Bass Islands. As said before on water clarity, we want to barely see our propeller. We found fish in the areas marked red in the below image. There were a lot of fish in those areas and quite a few boats working them. The best baits were Reef Runners in Barbie and wonderbread. We also ran Husky Jerks in Clown and Bandits in Barbie with OK results. Reef Runners outperformed all other baits. Speed was 1.1 – 1.2. In the next few weeks look for schools moving in and out of the reef complex. The South Passage and West Reef are good places to look for moving fish.