Now is the time for walleye fishing. People love this time of year because you can catch walleye on a variety of baits and speeds. Worm harnesses, spoons, crankbaits, and jigs will all catch fish this month. Walleye are moving fast from the spawning waters in the west. Large schools of fish can be found from Huron to Cleveland. Below is your May 2024 fishing report.
Walleye Fishing
Walleye are still being caught in the western basin and will be for a while longer. However, the large fish and schools are starting to move east as the water is warming quickly. This has proven to be true by the NWT, which launched out of Lorain last week. Huron to Cleveland is the place to be. A variety of baits are being used with the most common being a crankbait. Bandits and Reef Runners are doing well assisted and unassisted. Anglers have reported that spoons and worm harnesses at faster speeds have been producing limits of fish as well. It’s a pick-your-poison type of bite right now. This will continue throughout May.
The depth of water depends on what port you are fishing out of. Across the southern shore, it seems like 30-40 FOW has been the most productive. It seems walleye are paralleling the shoreline heading east in search of food. One tip for the day is to look for deep water access close to shore, such as a cliff or underwater dropoff. These areas have been producing larger fish in the past 2 weeks.
Live sonar is slowly starting to take over the walleye world as it has crappie and bass fishing. Lake Erie is no exception to this. Most of the top finishers in recent past events used live sonar to target larger fish in a school. No doubt, trolling is a good way to get a fast limit once you find fish. However, live sonar will produce larger fish because you can single them out.
Perch Fishing
Now is a great time to perch fish. The perch are still close to shore feeding. Rivermouths and Sandusky Bay are great places to try your luck. Lorain Pier has been excellent the past week with some anglers catching limits. Shiners fished on the bottom works the best. Try downsizing your spreader to a crappie rig or sabiki rig. This has proven to produce more bites this year and last.
Bass Fishing
Firstly, remember most states have a modified spring bass regulation and Canada is closed. Check your state’s regulations and make sure you follow them. With that out of the way, bass fishing has been excellent the past week for largemouth and smallmouth bass. Smallmouth have moved to shallow water and can be found on beds or close by. Jerkbaits, dropshot, and swimbaits are good baits to try right now. Dropshots are more for bed fishing, the other two are used as fan-casting baits on the shore or roaming areas. Largemouth fishing along the main lake shoreline and harbors has been fantastic for the last 2 weeks. Close to spawning locations you can find largemouth grouped up. Look for spawning habitat when looking for largemouth in the harbors. Wood, weeds, and a steep bank are all great places to look.
Hopefully, this May 2024 fishing report will help you catch more fish on Lake Erie!