WESTERN LAKE ERIE
Fair to very good catches of walleye have been reported all around Western Lake Erie, with Swedish Pimple or Crippled Herring spoons and Jigging Rapalas tipped with emerald shiner minnows a mainstay. With a light walleye bite, ½-ounce and 3/8-ounce jigging spoons in green-gold and silver-blue color patterns have been best.
The top spot has been about 3 miles west of Catawba State Park in the G Can area, with walleye hanging around 19 to 20 feet of water. Many anglers are heading a few miles west of Mouse Island and fishing the West Sister Island area and the reef complex off Crane Creek State Park and the Magee Marsh Wildlife Area. Some anglers are heading as much as 5 or 6 miles offshore, where ice conditions are more treacherous and ATVs continue to go through the ice.
Stay away from the Mouse Island area on the north side of Catawba. Lake Erie current erodes the ice at that choke point, always making it a dangerous place to drill holes.
The ice is thick along the west side of South Bass Island, and anglers are taking walleye around Green and Rattlesnake islands, and beyond.
Lake Erie fishermen will see the daily walleye bag limit shrink from six to four fish on March 1. The walleye size limit is 15 inches. Courtesy of the Cleveland Plain Dealer weekly fishing report.
