April is one of the best and most exciting times for fishing Lake Erie walleye. During this time of year everyone has the opportunity to feel the bite and set the hook to catch fish with their own jigging rod. Most of the season trolling proves to be the best way to catch walleye on Lake Erie as fish are more spread out. Jigging is most effective during early spring because of the mass quantities of fish traveling to the shallow reefs of Lake Erie’s Western Basin to spawn.
When trolling lures you will not actually feel the fish bite because the rod is attached to the boat and the lures get their action by being dragged through the water. Therefore, when the fish bite while trolling we know there is a fish on by visually seeing the rod bend behind the boat. Jigging, on the other hand, is fun because you get to use your sense of feel with the rod in hand. Once you feel the fish strike your bait this is your chance to set the hook and catch the fish.
Jig fishing has been proven to be best presentation for catching walleye on Lake Erie in the beginning of the season. Hair jigs with stinger hooks attached seem to be the most popular jig used on Lake Erie’s Western Basin.
Stinger hooks are a very important attachment to the jig because of how quick and light biting the fish are this time of year. Studies show that fish are 26 times faster than humans so when they hit the jigs our reaction time, quite often, is not fast enough the set the hook and ultimately catch the fish. This is where the stringer hook comes into play.
The fish will strike the jig head because most of the time we use a live minnow attached to the main hook. More often than not, the walleye will hit the jig so softly and quickly that by the time we set the hook our minnow has somehow miraculously disappeared with no fish to show for it.
The stinger hook makes up for our slow reaction time compared to how fast the walleye bite. Stingers are able to hook fish that barely bite the main jig head. From my experience working on the Erie Drifter I would say about 80% of the fish we caught in April 2009 fell victim to the stringer hook. Fish that really wanted the bait and aggressively attacked the jig were the only ones caught on the main hook.
The key to jig fishing is feeling the bait hit the bottom of Lake Erie. Making sure your bait is hitting the bottom is crucial this time of year. There are times when the Lake Erie walleye will strike the jig without live bait, but this happens mainly when the fish are very aggressive. Walleye usually prefer a lake shiner minnow, especially early on, but the walleye’s mood changes toward the end of the month in April. The fish get bored of eating the same forage and this is when plain hair jigs work best.
If the bait is not hitting the bottom walleye will not strike the jig (and minnow) because the fish are normally sitting right on the bottom while they spawn in the rocky crevices of the reefs in the Western Basin. Every spring, when the walleye are ready to spawn they come to the reefs near our marina at Wild Wings in Oak Harbor, OH. This phenomenon happens yearly right in our backyard with thousands of walleye coming to the rocky reefs in the Western basin of Lake Erie.
Fish come from miles and miles around to spawn here and once they lay and fertilize their eggs most walleye move out to deeper water. The Western basin of Lake Erie is relatively shallow and contains many rocky reef structures, which are very conducive to helping the walleye have a successful spawn.
Jigging is simple, but it takes time and patience to develop the proper feel of the bottom. Basically, all you have to do is let the line out over the side of the boat until you see slack. Once there is slack in the line then you know your jig is on the bottom of Lake Erie. Then you can proceed to jig or bounce the bait off the bottom by lifting or popping the bait up to trigger a bite/strike from a walleye. This is when the feel of each individual is tested.
Good fishermen can feel the jig hit the bottom through the rod. Once the jig hits the bottom they are immediately bringing the jig back up either lifting at a desired speed or popping the bait more erratically and quickly. It is important to not let the jig drag on the bottom because it will pick up dreaded Zebra mussels, which the walleye absolutely won’t bite. Depending on how the fish are biting, the fisherman will want to give them the correct presentation that will trigger strikes.
Most times during the spring season the fish will want a slower lifting presentation because the water temperature is still cold and they are not yet very active. Moreover, Lake Erie walleye may be a bit fatigued from spawning which in turn might have them a bit lethargic. On the other hand, the walleye might be very hungry and needing to replenish their energy so they may be very aggressive. This goes to show you never know what mood the fish will be in from day to day so it is best to try a number of different presentations until you find one that triggers strikes.
The best thing to do to generate bites when you do not know what the fish want is to try different jigging techniques. Most of the time we found that the walleye in Lake Erie at this time of the year like a really light and slow lifting presentation. If you are with multiple people you can work together by having everyone try something different.
For instance, one person can try a light lift of six inches off the bottom, another can try a light lift of a foot to a foot and a half off the bottom, another person can try popping the jig more quickly, etc. As soon as one person starts catching fish, this small difference could turn out to be all you need to develop a pattern for what the fish want. This simple solution can pay big dividends when people are willing to work together and it also promotes teamwork. Realistically, it can mean having a great day on the water or getting skunked!
Many people believe the Jig head color is an important factor that can help you catch more fish. In my opinion it plays a small role, but it is no way the end all solution to catching walleye on Lake Erie. The water, many times, is muddy or stained with varying winds on the Western Basin. Muddy water makes it tough for the walleye to see clearly so the most important factor is getting the correct presentation down in front of the fish.
I encountered many people asking me to change a jig because the color they were using was not producing them fish. Of course, I would tie on the “hot” jig color and switch my jig to the bad color they were using. More often than not I was able to catch fish with the so-called bad color they had just taken off their line while they still struggled to catch walleye. What did this tell me? Presentation of the bait is the most important factor when jig fishing Lake Erie walleye and color was only a very small factor.
As the water clears up color becomes more of a factor because the fish can see the bait better. From my experience the best colors change from day to day with purple, green, white, and orange being the most consistent producers.
All in all it is very important to make sure you are using the right weight of a jig to make sure it is hitting the bottom depending on wind and water current conditions. You must always maintain a constant feel for the bottom. If you are fishing off the bottom and can figure out which jigging pattern is getting bites you will be frying up some tasty Lake Erie walleye up in no time.
Spring is an exciting challenge for anglers on Lake Erie as the jig bite starts off the year. To experience one of the best times to really feel the fish bite and catch some big hard fighting Lake Erie Walleye there is no better place than drifting over the reefs on Lake Erie’s Western Basin.
