Spanky
06-05-2005, 09:44 PM
This weekend was our 12th annual Battle Creek Steelheaders walleye tournament at Lk. Erie. This fine event is always a hoot and the fine folks/members of the Detroit Beach Boat Club were excellent host as always.
I believe there was 14-15 teams fishing the event on saturday, but most of us come up a day or two early just to get the drinking part of the weekend over with before the serious fishing begins on saturday. That being said, here is a couple things I observed this weekend, followed by an honest :lol: report!
The water conditions right now are as good as I have seen there, and often, my fish finder looked like it was in the "simulator mode". tons of fish.
also, next years fishery should be outstanding.The ratio of keeper fish to "throw backs" was about 1 out of 5.Last year we had very few undersized fish. Believe it or not, this is a GOOD THING. ;)
now the report
Friday, se winds 10-15 mph, water good color and clarity temp 62 degrees, Went to Ohio waters because of too many lil guys, and junk fish.Had a 3 man limit by 3 pm, ranging from 17 inches to 22 inches. Drifting with BB's and harnesses, went throught 12 dozen crawlers between 3 guys.
Saturday, tourney day, the plan was to return to previous days waypoints, and keep any fish over 18 inches.(we get to weigh 10 fish per team) Decide to blow past the waypoints, and try something else. Went through 10 dozen crawlers between 6am and 1 pm.Even trolled cranks for an hr with only 1 crank fish for the effort.Kept our 15 fish allowed, all between 18 and 26 inches. biggest was just over 5 pounds. no wind, had to troll. caught about 50 throwbacks, and at least 25 keepers. Ended up 3rd in the tourney, excellent day of fishing, lots of sunburned SOB's. :lol:
Today, hungover and hurting, fished from 7:30 till noon, went thru 8 dozen crawlers, caught about 25 throwbacks, 13 keepers between 18 and 24 inches. little better size of fish today. Got home and put stuff away just minutes before the storm blew in.
Fished the same 5 miles area all three days, seems to be a lot of fish available, but just have to sort through the smaller ones. We lost the bigger fish each day, an 8 lber on sat, and a couple 5's today.
we fished in Ohio all three days, and 95 % of our fish came on BB's and harnesses.
Hope this helps, not gonna devulge any areas or locations, but pinks, purples, perch color and copper seemed to be the ticket.
lopoking forward to this weekend!
I believe there was 14-15 teams fishing the event on saturday, but most of us come up a day or two early just to get the drinking part of the weekend over with before the serious fishing begins on saturday. That being said, here is a couple things I observed this weekend, followed by an honest :lol: report!
The water conditions right now are as good as I have seen there, and often, my fish finder looked like it was in the "simulator mode". tons of fish.
also, next years fishery should be outstanding.The ratio of keeper fish to "throw backs" was about 1 out of 5.Last year we had very few undersized fish. Believe it or not, this is a GOOD THING. ;)
now the report
Friday, se winds 10-15 mph, water good color and clarity temp 62 degrees, Went to Ohio waters because of too many lil guys, and junk fish.Had a 3 man limit by 3 pm, ranging from 17 inches to 22 inches. Drifting with BB's and harnesses, went throught 12 dozen crawlers between 3 guys.
Saturday, tourney day, the plan was to return to previous days waypoints, and keep any fish over 18 inches.(we get to weigh 10 fish per team) Decide to blow past the waypoints, and try something else. Went through 10 dozen crawlers between 6am and 1 pm.Even trolled cranks for an hr with only 1 crank fish for the effort.Kept our 15 fish allowed, all between 18 and 26 inches. biggest was just over 5 pounds. no wind, had to troll. caught about 50 throwbacks, and at least 25 keepers. Ended up 3rd in the tourney, excellent day of fishing, lots of sunburned SOB's. :lol:
Today, hungover and hurting, fished from 7:30 till noon, went thru 8 dozen crawlers, caught about 25 throwbacks, 13 keepers between 18 and 24 inches. little better size of fish today. Got home and put stuff away just minutes before the storm blew in.
Fished the same 5 miles area all three days, seems to be a lot of fish available, but just have to sort through the smaller ones. We lost the bigger fish each day, an 8 lber on sat, and a couple 5's today.
we fished in Ohio all three days, and 95 % of our fish came on BB's and harnesses.
Hope this helps, not gonna devulge any areas or locations, but pinks, purples, perch color and copper seemed to be the ticket.
lopoking forward to this weekend!