Ohio walleye fishing tips

Tip's for Ohio Walleye Fishing!
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Here you will find tips on OHIO Walleye Fishing
written by the OHIO FISHERMAN who fish for them.

Article #1= Tips on Ohio Walleye Fishing
Written by JV

Joined OHF : 04 Oct 2005
Location: NE Ohio

Stumpfields - North End- Pymatuning Lake Ohio & PA
I have spent some time walleye fishing on Pymatuning Reservoir.
It's one of the better lake's in the region due to its restricted 10 HP limit.

Back in the day, the lake was always quiet, and virtually empty, now a days, its a little more busy,
That I don't like, but what are you gonna do?

Unfortunately the days of me going to Pymatuning on a Saturday in prime time are long gone.
For me Lake Erie is 20 minutes up the road from Pymatuning, and the chances of having a peaceful
day are much greater on Lake Erie , however I try to sneak to Pymatuning on a weekday,
when Lake Erie is to rough.
Pymatuning is an excellent lake to fill your cooler and a beautiful place to spend the day.

Pymatuning (to me) as a kid was a lake that would give up a dozen 14 -3/4 "
fish to every keeper. As a kid we did a lot of drifting, and to this day its how I prefer to fish the lake.
Although in the modern day, a lot of people are trolling with lead line, planer boards, diving disks etc.
I just never really got involved in that. The lake has an average depth of 14 ft, and a better
part of the north end does not even reach that. The lake is full of stumps, in large patches called
"stump fields"
These areas are my favorite for Walleye. Again I'm not trophy hunting, when I fish Pymatuning,
its for a cooler full of 15-22 inch eaters. It seems the stump fields on the north end treat me good
in that aspect.

The depth in the stump fields ranged from 6' to about 15' with some deeper spots containing
stumps, you will know when your in the stumps, because you will see them sticking out of the water.

There are 2 ways I like to fish here. #1 Drift live bait, through the stumps, minnows preferably,
or night crawlers. In the summer I sometimes like leeches.
Over the years I learned a trick that saved me a lot of hooks and a lot of retying.

Use eagle claw Aberdeen hooks.

They bend when snagged, they will bend straight and shoot out
of the stump, then you can bend it back with your finger. When you start concentrating on the
stump fields, your going to start going through tackle. Position yourself upwind from the stretch of the
stumps you want to fish, and drift over the area.
Adjust your weight accordingly, the smallest possible weight that allows you to barely keep
contact off the bottom. I like to use the smallest split shot allowable, and I like to see it "tick"
off the bottom, You will quickly learn how many stumps are submerged here. Every 10 feet your minnow
will bump a stump, you WILL get more snags if you have to much line out even a few feet to much,
your going to get snags anyway. You almost want your line vertical, and loosely bumping the bottom.
I like to make several passes over the fields, in different depths until I find some walleye,
A lot of times this area is killer for crappie & perch to. On days when there is no good drifting wind,
I like to troll 1/4 oz hot n tots (old style metal lip) in the perch pattern, and in the crawdad pattern.
Another favorite is blue & chrome. I like to tight line them, and I like to let a lot of extra line out,
I believe the lure dives 6' deep, and you can make it run a few feet more with more line.
I like to troll up and down the stump fields, So I learned another little trick.
On the hot n tots, REMOVE the front treble hook. Just take my word on this, I removed all my
front hooks and didn't catch any less fish. When the lip on the lure bumps the log, the front hook
snags, with no front hook, the lure pops free. These stumps will run you broke !
When I find a color that works, I change ALL my hot n tots to that color immediately, its usually the perch
pattern. I'm happy to get 4 or 5 eaters with these methods

and sometimes you get one a little bigger.
Here is a Lake Map & an Aerial Pymatuning Lake Map, the area I'm typing about today would be on the top
left of the picture

If you would like to ask any questions or join the discussion on Pymatuning Walleye ,
please visit the OHF fishing report & discussion forums.

Article #2 Walleyes just off shore
Written by On Erie
stan

OHF Forum Moderator
OHF VIP Member
Joined OHF : 11 Oct 2005
Location: Columbiana Ohio
We were on Erie out of Conneaut on one of those rare days when the weather report was
wind out of the south, waves 2' or less. Yep! The wind was out of the South, at about 4 to 6'.
Went out about 2 mile in an 18' Sea Ray, for about 2 hours.
After getting seasick we headed back in until we got to where we were protected by the high
banks at Conneaut , and slow drifted from 15' of water North, till the wind caught us,
then went back to 15' to drift again. What we did at first was rigged two rods up with a 1/2 oz
Hot & Tot, on a 1/4oz egg sinker. On the rear hook, just for the heck of it, I put a big juicy crawler
on the Tot. Well, we put the lures out near vertical down. Laid down, and fell asleep for about 10
minutes.
Then, I woke up to something hitting the boat....HARD!!! It was my rod, something had hit
the worm Tot, and the rod was near to breaking in two. I grabbed it from the rod holder, and brought in
a 33" Walleye, 10.2 lbs, my biggest still.
Fought like a Steelhead!!!! That day we boated 15+ Walleye, in about 2 hours.
For those that BELIEVE THAT YOU HAVE TO GO OUT 6, 10, 15, 20+ MILES to catch Walleye
(like I used to) surprise........ start in 20' of water first.

Article #3=
Written by Tom the Shadowman
tom

OHF Forum Moderator
OHF VIP Member
Joined: 11 Oct 2005
Location: Washington PA
Winter Fishing on the Allegheny River

Ok guys and gals, here are a few things i do at the river during the late fall and winter
months that always seem to put a few extra fish in the boat, one of the biggest mistakes I see is
someone using to light of a jig....remember your at the river and there is going to be currant almost
everywhere so don't be afraid to go heavier on the jig, i go as heavy as 1/2 oz if needed to keep
the jig vertical and the KEY here is vertical the walleye seem to like it that way and i let them dictate
my presentation, when I start fishing that day or any day i always start with a 1/4 oz chartreuse
mister twister and most days that's all you'll ever need......carry three baits with you

#1 = 3 inch twister tails

#2 hair jigs

#3 1/2 oz silver buddies

With these 3 baits you should be able to catch fish every trip, fish slow up and down
slow pay attention on your drops that's when 95 % of the hits will take place when you drop your bait
use a controlled drop by that I mean don't just let it fall keep tension on the line as its dropping same
goes for the jig and the blade keep tension on the drop that way you'll feel the hit when it happens ,
tip your jig with minnows I mean fathead minnows don't waste your money on shiners , if you find the
fish are striking short than put a stinger hook on the fish won't mind. I can not tell you how many
100 fish days I have had at the river on a consistent basis by just fishing this simple way, try to
find spots out of the main current or the downside of bridge piers probe the whole pier but try
the deepest water there, if you want to troll with your jigs try back trolling very slow it can be deadly,
if you know there are fish in the area these three baits will catch them, pay attention to other fisherman,
if you see they are catching fish try to get close enough to see what they are doing but don't crowd them,
you can even ask them I find most of the time river fisherman will let you know how they are doing and
what they are using just ask also if you catch a walleye or sauger and you can drop anchor and fish
the area good, where there's one there are more if your fishing deep and catching sauger but you
want walleye than stay were your at but get a bit more shallow 1 or 2 ft can make the difference
between catching sauger or walleye and always use your trolling motor when you can . Your not
going to catch much if your ripping around the area you want to fish with the gas motor but on the
other hand you can move around with the electric motor and still pick up the fish. Lastly don't be in a hurry,
take your time and work the area over,if they don't want a plain jig try it with meat, try a hair jig try a
blade ,can't tell you how many times just a little switch has meant all the difference .
enjoy

Article #4= Rapman

OHF VIP Member
Joined: 12 Jan 2007
Location : Girard Ohio
rapala modification
For years, when throwing raps at dusk and dark, we painted them with clear
finger nail polish. gives it a little more luster under low light conditions.
Also, sharpen your hooks, even on new plugs. this does make a difference.
I have always liked using a few drops of dr. juice walleye scent on my raps.
Can't hurt.

Rapman

Article #5= Exexec

OHF Forum Moderator
OHF VIP Member
Joined: 07 Oct 2005
Location: Akron Ohio
Erie early spring reefs jigging
Starting soon the eyes will be on or near the reefs in the western basin.
Drifting and jigging is the preferred method to catch a wall hanger!
The reefs are in fairly close to shore-within a few miles. If you would like a good
COLOR map in PDF format send me an email at exexecoh@aol.com.
Just drift over and around the reefs ( most are the nuclear plant ) and/or even close to
shore and jig a purple hair jig, from 3/8 up to one ounce.
The fishing is usually fairly shallow water from 8-20 f. o. w. My technique ( please keep this a secret)
is to do a double jerk up. Give it a quick jerk up and then immediately a second upward quick jerk.
Some folks will tip the jig with a minnow or a twister tail.
I like the chartreuse twister tail with an orange tip. Hope that helps-if you have any questions
please ask and lets go get them.
BTW the bite should last thru mid May.

Exexec

Before going Night fishing make sure to follow all these precautions to make it a more safe and enjoyable experience. First make sure to have a good set of flairs in your boat because normal distress flags obviously dont work at night. Also do NOT go night fishing if there are any problems with your engine because if you have to work on an engine in the dark, it is 20 times harder than during the day. ALL lights must follow state laws and ALL must be working properly. Make sure you have have your boat clean and organized with plenty of small flashlights handy to make it easier to find things while on the water.

The most common method for night time walleyes at Pymatuning is casting Rapalas in shallow water around April and May. Anglers doing this are targeting on the walleyes spawn.

When the water temperature reaches the 50s Walleyes will move shallow (2-3 ft). You can take advantage of this by finding a shallow gravel bed or other spawning areas and casting rapalas floating lure or other so called "stick baits". If you think you are good enough to troll at night you can also troll these rapalas in shallow areas to cover more water but exercise extreme caution and always have someone at the wheel to watch for stumps and other boats.

Another common way to catch walleye at night is jigging blade baits like sonars and cicadas.

This is my personal favorite method because this works at almost all times of the year. Make sure you have a good medium-heavy rod and at least 10 lb. test line. The best way to rig is to use a 2 ft. leader connected to a barrel swivel at the main line and tie the leader to your lure using a few old fashioned over-hand knot(its also easiest to tie at night)

As far as lures goes most Cicadas and Sonar bladed baits will work between 1/8 oz. - 3/4 oz. and i prefer gold or red but most colors will work also. Every night a fish will want something different so just experiment. During late april through mid-may the best spot is near the opening of the causeway. You can also fish under the bridge bank fishing. To attract baitfish i like to tie a lantern or a light over the side of the boat, And after a while you can see minnows and shads surfacing near the light. Do not cast your lure because you WILL snag. Just drop it straight down to the bottom and around every 10 seconds pull it off the bottom then let it freefall back down. wait 10 seconds and do it again, keep repeating and if you feel weight when you pull up set the hook because its a fish!!! Muskies also bite at this time, ive caught a 48in. Muskie doing this.

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