Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunter's Campfire Lake Erie

We left out of Oak Harbor by the Davis Besse power plant. The zebra mussels haven’t caused as much of a problem as originally predicted. Usually catch at least one Gobi. Didn’t catch anything but walleye this trip. No channel cats, no sheepshead (fresh water drum). Early fishing is jigging off the bottom with a 3/4 - 1oz jig with a treble hook trailer. We put a shiner minnow on the treble. Feel the jig hit bottom the lift it a couple feet and repeat. As the water gets warmer we troll for them. In summer sometimes we cast with a worm harness spinner and a nightcrawler. Jigging works best in cold esrly season water. Leaving tomorrow afternoon for a Wednesday morning trip. I will report back. I usually take pics, but this last trip I was intent on fishing and keeping my hands warm.

Ron

We have Fresh water gaspergoo (drum) in abundance in many inland lakes. In salt and brackish water we have black drum and sheepshead.

The drum are OK to eat if one is real fried Fish hungry but I don't really like them. Even 3 or 4 lb black drum often have loads of worms.

I always threw any sheepshead back until I fished for specs and redfish with a top class guide service in Venice, La. We caught several of them on shrimp along grass islands and the guides kept every legal one and to us they actually prefer them to speckled trout or redfish.

They said they taste better than the red drum and as good as the specs and with firmer meat.

After several days fishing they gave our crew a going away party and fried up a pile of them. They were delicious and now when fishing the salt I keep every legal one.

I'm not planning on eating any more freshwater drum or any more of these black drum I recently caught and prepared carefully. They just don't taste real good.

Jaguar, we catch sheepheads (Drum) from time to time. Throw em back though. Fun to catch.

Ron

That's what I've heard.
The next few years are supposed to be excellent for walleye.

The Z mussels have helped clean up the Detroit river and lake Erie! Sheep's head, make poor man's Lobster, in the mid 60s lake Erie caught fire. Used to drive our cars and trucks out on the ice to fish. Not since the Nuclear plants tho!

Went back yesterday and fished today. Started fishing at 6:30a (still dark). We caught our Captain’s limit of 42 walleye. Done by 12:05pm

Ron
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This was my biggest fish of the day. 4-5lbs. Great day on the water with friends.

Ron

Nice, Erie putting out… Looks calm to.

Jigging I’ll assume.

Do the Sheepshead in your area have "Lucky Stones" in them?

Kenneth, it was eerily calm today. Yes, we were jigging with 3/4 oz jigs with treble hook trailers. We put a shiner minnow on the trailer.

Ron

Ohio , 7x57. Are the walleye over populating in Erie? I heard they spawn so well that some say the bag limit needs to be raised.

Having fresh walleye tonight, courtesy of a good day, Saturday !!