Fishing the ''Cen-Troll'' Basin of Lake Erie
Fishing the ''Cen-Troll'' Basin of Lake Erie
Lake Erie offers the very best walleye in the world. The western basin with its reefs and islands, has, for many years been famous for limit catches of this popular game fish. In recent years, another section of the lake, the central basin, has been providing fishermen with outstanding catches of trophy class walleye and the electrifying steelhead trout.
Just as the two sections of the lake differ in water depth and structure, so do the methods of catching fish. In the shallow western basi, rich in fish holding reefs and islands, casting weight forward spinners baited with night crawlers, is the proven method. Locating fish in the vast central basin, almost void or any structure, can be difficult unless you conform to other tactics. The most productive method of fishing this extensive area is by trolling.
Trolling enables you to cover a larger section of water. Employing the use of planer boards, dipsy divers, downriggers, wire or lead core line, or any combination of these, allows you to comb the area, find the monsters that roam the deep, cool waters of the central basin.
Plant boards running 100 feet off the sides of your boat cut a 200-foot swatch through the water. Since many of the walleye are suspended, the higher running lures attached to the boards catch the fish that are moving out of the boat’s path. Using a variety of lures, and weights, planer boards allow you to set your offerings at the shallow to medium depths.
Dipsy divers are probably the most popular method of taking central basin fish. This remarkable tool can get your lures off to the sides of your boat, but at the same time, they take the baits to greater depths.
Catching the fish that are really deep requires the use of downriggers, wire line, or lead core line. During late summer, when the waters have warmed up considerably, the use of riggers, wire and lead core line will catch a lot of the fish that are laying in the cool deeper areas.
Whatever method you choose to use, you must also experiment with colors, sizes of lures, boat speed, etc. and once you have found the key, you can be assured of this: the “cen-troll” basin support the best in trophy walleye fishing available anywhere!
For more Lake Erie fishing information, visit http://www.wavewalkercharters.com.
Wave Walker Charters
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