Ok gang ... the wait is over. Here’s a real Lake Erie walleye caught by one of my friends and former co-workers. He handed me his pole and and said he thought he was hung on the bottom. I took the pole, checked real quick, then handed it back to him and said, “be patient my friend you have a once in a life-time walleye on”. He did not believe me ... 10-15 minutes later I netted it ... and he will never doubt me again. Lol!!!! We had at least two hand fulls of walleye over 10lbs. that day and they all went back into the water to spawn ... all but this additional fish below. This fish was caught several years ago. Had this fish been weighed right off of the boat, instead of waiting a day or more to have it officially weighed, there is no doubt in my mind it would have been a new Ohio state record at that time. Many, many hours later it was a few ounces shy. She’s just a wee bit under the state record ... and I believe, had it been weighed sooner, would have surpassed it. I will never net another walleye this big ... not in my lifetime.
Due credit where credit is due... Caught aboard the Erie Drifter with Captain Tom Straus. I’ve know Tom for at least 27 years now. Me and my dad started fishing with Tom and his dad years ago. Those were good days. Haven’t fished with Tom for several years now, but I don’t know anybody that fishes harder on Lake Erie than he does. Tom consistently puts himself and his customers on fish. I know...my dad and I have fished with him dozens and dozens of times....long before he ever started his charter business. Simply put...Erie Drifter...Capt. Tom Straus can help put you on the fish...and help you put them in the boat. I have fished right next to him shoulder to shoulder with my dad getting skunked ... and I’ve told him ... “Tom, you catch ‘em and I’ll net ‘em” ...he is that good. Tom can back it up .... “It ain’t braggin’ if you can back it up.” -Dizzy Dean I am in no way affiliated with, nor am I being paid by the Erie Drifter team, Tom Straus, or any of his crew. He’s just a friend. Tom’s a busy guy when it comes to fishing...and there’s a reason why.
That's a hog of a walleye , or as we call them pickerel. Love me some Lake Erie perch and we get some of those big walleye hogs on Lake Ontario's Bay of Quinte not to far from Loon . Been a few year since I've been down there. Might need to make the trip if we get good ice.
I love the walleye...and most certainly the perch. Lost of small perch in the western basin of Erie over to the islands and into the central basin. They do get a little bigger in the deeper water over there. We get some nice perch in the western basin, what a lot of folks around there call big perch, but they’re know where near as big as I think they should be. Seen bigger in other places like the UP...sort of spoils a guy. Yesterday a fella showed me a picture of a crappie that weighed 3.68lbs. Was a jaw dropper! Bay Springs, Weiss Lake Alabama there’s a restaurant wall full of them over 5lbs. I never will forget seeing those.
Erie Drifter dot com...though the website makes it appear two other captains may own the name now. Not sure what’s going on with that. Like I said, haven’t fished with Tom for a while now. I do know he was busy last season. He stays at the condo’s near Wild Wings campground, Oak Harbor, Ohio. West of Port Clinton on Rt. 2 ... west of Camp Perry ... and 2 mile west of Davis Besse nuclear power station on Rt. 2. Wild Wings is between Port Clinton, Ohio and Oregon, Ohio on Rt. 2.
Walleye are known for being cold water fish, found and fished for most commonly in northern states. Speaking of giant walleye’s ... those over 20 lbs... With the exception of a giant 22 pounder, I think it was, caught at Bullshoals in Missouri, most over the 20 pound mark have come from 3 southern states, Arkansas, Kentucky, and Tennessee...where the world record was caught. Some western states like Colorado and Idaho have had some larger than 18 pounds. To me 10-12 pound fish are big fish...but when you’re talking 15 plus those fish are just gigantic...and super rare.
Not bad, took some digging to find this pic. Dad and his record fish World record Drum fish, Chesapeake Bay, late 70's a little over 100 lbs.
Nice...I used to fish for them out of Cape Charles, VA...Never caught one that large. Use to tie big nasty clams in nylon for bait, caught a few but only kept one because they are horrible to eat. My Girlfriends family at the time made some kind of fish stew out of it! Threw mine away, the racoons wouldn't even eat it out of the trash!!
No kidding...I’ve heard of people making that stew and loving it. Never tried it. Wonder how big a pearl came from that drum?
Caught a few drum as a kid growing up fishing the Delaware Bay. Also caught a few Walleye up on Lake Ontario, we caught a 9lber once, man are they good eating. Fishing has provided me with some great memories and still does, although most of fishing these days are down in FL Keys.
Would love to fish in the bays, but no desire to ocean fish. Don't like the idea of things eating me. LOL!!! Would love to fish for snapper, tarpon, red fish and tuna though. Never been to Florida...no desire to go except to fish the St. John's river. I know I'm missing a great fishing opportunity, but me and pythons and gators have this ongoing feud. LOL!!!
Yes your not at the top of food chain in the ocean. One trip we went sharking fishing in the Keys, sat in about 3ft of water about couple of hundred yards from a local beach. It was something out of national geographic, they'd come in nice and slow with their dorsal fin breaking water line. We had about 12 - 14 sharks circling the back of the boat, mostly lemons with a few bull sharks mixed in and a few nurse sharks at the bottom. I kept thinking to myself wow we're only few hundred yards away from shore and a beach. Jumped a few tarpon, never landed one , did get a bonefish once. Plenty of redfish and snapper caught, boy are they both good eating. Over the years we caught two blackfin tuna down in Key West, one a 41lber, that's huge for a blackfin. Again some of the best eating fish around. There is nothing like fresh fish caught only a few hours before eating it. Been to the St. Johns river bass fishing many years ago. Was kind of a bust trip fishing wise, bad bad windy weather for days on end. But it's by far one of the most beautiful places I have ever been and a place that definitely left its mark on me. One of the few rivers that flows north as well. As a kid we had a fishing club with my father and his friends. We fished a ton in NJ, we also took many fishing trips either to Florida (St. Johns or Keys) or up north to lake ontario, 1,000 islands region, and even into Canada a few times. That all kind of faded over the years, I hope I can do some of that same stuff with my son. We annually go to Key West with a group of family and friends to fish but to also enjoy the fun and beauty of Key West has to offer. I'll be in Clearwater, FL with Dad this spring for baseball spring training and also to do some redfishing.
