The Walleye Capital of the World

Roughly 20 million pounds of fish are harvested annually by recreational and commercial fishermen on Lake Erie, making it the largest freshwater fishery in the world. The shallowest of the Great Lakes is a great place to fish due to multiple factors, including geology, morphology, chemistry, biology and climate. Many varieties of sport fish are present in the lake in catchable numbers, including walleye, yellow perch, smallmouth and largemouth bass, steelhead trout, white bass, channel and bullhead catfish, lake trout, black and white crappies, bluegill and rock bass. Walleyes draw the most attention due to their abundance, size, table quality and eagerness to bite. Thousands of anglers — even those from walleye-rich Upper Midwestern and Plains states — travel great distances to experience the unparalleled fishing for the species that has spoiled local anglers who can catch them at will. Ohio's Division of Wildlife fisheries specialists, after working with their counterparts from Ontario, Michigan, Pennsylvania and New York, report that the catchable walleye population in Lake Erie (at least 2 years old) is estimated to be 72.1 million fish in 2024. Due to yet-to-be-fully-explained factors, above-average walleye hatches in seven of the last nine spawning seasons have led to this impressive figure. More remarkable is that the three best walleye hatches ever have occurred in the past six years — in 2021 (No. 1), 2018 (No. 2) and 2019 (No. 3) — even besting the super hatch of 2003. Those who fished for walleyes in the 1980s thought fishing couldn't get any better, but it has! Scott Hale, State Fish Administrator for the Ohio Division of Wildlife, calls this current period of Lake Erie history "the good old days of walleye fishing." Leading theories that have been offered for this windfall of walleyes include the current high-water cycle that presently is inundating the reefs to an ideal depth; high densities of plankton during the spring that produce a robust food chain for larval fish recruitment; and ideal temperatures in the Western Basin during the growing season. The case for Lake Erie Lake Erie truly is "The Walleye Capital of the World," despite similar claims of tourism officials in Gladstone, Michigan, located on Little Bay de Noc off Lake Michigan's Green Bay, and Baudette, Minnesota, on Lake of the Woods. Baudette even went so far as trying to federally trademark the title, but Lake Erie's annual harvest is nearly 20 times greater and dwarfs all other contenders. Specifically, Lake Erie's lakewide walleye harvest in 2022 was 9,268,777 fish. There were 2.58 million caught by Ohio recreational anglers; 6.04 million commercially landed in Ontario waters; and the rest taken in Michigan, Pennsylvania and New York. Minnesota's latest report cited that the 951,337-acre Lake of the Woods walleye harvest has averaged 475,000 fish annually over the past six years. The rest of "Walleye Nation" became aware of our bounty after In-Fisherman Magazine/Cabela's Outfitters began holding spring tournaments at Put-in-Bay and the professional walleye anglers broke all of the circuit records for the heaviest catches. Year-round opportunity What makes fishing for walleyes in western Lake Erie so compelling for many of us is the multitude of methods that can be used to land them throughout the year — from boats in open water, through the ice, casting from shorelines or in the rivers. Specifically, we can catch them while: • Casting weight-forward spinners, jigs, crank baits, mayfly rigs or Carolina rigs. • Trolling with or without planer boards and/or depth or directional divers, using crank baits/spoons/worm harness spinners, and others. • Dragging bottom bouncers such as Lindy rigs and 3-way swivels. • Jigging baited or unbaited lures in open water or through the ice with blade baits, horizontal swimming lures, flash spoons or jigs. • Shoreline casting using crank baits, jigs and spoons. • Setting tip-ups or dead sticking while ice fishing. Formerly a method primarily utilized in the deeper central and eastern portions of the lake, trolling for walleyes has become the method of fishing now used by most private anglers lakewide since 2004, according to Ohio Division of Wildlife creel surveys. During mild winters, like the past one, trolling has occurred during 12 months of the year. Mainly just east of the islands, diehard fishermen launched their boats and caught good numbers of walleyes in January, February and well into March, especially from Vermilion to Huron. Typically, trolling for the larger, egg-laden female walleyes staging around the islands and just outside of the reefs provides high numbers of trophy fish during March and April. Numerous smaller males, known as "jacks," primed for spawning at a moment's notice, remain on or nearby the shallow Western Basin reefs, Maumee and Sandusky Bay sand bars and nearshore beaches. They aggressively strike passing lures presented from drifting boats passing above. Armies of anglers eagerly await the peak spawning period in April to fish with a rod in hand using hair or rubber tail dressed jigs and blade baits. After spawning is completed, local water temperatures during May through July in the Western Basin from the Maumee Bay to the islands are ideal for walleyes, but many migrate to cooler water to actively feed from July to October. By following the fish and then targeting them by trolling or casting to them when they are schooled in the upper portion of the water column, fishermen enjoy walleye catch rates all summer that rival those anywhere on Earth. Walleye catch rates in North America are considered to be excellent when they are greater than 0.15 fish per hour. Lake Erie's catch rates have exceeded those from the 1980s for the past six years, and according to Ohio Division of Wildlife creel surveys calculations were 0.61 fish per hour last season and reached 0.8 fish per hour in others. Approximately 74% of private anglers now fish by trolling, while predominantly veteran anglers remain committed to casting weight-forward spinners, mayfly rigs or other lures baited with nightcrawlers. Economic impact of fishing Calculations by Ohio tourism officials document the $1 billion economic impact that Lake Erie fishing brings to the state. Numerous national tournaments continue to draw contestants from across North America. A pair of fall walleye derbies have fully rigged boats worth more than $100,000 as their top prizes. Travelers stay in motels, campgrounds and other lodging places. They eat meals at local restaurants, take side trips to amusement and water parks, visit the islands and buy souvenirs. They and the local anglers too must fill their auto and boat fuel tanks, purchase bait and tackle, rent marina slips, buy snacks and ice for their coolers — not to mention cold beverages. There were 954 Lake Erie-licensed charter captains in 2023. One of them, Captain Mark Cahlik, has done more than most local captains to capture a larger share of the $1 billion that anglers annually spend to fish on the lake. The Sandusky native is in his 40th year of making a living off our local fishing bounty. He operates a five-vessel Mark I Sport Fishing fleet and built his Bays Edge-branded enterprise that includes a Bait & Tackle Shop, condominiums, fish cleaning, marine Service Center, Green Phantom trolling rods and Dead Eye fishing lures. Dead Eye Lures are his line of crank baits that come in multiple sizes that are custom painted by locally and nationally renowned lure artists. While speaking to him recently as he was en route to another fishing trade show, he exclaimed, "We are so blessed here! Nowhere else can people go out this time of year and catch and keep a limit of 9-pound walleyes without even making a dent in the population!"