Pioneers paved way for anglers

Thirty years ago, a small group of pioneers set out to explore mysterious waters off Ohio’s north coast and discovered treasures that would delight anglers over the next generation.

Today, those waters yield great catches of walleyes and smallmouth bass to anglers who are building on the early efforts of those Lake Erie frontier busters.

The explorers in 1977 and 1978 worked off hints and hunches as they set sail from Conneaut, Ashtabula and Fairport Harbor. No one was quite sure what was out there, because attention shifted from those waters when pollution reduced the fishery to a fraction of its glory back in the blue pike days.

They did know, of course, about the growing walleye population that anglers worked over in Lake Erie’s western basin and island region, and the reef-running smallies that were ever-so-catchable during the spring, but which seemed to disappear once summer rolled around.

Their theory was that the increasingly clearing waters of Erie’s central basin, from Huron east to Erie, Pa., should have walleyes and smallmouths, too. And they proved their hypotheses by discovering great schools of 6- to 10-pound walleyes suspended under massive clouds of smelt in off-shore depths up to 70 feet. Closer to the coast, they also found pods of trophy-sized smallies prowling the rock piles and breaklines in 15 to 20 feet.

Such bounty is big news and word traveled fast. Trollers ventured out 10 miles and returned with coolers so heavy with walleyes that they required two strong men to lift to the docks. Near-shore anglers returned to the harbors with stories of leaping bronzebacks eager to eat any bait dragged past them.

Thirty years later, the blitz is on once again off Ohio’s coast. Reports from the past week, which featured stable weather that enabled anglers to roam freely out of Ashtabula and Conneaut, were that the walleyes and bass are biting.

Good catches of smallies are coming from the flats and breaks east and west of both towns, and a few fish are still lurking around the harbors’ breakwalls. The best action is coming on tube jigs and drop-shot rigs. Green pumpkin, a traditionally productive color, once again is accounting for many of the better bass catches.

The walleyes are still in relatively shallow water — a mile or two off shore in 30 to 40 feet. Trollers dragging spoons and minnow plugs are connecting, as are casters working worms and spinners.

Anglers also have discovered a mixing point where they can up the odds of connecting with both species.

Bass anglers are scoring best in 15 to 20 feet, but those who tip-toe out beyond the 20-foot break are reporting walleyes mixed in the their smallmouths.

That’s a bonus for the walleye and bass fans. Catch-and-release bassers can add a couple of fat walleyes to their live wells for dinner, while the walleye anglers enjoy the decidedly more exciting fight of the occasional smallie that strikes.

If you haven’t taken the opportunity to explore Lake Erie off Conneaut and Ashtabula yourself, you are missing the best region northeastern Ohio can offer.

Thank goodness for those explorers back in the ’70s. They fished where few had ventured and paved the way for three decades of fantastic fishing.

jwwollitz@aol.com