# Lake Erie Crappie



## deerfarmer (Apr 21, 2012)

Rutty was preparing for a lake erie crappie tournament that was scheduled for 10-22-16 tournament and told me he was going to be prefishing on firday by himself. I told him that I wouldn't mind trying that sometime and he said come on up. Now I knew the weather wasn't going to be good so I planned on high winds and rain. The plan was going to be fishing west harbor and portage river. So we were in protected bays and channels all day but it was still lovely out most of the day. I had no idea what to expect. The closest thing I can compare it to is crappie fishing docks at Buckeye Lake. Most of the day we were in 3 to 5 foot of water fishing docks and pontoons with a single pole. The wind made controlling the boat tough but that was rutty's job and he did a great job in the 30mph winds. We made a large bet on who caught the first fish and to my surprise Rutty paid up on the spot.








The largest crappie of the day weighed.92 and we probably could have caught more but everytime we would catch a quality fish away we went because Rutty didn't want to burn the spot for the tournament. The other interesting thing about crappie fishing Lake Eire is being there isn't statewide regulations for crappie there isn't any size or limits restrictions.


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## polebender (Oct 29, 2011)

Good deal! The next time we go out, you're buying lunch!


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## kfi (Nov 11, 2013)

Was up there to perch fish a few weeks ago. We launched from east harbor state park. As we were making our way out to the big lake was thinking that we were passing right by great habitat for bass/panfish.

Congrats on your winnings. Don't spend it all in one place.


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## Snyd (May 5, 2004)

Sounds like a lot of fun - I have been wanting to go to East Harbor and fish - I am hoping to next spring.


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## Brahmabull71 (Jul 30, 2014)

Deerfarmer you have to go up there in late April early May. It is an amazing place to crappie fish. The quality of fish are spectacular. We fished up there targeting them 3 times this year and didn't have any crazy good days, but we did ok. They are super thick and if you are using light tackle (I use a 7' light St. Croix Panfish) you have to dip net them. We do not keep them under 11" and usually have a big fish fry for the State Troopers and their families. We have done it since I was a kid and I'm telling you, you will be ruined! Best lake in Ohio to get both quality and quantity consistently! You guys are high rollers...we bet a nickel on the first one


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## Saugeyefisher (Jul 19, 2010)

Thanks for the post. I've always wanted to pound the docks an walls up there!


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## fritoking (Nov 11, 2015)

It's an outstanding crappie spot. When I was younger and we had our boat docked in West harbor, it was nothing to catch 100 a day...most 11 to 14 inches...some up to 16


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## rutty (Feb 5, 2007)

First of all, lets clarify..........Deerfarmer won that dime on a sheephead, not a crappie! We just bet first fish, even though he did catch the first crappie, and the biggest, that didn't win him the dime!

The wind and rain was horrible for 3 straight days but the fishing was really good on Thursday, not so good on Friday, but again we didn't hit any of my favorite spots that I knew their was fish on them. Didn't want to catch anymore decent fish from them. Saturday for the tournament was unbelievable, we caught a crappie about every cast. We ended up in 5th for the tournament with 7.13 lbs of crappie. Our biggest was 1.45#s . The winning team had 9.97 #'s. Those were some dandy fish, 2nd place had 9.71 and big fish was 1.65 #'s


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## kfi (Nov 11, 2013)

rutty said:


> Saturday for the tournament was unbelievable, we caught a crappie about every cast. We ended up in 5th for the tournament with 7.13 lbs of crappie. Our biggest was 1.45#s . The winning team had 9.97 #'s. Those were some dandy fish, 2nd place had 9.71 and big fish was 1.65 #'s


Rutty - who organized that tourney? Were 7 or 8 fish weighed? Either way those are some impressive weights. Good job


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## Saugeyefisher (Jul 19, 2010)

Wow very impressive!


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## deerfarmer (Apr 21, 2012)

I believe it was Shelby County Crappie Club. And they weigh 8 fish.


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## sharp33 (Mar 30, 2015)

Do you think the bite will last a few more weeks ?


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## TitanFreak9 (Feb 7, 2016)

sharp33 said:


> Do you think the bite will last a few more weeks ?


It will last all the way up till ice.

Sent from my SM-G930V using Tapatalk


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## sharp33 (Mar 30, 2015)

TitanFreak9 said:


> It will last all the way up till ice.
> 
> Sent from my SM-G930V using Tapatalk


Awesome thanks man!


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## jim8861 (Aug 26, 2010)

Rutty never fished Lake Erie was going to try to go next spring don't what your honey hole but if you would share where a first time guy would start.i live by deer creek and go to Weiss lake every spring thanking about Erie next year.thanks for any information you will share.


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## Flathead76 (May 2, 2010)

Just fish the rock walls until you find them.


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## Brahmabull71 (Jul 30, 2014)

Rocks and docks. If we have a spring where the water temp hovers at spawning range like this year, the bigger females will spawn deeper in the channels. This year our best fish came in 6-7 FOW in the deeper 1/3 of the channel area. Larger fisher were suspended deeper, off bank is what I'm saying. Year before last they were right up on the rocks and dock poles. We primarily sling jigs as I would rather watch paint dry than to sock bobbers and minnies albeit is very productive also. 

We fish East & West harbors mainly. There isn't as much "structure" style fishing like inland lakes. Maybe the Portage river guys can chime in more about conditions here?


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## rutty (Feb 5, 2007)

kfi said:


> Rutty - who organized that tourney? Were 7 or 8 fish weighed? Either way those are some impressive weights. Good job


It was Shelby County Crappie Club that I belong to. We weight in 8 fish.


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## rutty (Feb 5, 2007)

jim8861 said:


> Rutty never fished Lake Erie was going to try to go next spring don't what your honey hole but if you would share where a first time guy would start.i live by deer creek and go to Weiss lake every spring thanking about Erie next year.thanks for any information you will share.


Just send me a message when you are coming and I can help you out. I fish the Portage River all the time. Just has stated they will be on rocks, docks, or suspended, you just have to figure out where and what they are relating to. The area of the Portage rive I fish has little to no structure so it is a different type of fishing than some people are used to. 

The fishing will be great from here to ice just has mentioned earlier.


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## midoh39 (May 8, 2005)

Funny how I just saw this thread. Last year in the marina my parents boat is at my buddy and I pounded the crappie all around the docks. I even caught my PB 14 1/2" on a spinnerbait fishing for bass. This spring was a different story as mentioned. I tried everything I had fishing right around the docks, but once I started to cast out further I found more crappie. Needless to say, there are some slabs hiding in the marinas...


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## jim8861 (Aug 26, 2010)

Thank you rutty will try to go up in the spring


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## brad crappie (Sep 29, 2015)

Am trying to get size and limits on Lake Erie to make it that much better got a petition going with a bunch a names and looking for more!


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## Brahmabull71 (Jul 30, 2014)

brad crappie said:


> Am trying to get size and limits on Lake Erie to make it that much better got a petition going with a bunch a names and looking for more!


Why? It's a big place with low pressure.

Is there something I'm missing? In all the years of fishing during peak season, I've never had anyone in my favorite spots or even seen that many people targeting them. Are people keeping under 9" and keeping 100's? 

Sorry man, I must not be informed. I'm all for conservation, but...


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## mcornett (May 25, 2010)

Do you fish with minnows on a slip bobber, or jigs?


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## brad crappie (Sep 29, 2015)

Brahmabull71 said:


> Why? It's a big place with low pressure.
> 
> Is there something I'm missing? In all the years of fishing during peak season, I've never had anyone in my favorite spots or even seen that many people targeting them. Are people keeping under 9" and keeping 100's?
> 
> Sorry man, I must not be informed. I'm all for conservation, but...


It is getting fish more and more people talk bout it and I do see to many kept! No problems on keeping fish but if u are want bigger fish we need it cause those fish grow to good size when they Live long enough. Serious crappie guys and gals want bigger fish! Back 20 to 30 years ago more fish and bigger!


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## rutty (Feb 5, 2007)

brad crappie said:


> Am trying to get size and limits on Lake Erie to make it that much better got a petition going with a bunch a names and looking for more!


Why? The place is so big and very little pressure. That would be absurd to get a size limit or quantity limit on Erie, at least in my opinion.


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## rutty (Feb 5, 2007)

mcornett said:


> Do you fish with minnows on a slip bobber, or jigs?


I fish mainly jigs that I pour, but minnows under a bobber work well also. no need for a slip bobber you don't fish that deep.


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## brad crappie (Sep 29, 2015)

rutty said:


> Why? The place is so big and very little pressure. That would be absurd to get a size limit or quantity limit on Erie, at least in my opinion.


Well look at the perch and walleye they have decline with the foreign invading species and average angler getting better with state of the art electronics we need as crappie tournament fishermen think bout conservation more! Look in Ohio we do have regulations at most of the good crappie lakes! Lake Erie is in the top 5 in Ohio and needs to be protected like the bass,perch , and walleye are! Also east harbor gills were real big 5 years ago and guys hammered it and the size quality went down just saying! Love fishing


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## rutty (Feb 5, 2007)

brad crappie said:


> Well look at the perch and walleye they have decline with the foreign invading species and average angler getting better with state of the art electronics we need as crappie tournament fishermen think bout conservation more! Look in Ohio we do have regulations at most of the good crappie lakes! Lake Erie is in the top 5 in Ohio and needs to be protected like the bass,perch , and walleye are! Also east harbor gills were real big 5 years ago and guys hammered it and the size quality went down just saying! Love fishing


We can agree to disagree..........There are some Ohio lakes that I fish for crappie in that is really hurt by the size restriction. The lakes are stunned because we need to take those littler fish out. Also, Lake Erie Walleye has never been better! As a charter boat captain on the Lake, this year walleye fishing was one of the best years ever. The walleye and perch success has very little to do if nothing to do with the fisherman. There isn't enough fisherman to hurt the population, the success of the walleye/perch has everything to do with the weather we get during the spawn, as well as the commercial fish regulations. 
This goes with the crappie on Lake Erie as well, there is not enough fisherman to hurt the population. East Harbor gills has always been that way, and so are most lakes. It always goes in patterns, you will catch big fish for a few years, then you will catch a bunch of little ones for a few years, this all goes by the spawns and the success of that years hatch. If you don't have a good spawn for a couple years in a row, you will not have bigger fish in those coming years.


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## Brahmabull71 (Jul 30, 2014)

Biologically, weather/hatch has far greater impact on fish than any fisherman ever will. That's not to say if commercial netters start netting the harbors and Channels for say carp, that the crappie population would not be affected.

I'm with Rutty here. I agree to disagree, but I do applaud your efforts in conservation and if this is important to you, do it to it!


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## brad crappie (Sep 29, 2015)

rutty said:


> We can agree to disagree..........There are some Ohio lakes that I fish for crappie in that is really hurt by the size restriction. The lakes are stunned because we need to take those littler fish out. Also, Lake Erie Walleye has never been better! As a charter boat captain on the Lake, this year walleye fishing was one of the best years ever. The walleye and perch success has very little to do if nothing to do with the fisherman. There isn't enough fisherman to hurt the population, the success of the walleye/perch has everything to do with the weather we get during the spawn, as well as the commercial fish regulations.
> This goes with the crappie on Lake Erie as well, there is not enough fisherman to hurt the population. East Harbor gills has always been that way, and so are most lakes. It always goes in patterns, you will catch big fish for a few years, then you will catch a bunch of little ones for a few years, this all goes by the spawns and the success of that years hatch. If you don't have a good spawn for a couple years in a row, you will not have bigger fish in those coming years.


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## brad crappie (Sep 29, 2015)

Yes I agree with u on some lakes don't need tegulations but the state needs more lake specific regulations! Don't have the funds for more detailed study on lakes! Bluegills sometimes it takes 9 years to reach 9in! Every year the spawn is different yes for crappie one the big factors is high water the higher the water the little guys have more of chance of not being prey to bigger fish. More time to grow quicker so they gebigger not to be prey! U guys make good points and I care bout the resources!


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## rutty (Feb 5, 2007)

brad crappie said:


> Yes I agree with u on some lakes don't need tegulations but the state needs more lake specific regulations! Don't have the funds for more detailed study on lakes! Bluegills sometimes it takes 9 years to reach 9in! Every year the spawn is different yes for crappie one the big factors is high water the higher the water the little guys have more of chance of not being prey to bigger fish. More time to grow quicker so they gebigger not to be prey! U guys make good points and I care bout the resources!


I agree with different lake regulations, the problem with it is Ohio does not have the resources to manage it or enforce it. They don't put the money into that side of things, and unfortunately until that changes you won't see a lot of rule changes or enforcement.


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## mcornett (May 25, 2010)

Rutty, Ok, thanks. I will be up this weekend (oct 29) for last trip. If I can't get out for walleye, will go into east or west harbor after crappie.


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## Zach Jones (Mar 22, 2016)

Can anyone offer what are some good rivers to fish for Fall Crappie? Not looking for everyone's secret spot just a good river to try. I have a small jon boat so I don't really take it out on the lake very much.


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## rutty (Feb 5, 2007)

mcornett said:


> Rutty, Ok, thanks. I will be up this weekend (oct 29) for last trip. If I can't get out for walleye, will go into east or west harbor after crappie.


I will be in the Portage River Saturday for crappie. Good Luck to you! West Harbor will be a busy place with a crappie tournament going on in there, I would stay away from there Saturday.


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## rutty (Feb 5, 2007)

Zach Jones said:


> Can anyone offer what are some good rivers to fish for Fall Crappie? Not looking for everyone's secret spot just a good river to try. I have a small jon boat so I don't really take it out on the lake very much.


Portage River, you can fish anywhere in the portage with a small jon boat.


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## Flathead76 (May 2, 2010)

brad crappie said:


> Am trying to get size and limits on Lake Erie to make it that much better got a petition going with a bunch a names and looking for more!


The lakes that I catch my biggest crappies do not have a size restriction or limits.


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## Creek Warrior (Sep 8, 2021)

Wanted to bump this thread as I will be heading up to west/east harbor this weekend. Hoping there are a few guys out there that have some reports on this area on the crappie this year? Will be bank fishing some marinas and possibly taking my kayak out depending if the wind isn’t terrible. Thanks for any replies!


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## rutty (Feb 5, 2007)

Creek Warrior said:


> Wanted to bump this thread as I will be heading up to west/east harbor this weekend. Hoping there are a few guys out there that have some reports on this area on the crappie this year? Will be bank fishing some marinas and possibly taking my kayak out depending if the wind isn’t terrible. Thanks for any replies!


I fished Erie the last 5 days. The water was very high and muddy in the Portage river, however the fish are there. You can catch them. West harbor is clear and lots of smaller fish in there. With the water high and muddy the fish were tight to the poles. We used the Freaky Frank Worms in pearl color and it was pretty good. Wednesday at the Portage River, we boated around 60 fish, Thursday we went to Sandusky Bay and boated about 150 fish, we took Friday off. Saturday and Sunday we fished and got some really nice fish and boated about 100 each day. It was very high winds, high water, and tough fishing conditions, but we caught fish. Hope that helps.


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## Creek Warrior (Sep 8, 2021)

rutty said:


> I fished Erie the last 5 days. The water was very high and muddy in the Portage river, however the fish are there. You can catch them. West harbor is clear and lots of smaller fish in there. With the water high and muddy the fish were tight to the poles. We used the Freaky Frank Worms in pearl color and it was pretty good. Wednesday at the Portage River, we boated around 60 fish, Thursday we went to Sandusky Bay and boated about 150 fish, we took Friday off. Saturday and Sunday we fished and got some really nice fish and boated about 100 each day. It was very high winds, high water, and tough fishing conditions, but we caught fish. Hope that helps.


Thank you for the info, and good to hear it’s happening in the harbors. This is my first time actually going up there to crappie fish and not bass fish, so I’m pretty eager to get on them. Heading up Friday morning and will be staying there till Saturday night. Got some spots marked that I hope will pan out.


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## RMK (Feb 21, 2017)

rutty said:


> I fished Erie the last 5 days. The water was very high and muddy in the Portage river, however the fish are there. You can catch them. West harbor is clear and lots of smaller fish in there. With the water high and muddy the fish were tight to the poles. We used the Freaky Frank Worms in pearl color and it was pretty good. Wednesday at the Portage River, we boated around 60 fish, Thursday we went to Sandusky Bay and boated about 150 fish, we took Friday off. Saturday and Sunday we fished and got some really nice fish and boated about 100 each day. It was very high winds, high water, and tough fishing conditions, but we caught fish. Hope that helps.


i might be headed up sunday if things work out


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## Creek Warrior (Sep 8, 2021)

Drove up and took the kayak out on the portage and fished some docks, water still pretty muddy. I was able to catch a few but nothing to brag about. Hoping to get up again in the spring time and do better than I did today. Best of luck whoever heads out there this weekend.


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