# Middle Harbor?



## WINative

Just doing a bit map recon. Any fish in Middle Harbor? I've caught lots of bass and crappies in the East and West Harbors, but never in the middle. 

JM


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## bronzeback

there are fish but would not waste your time, very shallow and no "game" fish and would not waste my time with west or east harbor either. although east harbor does have some nice bass in it but there are so many other places to go.


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## basskiller2

just wondering? i been to erie 2 times and have fished east and west harbor. have not ventured out anywhere else. have a 18' stratos. where would you recommend?


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## rrw4258

got a question for yall, 
i watched a showt today and saw they were bass fishing in east harbor. Can you walk around east harbor and fish it like you would a pond or reservoir? Is this a good shore fishing place for a bass fisherman? Thnaks

Ryan


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## backagainbaha

I have caught a-lot of bass out of both harbors. I have docked by 25' Baha in both harbors and have caught both small and large mouth when conditions wouldn't allow me out in the lake. My favorite spot for smallmouth is the breakwall for west harbor- I also use a 16' sea nymph. Back in the mid 90's, during May thru early June it was a blast. Had days that you could use anything in your box. 
Last September I had by boat in East Harbor for a weekend party- I played around the docks one afternoon with a rubber worm and caught 3 nice largemoutjh.


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## River Walker

WINative,believe me,Middle Harbor is full of bass,and nice ones too.The problem with Middle is access.Although you can fish quite a bit of it from shore,if you want to put a boat in,you have to carry it in,which in turn is one good reason the fishing is as good as it is.Two years ago,I was fishing from the bank on Middle for crappies,and about a dozen or so guys were having a bass tournament on Middle(funny seeing a bass tournament with the contestants fishing out of canoes and belly boats)anyway,the guy that won it had over 16lbs.Very impressive for a shallow lake with "no game fish in it".I've had great success there in early spring using jigs and spinnerbaits-tons of wood in there.Middle Harbor is connected to East Harbor by a large drainage tunnel that runs under the road,so it's constantly being "restocked".Middle has a very healthy population of largemouth bass,and some of the biggest crappies you'll find anywhere,a decent number of northern pike,and yellow perch although they tend to run small.Both East Harbor and West Harbor are very well known for their great bass fishing as well,many 5lb. plus bass are caught out of both every year.The local bass guru for the harbors is Fishpro,I'm sure he can lead you to some choice locations on the harbors.One favorite of mine is in West Harbor where the bridge that cars drive over is,the rip-rap all along that bridge on both sides produces a lot of smallies and largemouth's.Both harbors also have great crappie fishing right after ice-out,concentrate on the wooden dock pilings(avoid the metal ones).Hope this helps you out,and leads you to good luck.If you need any other info regarding this area,feel free to PM me,I try to help people,not talk them out of going to an area.


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## mrm123

I live in Toledo wheres this place at? How far of a trip?


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## Fishpro

Bronzeback is right, there is NO fish in east harbor! Don't waste your time!!


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## Fishpro

One more from the same day, not east harbor though.  My best largemouth of '05. :B


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## Shortdrift

My Dad and I fished all three locations back in the 40's and 50's. We watched then build the road dividing East and Middle. In fact, we saved the bulldozer operator when he rolled the dozer into the water and broke his leg.
We caught all sorts of bass from the harbors and I have one on the wall that was 22" which I caught on a popper with my flyrod when I was 14 years old.
East Harbor had to be some of the best bass water back then until the State decided to introduce non-native weeds to attract more ducks which choked out a lot of beautiful lilly pads, reeds and valesnaria. We finally gave up and started going to Canada.
My friends and I used to get spawning carp in the spring with bow and then sell them in Cleveland. Was nothing to bring home 200 to 250 pounds of carp between three of us and it helped pay for college tuition. 
Great to hear that those "fishless" harbors  still produce bass and crappies.


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## bronzeback

fish pro nice fish, however (and this is why i love these chat forums), where did you read in my post that i said east harbor has no fish. everyone can read my post, like the part "although east harbor does have some nice bass in it" because you are clearly at east harbor. 
basskiller with your 18' boat i would go out onto the lake by the islands any of the reefs even along the shore of marblehead would be alright, don't get me wrong east harbor has some nice fish and should be fished if the weather forces you off of erie.
ryan didn't see the show but you can get around parts of east harbor like at the state park and catch fish rig up weedless most of the harbor is a mat of weeds.
mm123 the harbors are about an hour, give or take a bit, east of you. around marblehead st rt 269 i believe it is. east of port clinton
riverwalker i don't know when you fished middle harbor but it must of been before it silted in. the corp is already talking about dregding the hole place.
call up the division of wildlife in findlay and ask them what they caught out in middle harbor this past summer. they used the electrofishing boat and turned mud the hole trip and the only thing of value was a few stunted crappies.feel free to PM me,I try to help people,and not talk them into going to an area that is unproductive.


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## bronzeback

sorry, just saw that shortdrift replyed when i was writing.

i quote shortdrift "East Harbor had to be some of the best bass water back then until the State decided to introduce non-native weeds to attract more ducks which choked out a lot of beautiful lilly pads, reeds and valesnaria" LOL

shortdrift i have no idea what the place was like back in the 40s or 50s, i think that is when riverwalker fished the place though, but that statement made my day that is frickin funny the state deciding to introduce non-native weeds for the sake of the ducks, that is funny i don't care who you are!!!!!!!!!


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## Fishpro

bronzeback said:


> there are fish but would not waste your time, very shallow and no "game" fish and would not waste my time with west or east harbor either. although east harbor does have some nice bass in it but there are so many other places to go.


I don't know, I don't think that I "wasted my time" on that day, did I? If you like Bronzeback, we can hook up this spring and fish these harbors together. Seriously, let me know. I know these harbors better than most around here, and trust me, the fish are there!!


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## fishin4five

East Harbor was one of the first places i fished when i started seriously fishing for bass. Haven't been back in 7 years. maybe i will get back up there this year now that i graduated and moved back to northern ohio!

Nice fish by the way FishPro!


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## WINative

Hi

Thanks for all of the replies. To answer someone's question, yes, there is some good shore access on East Harbor, but you have to fish it before the weeds grow in. You might need to do a bit of walking, too.

I'm in general looking for good places to shore fish in the area when Erie is a mess. 

Best,
JM


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## Fishpro

WINative said:


> Hi
> 
> Thanks for all of the replies. To answer someone's question, yes, there is some good shore access on East Harbor, but you have to fish it before the weeds grow in. You might need to do a bit of walking, too.
> 
> I'm in general looking for good places to shore fish in the area when Erie is a mess.
> 
> Best,
> JM


Resthaven is good too, give it a try if you haven't. Good fishing for bass, panfish and the occasional pike.


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## WINative

Thanks, FishPro. That was actually going to be my next question.

JM


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## River Walker

As a matter of fact,I have fished all 3 harbors for many,many years.Personally,I feel the fishing is just as good now in "ALL" 3 harbors as it was back 30 or more years ago.There's not as many pike as there once was,especially giant ones (East Harbor had the state record pike for years),and there's not as many muskies in East Harbor as there once was either.There's definitely better fishing for big smallies now,then ever.During early spring,and late fall and during ice-over,you can even get into steelhead in East and West Harbors,that never used to happen either.As far as largemouth bass go,all 3 harbors have always had a very strong population of bass-yes,even old silted over Middle! Middle Harbor has always had fluctuating water levels,and always will.If you fish it during a period of daily NE winds (which is common),there's plenty of water in it.I'm just wondering if the guy that says Middle is all silted in has ever fished it from a boat.I imagine if you walk along it's banks,it would appear to be shallow,especially since there's only a very small portion of it you can fish from shore.One other thing,it was also mentioned that the ODNR test netted Middle and deemed it unfishable.Seeing as how I worked for years with the ODNR out of Findlay,I would like to see that report on paper if at all possible.As recent as 2001,a test-netting survey was done on Middle,and it produced many crappies in the 12"-14" size range,along with a couple very nice northern pike.Seeing as how some people are so informed on how test-netting works,I'm sure they already realize that it's not practical to conduct this survey on largemouth's considering they don't show up in test nets anywhere with any regularity.Would I choose to fish Middle over East or West-nope.Would I choose to fish any of the harbors over the main lake-nope.That was never the question to begin with,dude was just asking if Middle was a good spot to fish-yes it is.


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## backagainbaha

I have ice fished middle harbor off the state launch, docks when the ice was poor. Does anyone icefish other parts of middle and east when the ice is good?- Thinkin about trying when ice improves. When I'm up there I generally fish for eyes from the islands, Mazurik or Catawba. Would love to run a string of tip ups in east harbor.


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## exexec

cuat a lot big frogs outa der.


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## River Walker

I'd be skeered to frog gig that place what with all them jumbo snake's around them parts :C


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## WLB

Middle harbor has tiles goin to east and west harbor, controlling the water level in, the fish use these same tiles.
If you can't catch Bass or Crappies out of there your doing something wrong. Like Riverwalker, I know clubs that have held jon boat tournys in there.


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## irasapper

Where can I find this harbor. I am looking for some bank fishing chances. No boat yet, maybe some day.


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## Fishpro

Its about 9 miles east of Port Clinton, on st.rt.163.


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## mojo

We got blown off the lake one day of a tourny and it was cancelled so we went and messed around in east harbor, got lots of bass, mostly nice 3#'ers too. Eventually a marina owner came out screaming and yelling at us that we were tresspassing. Instead of fighting him on the laws we just left. We were tearing them up though in there. That was the only time I've fished it but now that I have a boat I'm planning on going back a lot this spring/summer. Might have to drop the yak into middle harbor as well. I always love tying into an occasional pike even if they are smaller, still fun on bass tackle.


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## fishin4five

From the sounds of it you can't get a bass boat in Middle. Is this correct? 

I plan on getting back into east with the new boat this year. 

If anyone is interested in meeting up there let me know. I haven't fished it for years and could use some help.


Mojo - appears we both have a birthday coming up on the 12th.


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## archman

I plan on fishing some of these harbors this year in my new kayak. I've never really fished them before. When fishing for bass around the docks what would be effective? Do you bass guys use plastics in the marinas like the inland lakes? Thanks in advance.


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## Blue Pike

Archman, you will have a blast fishing this area with a kayak. I have fished the harbors with a 12 ft canoe, great fun. 
Have caught bass and some huge crappies at middle and east.

Oh, and one of the biggest Dogfish(bowfin) I have ever seen.


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## capnjoe

OK, it's not been made clear here, Middle Harbor is a state owned sanctuary. No boat ramps. If you can carry a boat from your truck, you can throw it in Middle Harbor. Middle Harbor is between East and West Harbors, on Catawba Island. Probably one of the easiest ways to access Middle is to head to the East Harbor State Park beach, when you are on the causeway heading out to the beach, Middle Harbor is the body of water on your left. or it's on your right when heading out 269 past the state park,toward the State Park Marina (which is actually on West Harbor.) Check out the DNR site for more info. 

I dock on West Harbor, and somehow, never seem to fish it. It would be great on a kayak, especially to get down to the southern end where the water is shallow and noboby goes. Anyway, a good friend of mine is a pro bass fisherman, and he swears up and down that West Harbor is some of the best bass fishing in the state, bar none. That's just one man's opinion. Oh, and, some marinas don't allow you to fish off of their docks. Look for signs. 
Just my .02.

Here's a map
http://www.dnr.state.oh.us/parks/parks/pdf/eastharbor905.pdf


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## archman

Will I get in trouble fishing in the marinas if I'm in my kayak? I know I can't stand on the docks, but I figured if I'm in the water that's ok.


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## mojo

"Oh, and, some marinas don't allow you to fish off of their docks. Look for signs."

I'm not sure if you were saying it just to say it or if it was directed at my comment but we were in a boat and not anchored or tied to anything. Archman, as far I know you are fine in a kayak or any boat as long as it's not tied up or anchored. Anyone want to get some yaks and canoes out this spring and do a mini OGF tourny or at least a get together there. Sounds like lots of people have them. 

Ans fishin4five, happy birthday as well...next week.


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## hiddenlake

Count me in


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## archman

Count me in for sure.


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## mrm123

Count me in with the 2 man pond hopper. Mojo Happy b-day I"ll have 12 for ya.


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## WLB

I fish all the marinas of east and west harbor from a boat, the only place I have ever been hassled by the owners was at Tibbles on east harbor, that guy has been know to get in fist fights with bass fisherman, don't be there when the charter boats leave or come in, because no matter how far out of their way you are, they start blowing their horns and call the guy that owns the place to come hassle you, I've been fishing these harbors since the 80's and that was the only place that has said anything(the guy goes loony  ), others don't like it, but don't say much, all of the tourneys the last few years sort have got them use to people fishing around their boats. Stay out of the big boats way and don't hit their boats with your cast and as long as your floating, you have the right to be there....They Don't own the Water!


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## archman

Are you saying it was Jack Tibbels that went balistic? He's such a nice guy. I have a hard time believing that.


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## WINative

I don't have a canoe or kayak, but I'm interested in tagging along if anyone has room.

JM


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## mojo

Yeah it was tibbles where we got hell for fishing. Not sure if it was the Jack, I think the guy lived in the house nextdoor though. He gave us some line that his captains aren't very good with maneuvering in the marina that we would get in their way. If they aren't good at piloting a boat then why are they charter captains???!!! We also passed the boats in the harbor on their way out so it wasn't like they were going to be coming back in the next hour. He wouldn't let up that we were tresspassing as well and finally we just said forget it, not worth hearing him yell at us the entire time we were fishing.


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## capnjoe

mojo, no offense meant, I was just giving a friendly warning to anyone who was new to the lake erie area that some marinas don't allow fishing from their docks. Some do. As long as you're floating, you're OK.


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## irasapper

Thanks, found it on the map, do you know if the bank fishing is any good out there? Camp ground area that is.


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## River Walker

Try the cut that connects East Harbor with the big lake.This can be a very good shore spot(especially in the evening) for a variety of fish.Fish one rod on the bottom with a crawler,great spot for channel cats.I'll cast with another rod,usually a 1/8oz. white roostertail up against the rocks,I'll catch smallies,white bass,rock bass,crappies and even small walleyes at times.There's one other spot near the campers boat launch that's a great spot to fish a big chub under a bobber,it's near the lily-pad field.It's right around 4' deep in this spot,and you can expect to catch a few bass,and the infrequent pike from this spot.Also,fishing after dark right out from the campers boat ramp will get you into a mess of channels and bullheads.


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## irasapper

Thanks for the info, just got to get out and try it. Onle been her about a year so I am still trying to find some places to get out and camp/fish. Again thanks for the help


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## archman

I thought I would get this post going again. I'm thinking about trying this very soon. Has anyone been doing well here as of late? If any of you kayakers would like to hook up and fish this area, let me know.


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## WINative

I fished East Harbor last week Wednesday and Thursday for a few hours. The bass are starting to turn on. They were hitting mostly jig & grub combos. One hit a #3 mepps spinner. The action should only get better in the next couple of weeks.

JM


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## Carpn

Anyone seeing much carp action moving up in East or West harbor?


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## WINative

I saw a couple of big carp rolling in the shallows.


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## mojo

Archman, I was thinking about posting exactly what you did. Crappie and bass should be great in the next few weeks and I rarely get a chance to hit it good. I'm possibly taking my 14'er there this sunday but I would love to get the yak into middle harbor. Set a day and I'm there.


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## archman

Mojo, I'd be up for a trip this weekend. I'm free Saturday or Sunday if you don't take your boat out. The following weekend I think I'm going on a headboat out that way.


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## mojo

I have some school conference on Saturday so that is out. I might be able to get away on sunday but that wouldn't be a for sure. I'll let you know a little later in the week. I can for sure make plans next weekend or the next though.


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## archman

Let's plan on the following weekend or the one after that. I might try it on Saturday and see how it goes.


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## crazycanuck05

My buddy and I are plannin on making it out to the harbor Saturday night? We plan on doing some catfishing. Think we will do ok, or is there somewhere better any of you know of?


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## mojo

You could try the old bay bridge in sandusky bay or even the maumee river up by farnsworth metropark or mary jane thurston state park (anywhere where it gets deep). The harbors aren't really what I think of when I think of catfish, more weedy for bass and crappie. I'm not saying they're not there though as I've never tried for them there. Some of the upground res's are good too.


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## ao203

ive fished the harbor alot, mostly for lunker sheephead, best bet for cats would be fishing the channel leading into the harbor. ive always had good luck with just worms on the bottom. you'll atleast get something hittin.


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## stumpsitter

I haven't been there for years, but we used to catch tons of channel cats at East Harbor in the channel.


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## crazycanuck05

Ok tommorrow I am heading out to Maumee Bay State Park in the morning for some bassing and then in the afternoon I am headin over to East Harbor State Park, PM me if you wanna join or meet me and my friend out there!


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## Jsj111

I came to this page looking for info on small boat/kayak launch in West Harbor. I just bagged 2 Fish Ohio large mouth from West harbor. Multiple trips a week/month/year, and I’ve never been skunked. Recently pulled my Personal best of 5.25lbs and 21 1/4” long. The next day, 18 1/2” 4.5lb largemouth.


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