# West Branch Walleye



## fmader (Aug 8, 2018)

My buddy and I are thinking about mixing things up next weekend and targeting walleye at West Branch since Mosquito has not been all that kind to us yet this year. He's fished WB once, while I never have. We will be in a boat with the ability to troll. Any advice on presentation and style of fishing would be much appreciated. General info on areas of lake and depth would be additional icing on the cake.

Thanks in advance!


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## stump (Oct 24, 2011)

Fish the wood & Weed beds jig / w leach


fader said:


> My buddy and I are thinking about mixing things up next weekend and targeting walleye at West Branch since Mosquito has not been all that kind to us yet this year. He's fished WB once, while I never have. We will be in a boat with the ability to troll. Any advice on presentation and style of fishing would be much appreciated. General info on areas of lake and depth would be additional icing on the cake.
> 
> Thanks in advance!


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## eyehunter8063 (Sep 6, 2013)

there aren't no walleye in west branch just go to mosquito ...


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## Ruffles (Sep 28, 2014)

eyehunter8063 said:


> there aren't no walleye in west branch just go to mosquito ...


You mean ther ain’t no walie in West bransh


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## fmader (Aug 8, 2018)

eyehunter8063 said:


> there aren't no walleye in west branch just go to mosquito ...


 Right... What was I thinking? I mean, since there aren't any walleye in WB, can somebody put me on the meat at Mosquito lol


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## eyehunter8063 (Sep 6, 2013)

mosquito is the same as wb weeds weeds weeds. dont be scared get right up in them the thicker the mat the better


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## Mikj8689 (May 13, 2018)

Eyehunter has it right. In my experience. West branch walleye aren’t as consistent as some of the other lakes. That being said I live ten min away and it’s my favorite lake to fish for them. I’ve had better LUCK for them at west branch then anywhere else. Even when you think you have pattern to them, they move and change up. When you find them they are usually nice healthy eyes. I hope they stay as eleusive as they are in west branch, I like the challenge and more so I like the peace. Mosquito seems like Wild West anymore. Steep drop offs outside of weedlines. Dragging bottom Bouncer with crawler harnesses and pitching jigs. Never had much luck trolling cranks. I know some guys like cranks around the dam in evening, just never been productive for me.


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## tim sapara (Apr 6, 2019)

fmader said:


> My buddy and I are thinking about mixing things up next weekend and targeting walleye at West Branch since Mosquito has not been all that kind to us yet this year. He's fished WB once, while I never have. We will be in a boat with the ability to troll. Any advice on presentation and style of fishing would be much appreciated. General info on areas of lake and depth would be additional icing on the cake.
> 
> Thanks in advance!


Plenty of eyes in the branch! Was a good year for them so far in the branch.


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## crestliner TS (Jun 8, 2012)

used to troll hot-n-tots in front of the beach and catch them in summer.


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## kdn (Apr 27, 2015)

There are walleye in west branch and mosquito too. However that being said even if your boat is only 16’ why Wouldn’t you try fishing Lake Erie on a calmer day? Watch the winds and gonwhem you can. Cat drift. Troll however you want. You should do quite well. Be safe


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## fmader (Aug 8, 2018)

kdn said:


> There are walleye in west branch and mosquito too. However that being said even if your boat is only 16’ why Wouldn’t you try fishing Lake Erie on a calmer day? Watch the winds and gonwhem you can. Cat drift. Troll however you want. You should do quite well. Be safe


Wellll... it’s 14’ and we watch the wind on inland lakes, so we’re not going out on Erie with it. At least I’m not. I’m not being a casualty.


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## slashbait (Jun 26, 2008)

I have a 1978 14 foot Starcraft with a 25hp outboard and fish Erie all the time. Right now them fish are everywhere , even with in a hundred yards of shore. Talking 1hour double limits


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## twistedcatfish1971 (Jul 21, 2013)

Westbranch is deep...atleast the dam area. You got a few islands that are above water no matter what level. Tough lake she is. Know only a few that it's like breathing air to catch eyes and all. Best chance to catch them eyes is after iceout through late April. Alot of people troll and cast weed edge...good and all...but too many muskie get in the way. My opinion is commit to deep water heavy jigs and locate with your scans/finders...seen alot of eyes off the dam just after dark...talking like 50 to 75 15" to 18" fish swimming with big girls over the years in April and all...structure/weather/...ultimate lake to test skills and all...they are there!

...ask Snag lol.

Don.


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## twistedcatfish1971 (Jul 21, 2013)

Big girls to be had...time as I always say with this body of water in WESTBRANCH. 

Put it in and change it up...go deep with summertime hunt.

Tight lines 

Don.


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## c. j. stone (Sep 24, 2006)

Just my take on your thread: I would recommend you focus your efforts on a small area of the lake. No "shotgun" approach will work at WB, just too diverse an environment! Perhaps WB is the toughest(and most depressing) lake in the whole State of Ohio(maybe anywhere!) to try to find walleyes! It is no surprise that it is usually devoid of "serious" walleye fishermen-simply put, it is a nearly impossible lake to try to use conventional walleye techniques. The main problem I have noticed is the variation, frequent(and fast!) deviation in Depth and the problems that presents for trollers! The regulars(muskie guys) probably catch more NICE walleye, by accident, than the average, "better" walleye anglers do On Purpose! Nothing personal intended but I think your quest will end not too well, and you'll be back on your boat, on the more "fisherman friendly" waters of Mosquito next trip.(You admittedly have trouble catching on Mosquito and will be "stepping up" quite a few 'notches' on WB IMO!) Perhaps one of the hardest "learning curves" in fishing, a "few"(I'm not one of them, having only "modest" success on walleye there) have made it their mission to figure out West Branch, put in the time/work/effort, been somewhat successful but at the same time, extremely tight-lipped! WB anglers don't talk much abt techniques, productive areas! I really hope you have good luck and post a good report! In any event, let us know your impressions/observations.


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## ezbite (May 25, 2006)

only time ive ever caught walleye at west branch I was drifting out of a bay with a leach on a lindy rig, very nice walleye too


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## K gonefishin (May 4, 2004)

I'm a pretty decent walleye fisherman and If I tackled Branch i would try troll flats early or late in the day or cast blade baits, jig/crawler/minnow combos on targeted spots or try dragging bottom bouncers through the river channel, or pitching cranks and jigs into pockets by weeds. I have trolled the bottom off the lake trolling for musky and have marked fish which I assume to be walleye (or a good bunch of them at least) they seem like like steep breaks alot as well but they are in there and I mark em all the time.


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## snag (Dec 27, 2005)

Lately pymatuning has been producing some nice walleye..


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


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## fmader (Aug 8, 2018)

snag said:


> Lately pymatuning has been producing some nice walleye..
> 
> 
> Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


Pymatuning is certainly on the radar. West Branch is a 30 minute drive as opposed to 75 minutes to Pymie. So, if I can make WB work first, there’s no reason to drive to Pymie. So we shall see. Likely won’t get out this weekend though with the weather.


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## Kyle Martin (Sep 7, 2018)

fmader said:


> My buddy and I are thinking about mixing things up next weekend and targeting walleye at West Branch since Mosquito has not been all that kind to us yet this year. He's fished WB once, while I never have. We will be in a boat with the ability to troll. Any advice on presentation and style of fishing would be much appreciated. General info on areas of lake and depth would be additional icing on the cake.
> 
> Thanks in advance!


I have caught about every species in the lake on a #5 shad rap in yellow perch pattern


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## bdawg (Apr 14, 2009)

The walleyes at Pyma are fat. Fished in July last year and we caught 10 over the course of a week and all were keepers except 1. The perch were fat too. 1st time fishing the lake. 

I've only caught 3 walleye from west branch despite fishing there more. The walleye were decent size there too, just haven't caught as many.


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