Lake Erie Fishing Report - Buckets Charters

Bob C. and his gang, along with mate Denny and Capt. Roger(in yellow) on a water-logged September afternoon.

Capt. Roger manned the helm of the “Buckets 3″ along with mate Denny this past Friday.  They were joined by Bob C. and his buds from Pittsburgh, PA.

They ran waaaaay west in search of any remaining walleye to be found in the PA waters of Lake Erie and found 9.  A good screen and very few “junkers”.

Same program as all summer…weighted RR’s and 5-color LC’s caught 8 with a diver and Thunderstick taking the other.

Best color Reef Runner, once again, Chart. Wonderbread Bare Naked (Capt. Ken’s favorite for 2 years running…).

The crew did have one encounter with a kamikaze steelhead that ate a Dutch Fork Custom Krome Krappie Reef Runner.  It went bye-bye at the back of the boat.

-Buckets Charters Fishing Team

Saturday 9/17

And the walleye fishing is still hanging on in PA…

Capt. Ken and mate Shawn hosted Nick F. and his longtime buddies from Kittanning, PA.  The crew ran west of the Point and ground out 15 walleye(1 released short fish). A few sheephead and perch were boated along with 543 silver bass(over exaggerating, of course).

(photo-Nick, center, and the boys on a chilly September afternoon with their catch.)

The same program as most of the summer was run…clean and weighted 5-color LC’s with Reef Runners and weighted mono lines with RR’s got the majority of the walleye bites.  2 fish were caught 61′ down on ‘riggers with Yeck spoons and 2 fish fell for wire divers at 140′ back and Storm Thundersticks.

Once again, Chart. Wonderbread Bare Naked Reef Runners were the flavor of the day.

Sunday 9/18/11

Harry H. and his family from Binghamton, NY took a shot at some late season walleye fishing with Capt. Ken and mate Justin and were rewarded with 16 nice fish, largest going 31″, 10.75lbs!

(photo- Jacob, Shirley, Kate and Harry got some meat for the freezer!)

Same program as above.  No ‘rigger fish. 2 diver fish, same as above.

Chart. Wonderbread Bare Naked, Blue/Chart. Bare Naked and Cranberry Crusher were the best colors.

Not as many “junk fish” caught.  4 silver bass, 2 sheephead and 8 perch.

(photo-Lampreys eat Reef Runners, too! Seriously.)

Average speed this weekend: 2.4mph

-Buckets Charters Fishing Team

Saturday 9/10

Capt. Ken and mate Doug made an exploratory run to the trib mouths in an attempt to find some early staging steelhead with Chris and Sue of Bellevue, PA.  That idea didn’t work out so hot…only a couple of smallmouth and rock bass came in the boat.  A couple of fish were observed rolling on the surface.  They did see one fish caught at the mouth of Walnut Creek by a shore angler, though.

A decision was made to run offshore, west of The Point, and try for some late walleye and steelhead.  After a tip from good friend Dr. Bob, aboard the “Heartbeat”, it ended up being a great day! Thanks Doc!!!

The crew boxed out with their 12 walleye, also catching a few extras, amongst the never ending junk fish.

Sue with an average Lake Erie walleye.

The standard program…weighted Reef Runner’s and 5-color LC’s with RR’s in Chart. Wonderbread Bare Naked, Helmut and Dutch Fork Custom Krome Crappie did all of the damage.

Top speed: 2.3 – 2.5mph

Mate Doug, Sue and Chris pose with the day's catch.

Sunday 9/11

Capt. Ken and mate Doug were joined once again by Author Robert Clark, Tom and Peter.  They returned to the same area as Saturday and walleye fishing remained excellent.  They boxed out with their 18 fish and made it back to the dock for lunch.

Peter, Tom and Robert with their catch for the day.

Same program in addition to 3 fish coming by way of wire diver, 145′ back and a Dutch Fork Custom Krome Krappie Thunderstick.   Same speed as above.

Not as many junk fish reported today.

-Buckets Charters Fishing Team