Over the past few weeks we’ve traveled north to catch brown trout in Lake Ontario, northeast to Chaumont Bay to chase walleye, and then south to the Finger Lakes to blade jig largemouth bass. I would be greatly amiss if we didn’t go west to visit one of the very best fishing lakes in the country.
Lake Erie is the home of giant smallmouths and monster walleyes and is one of the few lakes in the country where you can catch a 6-pound smallmouth and a 10-pound walleye all in the same morning. The (shared) New York State record smallmouth came out of this once considered dead lake, a Godzilla weighing 8 pounds, 4 ounces caught on a jig and grub in 1995. What is so sweet is that this renowned fishing lake is roughly only an hour away. The boat launch at Safe Boat Harbor in Buffalo is an easy drive down the Thruway.
Unfortunately, you do need a boat to fish this lake. Unlike Ontario with its many piers, bays and rivers giving shore fishermen ready access, the eastern end of Lake Erie has few locations where a shore angler can have success.
The first thing you need if you are making an expedition to Erie is a Hot Spots chart; these lake charts are worth their weight in gold. They show all the best shoals, reefs and drop-offs to fish and these maps will also give you the best techniques to use when fishing those spots. Most bait shops have Hot Spot maps available, or you can order them on www.fishinghotspots.com/.
There is also an Erie Hot line, 716-855-3474, that you must listen to before you fish which is updated weekly. Be sure to get your marine forecast before you go. It will be too rough with a strong west or northwest wind; south winds are your best bet for calm water. Visit www.nws.noaa.gov/om/marine/zone/gtlakes/bufmz.htm
A few weeks back I fished out of Safe Boat Harbor with Charter Captain Joe Fonzi of “Thumbs Up Guide Service.” Joe is one of the most experienced guides on the eastern basin of Lake Erie, having chartered clients there for over thirty years. Fonzi fishes Erie close to 200 days each year and has more fishing spot waypoints on his Lowrance GPS than Buffalo has wings.
While we were on the water, I picked Joe’s brain for some general tips to pass on. The man is tight lipped about his hard-earned fishing spots, but agreed to give out some general knowledge. Joe says, “The closest place to catch local walleyes in June and July is off the windmills just east of Buffalo. Launch your boat at Safe Boat Harbor in Buffalo and go west a short ride until you see the large windmill farm on shore. You will notice other boats fishing there.”
He suggests pulling heavy 2 to 3 ounce bottom bouncers with worm harnesses in thirty to forty feet of water about a half mile straight out from those windmills to catch what they call the local walleye that stay in the area year-round.
Lake Erie also has a migratory population of larger walleyes that migrate from the west down the middle of the lake from Ohio to New York and then back again following the baitfish, primarily alewives. These are suspended walleye and you must troll with down riggers to have success with these fish.
Joe prefers fishing for the local eyes with a hands-on approach when at all possible, jigging or pulling bottom bouncers with worm harness with his electric motor at a very slow 1 to 1.2 MPH.
If it’s smallmouths you want to target, Joe suggests drifting or slowly pulling tube jigs in a green or motor oil color, or brown bucktails in 20 to 40 feet over the many shoals this time of year. Live bait is hard to beat but forget about using worms, the gobies will drive you crazy nibbling off your worm before it can get to the bass. Niagara minnows or crawfish are your best bet.
If you don’t have a boat or just want to learn the lake before you pull your boat there, call Joe Fonzi. You can reach Joe at 716-998-8373 or email at Captjoefon@aol.com. His rates range from $350 to $550 from one to five people. You will fish out of Joe’s beautiful 2016 Ranger 621FS – the Cadillac of fishing boats.
Joe will work hard to put you on fish; he had us on the water by 7:30 a.m. and we didn’t come off until 5 p.m. Fonzi also can put you on some huge catches of perch in the spring and fall.
It’s great to be an angler in Western New York. For all those who have considered fishing Erie but haven’t, I recommend you give it a try. Go fish the “Land of the Giants.” Once you try it, you will be hooked.
