Fishing

• More fish are produced each year for human consumption from Lake Erie than from the other four Great Lakes combined -- Lakes Huron, Michigan Ontario and Superior.
• The western end of Lake Erie is the "Walleye Capital of the World," producing more walleye per hectare than any other lake in the world.
• In 1981 Ohio sport fishermen spent over 13 million man-hours fishing on Lake Erie.
• Each year Ohio sport fishermen catch over 25 million fish on Lake Erie.

Physical

• Lake Erie is the 12th-largest (area) lake in the world, and its border includes four states (NY, PA, OH, MI) and one Canadian Province (Ontario).
• Lake Erie is the southernmost, shallowest, warmest, and most biologically productive of the five Great Lakes.
• Lake Erie has three basins: the western basin includes the islands area, the central basin extends from the islands to Erie, PA, and Long Point, Canada, and the eastern basin extends from Erie, PA, to the east end of the lake.
• Lake Erie is about 210 miles (338 km) long, about 57 miles (92 km) wide, and has a shoreline length of about 871 miles (1,400 km).
• The maximum depth is 210 feet (64 m). Average depths in the basins are: western, 24 feet (7.3 m); central, 60 feet (18.3 m); and eastern, 80 feet (24.4 m).
• The water surface area is 9,906 square miles (25,657 sq. km) and the volume is 116 cubic miles (483 cu. km).
• Lake Erie's drainage basin area is 22,720 square miles (58,800 sq. km) and has a retention/replacement time of 2.6 years, which is the shortest of the Great Lakes.
• Water flow from the Detroit River makes up 80 to 90% of the flow into the lake.
• The outlet for Lake Erie is the Niagara River; consequently, it is Lake Erie that feeds water to Niagara Falls.
• Basin rainfall is about 34 inches per year, although the historical trend is increasing slightly.
• About 34 inches of water evaporates from the lake surface per year.
• Elevation of the Low Water Datum (chart "0") is 568.6 feet above Father Point, Quebec. Average water elevation is about 570 feet above the same point.

Fish Ohio Award requirements

Brown Trout	25 inches
Carp	26 inches
Channel Catfish	26 inches
Crappie	13 inches
Flathead Catfish	35 inches
Freshwater Drum	22 inches
Hybrid Striped Bass	21 inches
Largemouth Bass	21 inches
Muskie	36 inches
Northern Pike	32 inches
Rainbow Trout	28 inches
Rock Bass	10 inches
Saugeye	21 inches
Smallmouth Bass	20 inches
Sunfish	9 inches
Walleye	28 inches
White Bass	16 inches
Yellow Perch	13 inches.

Information excerpted from ODNR website

WALLEYE
COMMON NAMES: Walleye, Pickerel, Yellow pike, Wall-eyed pike

SCIENTIFIC NAME: Sander vitreus

IDENTIFICATION: The walleye has a long slender body with a yellow-olive color with a brassy overcast on the sides. The tail fin has a white spot on the bottom edge. The eye is large and cloudy, and there is a dark blotch on the webbing between the last three spines of the first dorsal fin. The mouth is filled with sharp canine teeth. The walleye looks similar to the sauger and saugeye.

RANGE AND HABITAT: The walleye is native to Ohio but historically was only found in the Great Lakes. However, walleye have now been stocked into a number of larger reservoirs around the state. They also occur in the Ohio River. Walleye prefer clear to slightly turbid waters. They usually occur in greatest abundance over reefs, shoals of gravel, bedrock, and other firm bottoms.

LIFE HISTORY: Walleye spawn throughout the month of April when water temperatures are between 40 and 55° F. Walleye are free spawners that deposit their eggs in the riffle areas of tributary streams or over gravel to boulder-sized rocks in reef areas of Lake Erie. The eggs hatch in about 10 days. Females can lay as many as 400,000 eggs. Young walleye feed on zooplankton and insect larvae for most of the first year. Following this stage the young shift to a diet of small fish. Adults in lake Erie feed mainly on emerald shiners, gizzard shad, alewives and rainbow smelt. When these species are not available they will feed on almost any suitable sized prey. Adult walleye feed primarily during low-light intensity periods of the day (sunrise and dusk).

ADULT SIZE: Walleye average 2 to 4 pounds and are between 14 and 22 inches. The state record walleye weighed 15.95 pounds and measured 33 inches in length.

FISHING METHODS: Walleye will bite a variety of lures. Some of the more popular lures and methods include bottom bouncers with a nightcrawler harness, casting weight forward spinners with worms, and controlled depth trolling with crankbaits or spoons. Anglers are usually more successful during low-light intensity time periods.