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Unfortunately, Ontario has an extensive gill net fishery on their side of the lake. So if someone made the decision never to buy fresh water fish (Perch/Walleye), from a store or order it in a restaurant, that’s fine by me. I believe Ohio does allow limited commercial fishing for Perch, but for the most part the US side is managed more for recreational fishing. This guy has pretty accurate reports for the western basin. www.cliftond.com
I am not aware of any commercial fishing taking place in US waters of Lake Erie. Back in the late 90's, PA implemented a stamp program to buy out the commercial fisherman. However, about a month ago, I did see what looked like net buoys not far from shore in PA waters. I figure they drifted over from Canada, but I'm not sure. Lake Erie fishing seems to be making a comeback. Catching alot of small walleye this year.
Yes, Commercial fishing does take place in Lake Erie, Canadian Gill netters are all over the place they have a quota set but who knows how much they take. As far as Ohio goes they allow trap nets that can be placed just 2 short miles offshore and they move around. It is a real PITA to navigate certain areas b/c these nets are left out in the water for a few days at a time. I am still amazed that you can buy perch/walleye in the stores knowing that each one contains enough mercury to cause major issues. They the Gov. recomend only eating one meal a month so take it for what it is worth. When will the coal fired power plants be regulated. For the record I do fish Lake Erie and burn lots of fuel and yet I would never put a walleye or perch on a plate with the intent to eat it. It is a wonder people even bother to catch those 3 eyed wonders.
I fish the Ohio waters of Lake Erie just about every weekend from April 1 through early November. I agree with most of what is posted above by the others. Dean Clifton's "Denied" website is excellent for the Western Basin Ohio waters. www.cliftond.com Two other outstanding websites for Lake Erie info are www.walleyecentral.com - not specific to Lake Erie but A LOT of posts on the message boards from Lake Erie anglers. Also for good scientific info on Lake Erie check out the Ohio Sea Grant site - also a message board there with good answers from the Fisheries Biologists. http://www.sg.ohio-state.edu
As far as the comment about not eating Lake Erie walleye - I guess that is personal preference but they are delicious. Ohio has an advisory suggesting no more than 1 meal a week.
The fishing has been interesting this year. We started out with an incredible spring trolling bite in early April and then had a huge snowstorm the 3rd week of April that dropped water temps 5 - 7 degrees and made things very tough before the FLW Walleye Tour event in Port Clinton - weights were way down from what it has taken in past years. The other thing we are experiencing is a huge influx of two year old walleye from the record hatch of 2003 - the best since records have been kept. These fish are so aggressive that you end up catching 5 - 8 of these sublegal (less than 15 inches in Ohio waters) for every legal fish. While Lake Erie is still the best walleye fishery in the world 10 pounders are getting a little more rare than a few years back. The 1982 and 1986 year class fish are dieing off from old age and there just aren't as many trophies out there swimming around as there were a few years ago. Average weights to win a 5 fish tournament are down for most of the events this year. Last week we won a tournament out of Lorain Ohio weighing 19.53 pounds for 5 fish. Saturday my buddy won another tournament out of Lorain with just over 27 pounds for 5 fish. A few years back you often needed 38+ pounds to get in the money although at our club tournament this spring in Port Clinton there were 6 weights over 40 pounds and our personal best 43.6# was only good enough for 3rd place. Overall the fishing is still outstanding on Lake Erie. Some of the best walleye fishing of the year for big fish takes place from mid September through early November out of Vermilion or Huron Ohio. The Walleye Central website linked above will be holding the 7th annual Get Together in Vermilion Ohio October 19 - 23rd. This is about a 40 minute drive from the Cleveland airport for anyone interested - make some plans in advance and catching a ride with someone for a day or two will be a great time. We have a huge charity fundraiser dinner on Friday night with some outstanding raffles with the proceeds going to a charity like Make A Wish or another worthy cause. Saturday is a "Bragging Rights" no entry fee "tournament" - and a huge party afterwards.
I am still amazed that you can buy perch/walleye in the stores knowing that each one contains enough mercury to cause major issues. They the Gov. recomend only eating one meal a month so take it for what it is worth. When will the coal fired power plants be regulated. For the record I do fish Lake Erie and burn lots of fuel and yet I would never put a walleye or perch on a plate with the intent to eat it. It is a wonder people even bother to catch those 3 eyed wonders.
By following a simple daily regimen, you can significantly reduce your concern about eating fish caught in the Lake Erie. It goes like this. Each day, drink a 5th of Old Grand Dad, smoke 3 packs of camels, and eat a pound of fatty bacon and two greasy hamburgers. I know it sounds difficult, but if you have the will power to stick with this program, in time, you will begin to notice that consuming fish caught in Lake Erie will no longer be that great a concern to your health.
__________________ Grady White SeaFarer 226 w/Yamaha F225 - SOLD
A "part time" neighbor of mine who lives on Lake Erie most of the year tells me the fishing this year was the worst he's experienced in 30 years! He blames it on "canadian communist commercial fish catchers"!He always has brought down a cabinet freezer full of walleye. Not this year! (I told him "not to worry" that he was spending a lot of money shipping down that frozen MERCURY anyway!)
FreeByrd, See below taken from the EPA yes you can eat 1 meal per week if the Walleye is 16-22.9" long or just one per month for 23" or bigger. Your choice if you want to risk it but Why. Hey I just wanted to prove my point that the Great Lakes need more help we need to stop open water water dumping of river bottom Dredge.
Lake Erie
All Waters
(Ashtabula, Cuyahoga, Erie, Lake, Lorain, Lucas, Ottawa, Sandusky Counties)
Channel Catfish 16" and over Do Not Eat PCBs
Channel Catfish under 16",
Lake Trout 2 Months PCBs
Chinook Salmon 19" and over, 1 Month PCBs
Coho Salmon,
Common Carp,
Freshwater Drum,
Smallmouth Bass,
Steelhead Trout,
Walleye 23" and over,
White Bass,
Whitefish,
White Perch
The websites I linked in my first reply will help people catch more walleye on Erie - most of the info is specific to the Western Basin. The main "problem" is how aggressive the small fish from the 2003 hatch are in relation to the bigger fish. We have had a tough stretch of weather - hot - surface temps in the western basin and from Avon west in the central basin are 80 degrees, little to no wind to stir things up which is increasing the algae bloom and making it happen earlier which doesn't help, but the fishing overall has been just fine in my experience. In a few years when the 2003 hatch is a bit bigger people will be talking about fishing being as good or better than it was in the "good old days" - the late 1980s.
It would definitely be a good thing for sport anglers if their was less commercial fishing for walleye - but when you have 5 govermental agencies responsible for managing a resource such as Lake Erie it is amazing that we have the amount of cooperation that we do have in Lakewide management. Ontario manages the majority of their portion of the Total Allowable Catch (TAC) primarily for commercial fishing interests while Ohio, Michigan, Pennsylvania, and New York manage the bulk of their portion of the TAC for sport anglers.
I'm all for anything that helps improve the quality of the Great Lakes and specifically Lake Erie. No doubt progress has been made and more progress is a good thing for all of us!
Steve
Lake Erie fishing question 
