Photo by Mike Bleech.

"It looks like this is going to be another great year for walleye fishing on Lake Erie." Anglers never get tired of hearing that! Fishing success follows the cycles of reproduction success. Following a few discouraging years in the late 1990s, we are now riding good 2001 and '03 year-classes in a promising cycle.

Kevin Kayle is the aquatic biology Supervisor at the Ohio Department of Natural Resources, Division of Wildlife's Fairport Fisheries Station.

According to him, 2008 should be a relatively good year.

"The 2003 year-class in the lake continues to grow. Fish that people were catching last year measured between 19 and 23 inches. They're growing now to the point where they're going to be 23 to 26 inches by the end of the summer."

The 2001 year-class added many walleyes to the fishery. But as Kayle pointed out, they'll be 7 years old and starting to fade into the sunset a little bit.

"The 2003 year-class is real strong," he said, "and we'll be fishing on this one for a long time."

Still, that 2001 year-class will be providing some trophy walleyes for a few years more. And a respectable 2005 year-class will be entering the fishery this summer, when they'll have reached 15 inches in length.

WHERE TO FIND THEM
Where to fish for walleyes in Lake Erie is a two-part challenge -- both horizontally and vertically.

"Fish distribution in summer is going to depend a lot on water temperature, currents in the lake and where the forage fish are," Kayle said. "During the summer when walleyes move through the central basin, they're generally chasing shiners and smelts. Those fish will be found just in or above the thermocline."

This is the vertical aspect of walleye location: determining how deep to run your lures.

In the central basin, according to Kayle, the thermocline typically sets up at depths of 45 to 60 feet. In the western basin, there is very little deep water. There, the water temperatures get so warm that bait and huge numbers of walleyes migrate eastward.

This affects the horizontal aspect of walleye location, as does the "dead zone" factor.

Dead zones that occur in the lower part of the thermocline in the central basin can be major factors that sometimes influence walleye location. These dead zones sometimes push huge schools of walleyes eastward, often as far as the eastern basin.

"Depending on how hot and dry the summer is, and if it's relatively calm, the dead zone is low in oxygen," Kayle said. "Or for even a brief period, it has no oxygen."

Dead zones are usually caused by algae blooms. When the algae dies, it sinks to the bottom. There, it is consumed by bacteria that rob the water of oxygen.