Wolf lake was surface temperature was running 49 to 53 degrees. This was about a 15 degree cool down in the water in one week's time. Quite the shock I'm sure and I wasn't sure what to expect. This chain of lakes has several smaller lakes with Wolf on one end of the chain and Center lake on the other end of the chain. Long navigatable channel allows you to get from one lake to another. This was a hard one to crack and really had to work hard to get some bites. I managed to get into double digits on the counter by using a swim jig to get the bass to bite, and jerkbait to get the smallmouth to bite. The smallouth was hanging on a long baron point with a quick drop off. The largemouth mostly came out of the channels and had one spot on Center that they were holding in some really thick wood. I used a belly weighted 4" swimbait to work slowly over the wood and not get hooked into it. It was paired with a flipping stick and 30 lb. braid which helped me get a good hookset and pull them out of the cover. Winds were pretty stiff for the day which made using slow moving soft plastics almost impossible.
This was our first fishing trip of 2023. Strong winds and storms the day prior led into our bluebird fishing day. Come along to see how we stringed some bites together on a tough fishing condition day. Thanks for being part of our community and stayed tuned for more exclusive content from R & J Bass Fishing. If you have any questions, feel free to leave them below and we'll answer them.
Lake Erie Walleye hanging around a piece of structure. I took this footage last summer in about 15 feet of water.
I was able to get my buddy Jim out on the ice for the first time in about 10 years. We fished East Harbor of Lake Erie. What makes this area unique is that you are fishing 3 to 4 feet of water and you can look down the ice fishing hole and see the fish hit. For us guys up north it doesn't get much better during the winter. The only bad part is drilling through about 15 inches of ice. I let Jim use the underwater camera which gives a little extra excitement when the fish roll in. I'll leave a link if you would like to watch any of the underwater footage.
