The Best Lures To Use On Lake Erie

Lake Erie Fishing Intro

Lake Erie is roughly 9,900 square miles, 210 feet deep, with about 107 species of fish according to Global Great Lakes. With Spring, warming up into summer, I’m getting out on Lake Erie more and more often going after hard fighting small mouth bass, and trying to fill my freezer with some walleye too. While there are plenty of Lake Erie Fishing Spots, I’ve battled through some seriously windy, rainy, and overall, just cruddy days fishing from the shores of Lake Erie this spring. It has been cold, windy, rainy, and honestly, I wasn’t doing too hot in the catching department, but hey you know the saying.

Anyways, with weather getting warmer, I am waking up to more and more midges sticking to my house, car, and everything in sight. In a couple days we will probably start to get the massive swarms that show up as clouds on the weather radar. That being said, it means the water in Lake Eire is getting to about 60 degrees, and all the extra forage is primed to create incredible fishing conditions for all species, especially perch and walleye.

I want to talk about the best lure and fishing setups I use to target walleye and smallmouth out on Lake Erie. With that being said we’ll talk about my favorite lures to use, how to use them, popular colors, and where to fish them. Also, share your catches from the lake with us on our social media!

Deep Diving Crankbaits

There is no saying what you might catch on a deep diving crankbait in Lake Erie, while we are targeting walleye, you can use these to catch small mouth, white bass, even pike depending on where you are. Trolling deep diving cranks like Bandit Walleye Deep and Storm Deep Jr. ThunderStick allows you to cover a ton of water and keep your lure in that 10’-35’ depth that big walleye are hanging out in. You can troll anywhere from 1mp to 1.8 or even 2.5 mph to target suspending fish and drag that crankbait right by their face. If you are like me and don’t own a boat, you can still use them from the shore. Find some deep water, cast out, and retrieve. I have had some luck catching decent walleye from shore on Lake Erie, it just takes a little more patience. Another great crankbait I have caught a lot of fish on in the lake from the shore is the Berkley Frittside Crankbait in the Sexy Back color, this thing crushes.

SHOP CRANKBAITS

Suspending Jerkbaits

Suspending Jerkbaits are a classic variation of the jerkbait. Since walleye are somewhat lazy predators, the pause of a suspending jerkbait is often what they need to commit to biting a lure. I have a full jerkbait lure guide, if you want to learn more about jerkbaits in general. When using them on Lake Erie, you can catch small mouth bass, walleye, largemouth bass, white bass, and northern pike! A true multi species lure. I really enjoy throwing the Smithwick Suspending Rattlin’ Rogue. I have caught tons of fish on the lure with its great side to side action, and rattling noise, especially in the Crackle Clown, Threadfin Shad, and Gold Shiner colors. Some other great options are the Rapala Husky Jerk, on Lake Erie I like to use the 5-1/2” size for a bigger profile. I love using the classic fire tiger, gold or silver, but I recently just picked up a Juicy Lucy (JLC) color and have crushed small mouth on it.

SHOP JERKBAITS

Spoons

I love fishing with spoons, fishing spoons don’t get the love that they deserve in my opinion. They are super versatile, you can jig them, cast them, and if you are in shallow water, you can even troll them if you feel like it. This lure is a must have for any Lake Erie angler going for walleye, small mouth, or if you downsize your spoons, you can catch rock bass, panfish, and trout in the rivers as well! A true catch it all lure, with tons of variation in sizes, shape, color, and even trailers this lure can target, and catch truly anything. I love a classic gold or silver spoon because the thumb of the swimming motion combined with the reflection of the metal creates a juicy looking presentation in the water. I have always used a William Wabler when I am up in Canada, but in Lake Erie around Cleveland I throw a classic Dardevle Spoon or an Eppinger Wiggler Spoon when I am casting.

SHOP FISHING SPOONS

Drop Shot

Drop Shot rigs are an AWESOME way to catch a ton a fish in the lake from small mouth to rock bass and other panfish, if this is your speed, we will talk about a couple great options to create a kick-ass drop shot. When it comes to the terminal tackle I like a lighter setup with a Bullet weight finesse drop shot weight. There are a ton of drop shot weights you can use, but this is my preference, because when I am fishing in the rocks or around structure if I get snagged, I can just pull the weight off and replace it instead of having to completely retie my rig. When it comes to drop shot hooks, it may be a controversial take, but I really like using the Gamakatsu Worm Hooks, not a traditional drop shot hook, but an effective one. The worm hook has some notches on it that help keep a bait in place if you are doing a Texas rig style baiting, but you can also nose hook whatever bait you want as well. As far as baits go you can really use any sort of soft plastic you want, I prefer to use baits from the Berkley Powerbait Maxscent collection because they have incredible drawing power with that extra scent. If there are fish in the area …. They will hit it. You can also use live bait minnows or nightcrawlers which will catch fish too.

SHOP DROP SHOT HOOKS

Ned Rigs

I don’t often use them, but if you are fishing around rocks, structure, beds, or open bottom water you can’t leave out the ned rig. Lake Erie is known for its massive smallies and that is really what you will be targeting if you’re fishing with the ned rig, gently hopping them across rocky bottoms and weed lines. However, sometimes a good walleye bite can get triggered by ned rigs by dragging them on the bottom with an occasional “pop” can excite them enough to take a bit. A great ned rig setup is the Z-Man NedlcokZ HD Jig Head with a Roboworm Ned Worm in any natural color, or if you want some extra kick the Googan Squad Rattlin Ned can be the extra noise the fish need to commit to eating your rig. Or if you want just gran a Z-Man Ned Rig Kit and you will have everything you need to catch fish.

SHOP NED RIG SOFT BAITS

Worm harness

A worm harness also known as a crawler harness is a classic setup used to catch walleye in Lake Erie. It is a combination of a spinnerbait with a live nightcrawler, beads, and colorful hooks to create vibration, scent, and flash in the water. They are most commonly trolled between 0.8 – 1.5 mph and you need a heavy weight to get these rigs deep enough into the walleye strike zone! I don’t typically use worm harnesses because I don’t have a boat to go trolling on Lake Erie, but they are a tried and true way to catch walleye and fill your freezer. If you want a more expert take on worm harnesses, check out Midwest Outdoors Positioning Secrets for Crawler Harness Mastery.

Lake Erie Lure Summary

These six lures are basically a guarantee to catch you a multitude of species of fish on Lake Erie this summer. I tried to give a good mix of lures and rigs that you can use from shore, or on a boat. I personally don’t have a boat (If you are selling one for cheap or want to take me out fishing let me know!) so I have to resort to good lures from shore. I try to fish a variety of places and environments on the lake form deep river mouths, inflows, outflows, rocks, and weed lines to catch all the beautiful species our beloved lake has to offer. I’ll drop some of my recent catches below, but there are still plenty more to come this summer! I hope I mentioned some of your favorite summer lures for the lake, but if not, let me know what else you are throwing and catching fish on! Share pictures of your catches with us and we will share them on social media. Good luck this summer, tight lines, and go fill those freezers!

Please Share This Article On Your Socials!