Freshwater drum fishing in Lake Erie

In Lake Erie, freshwater drum peak May–September and are around April–October, according to Fish Scouter's month-by-month season calendar. June: Sheepshead (drum) everywhere on the western basin reefs — they pull hard.

1. JanuaryNot here
2. FebruaryNot here
3. MarchNot here
4. AprilAround
5. MayPeak
6. JunePeakSheepshead (drum) everywhere on the western basin reefs — they pull hard.
7. JulyPeakWalleye move to the central and eastern basins. Downriggers and dipsys deep off Cleveland, Erie and Dunkirk; drum and white perch on the reefs.
8. AugustPeakDeep-water walleye and the perch come on. Spoons and stickbaits over 50–70 feet; perch rigs with emerald shiners off the river mouths.
9. SeptemberPeakPerch peak; smallmouth on the rock; steelhead stage. Jumbo perch on the central-basin humps; smallies on the eastern reefs.
10. OctoberAround
11. NovemberNot here
12. DecemberNot here

The walleye capital of the world: the shallow western basin's reefs and islands where they spawn, the Maumee and Sandusky runs, the deep cool central and eastern basins where they summer, jumbo perch everywhere, smallmouth on the eastern rock, and Steelhead Alley — the short tributaries from Ohio to New York.

Fish Scouter charts 47 lake, 30 reservoir spots in the Lake Erie map area — the kinds freshwater drum hold on.

• NightcrawlersWhole on a #6 to #2 hook under a bobber or on a bottom rig; threaded on a spinner harness drifted for walleye. The bait that catches everything in fresh water.
• CrayfishHooked through the tail on a #2 to 2/0 hook and dragged slowly along rock and gravel — the smallmouth bait, and good for catfish and walleye.

• Leader10–20 lb fluorocarbon
• Hook#2–3/0
• Jig head1/8–1/2 oz
• Braid10–30 lb

Feeds in 45–86°F water, best at 62–78°F.

All about freshwater drum · Lake Erie, the whole year