# Lake Erie Duck Hunt'n



## steelhedz

How would you experienced ducker outfit your duck boat to hunt the central basin area of Lake Erie?

Types/numbers of decoys?
Boat blind/preferred camo colors?
Hunt in the boat or on breakwall?

Never tried a layout hunt, any success or insights?

Any fedback would be great, always been a marsh hunter, just wanted to know what kind of investment I would need to be looking at. I already have a 16' deep-v w/ 40hp. Is this kind of hunting something that I could do single? I would gues that it would be safer and easier with a hunting partner?

No dog, how should I approach, setup to retreive birds?

Alot of questions, sorry, but thanks for any feedback!!!


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## sbe023

i hunt erie with a 16 ft w a 40 hp.2or 3 dozen deeks of any type with 35 ft linesand sit on the breakwall. blind not needed. just don't move around. any ??? email me.


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## Bowhuntter

Hey Hedz......best thing to do is wait until "big" duck season, ill meet you at Fairport and show you how i do it.....If the ducks are down it usually works great for me.

Bow


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## steelhedz

Ed- check your private messages and email -mz


steelhedz@hotmail.com


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## Goldeneye1

Bowhuntter,
I am from the same area as you, in fact about 4 minutes from the breakwall. I have never hunted the wall because all i hear form anyone is that it is covered with "Skybusters" who shoot at anything that moves, no matter how far out or what they are. Is this not true. I would be happy to meet you there sometime. PM me when you can


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## DiverJoe

Fairport is a total waste of time unless you have a boat. I used to hunt there right after I got out of the army. I would be set up with decoys out in the water usually 2 to 3 hours before legal shooting time. Then just before legal I would have guys come down the wall looking for a spot and set up about 50 to 75 yards away from me. Or you have the guys who just show up and stand behind your spread and hope to pass shoot ducks over you. Thats why I left Fairport. Ashtabula Harbor was a great spot to hunt till all the other people started showing up. I heard there was 17 boats out there for the opener last year. I guess the best thing to do is find a quiet spot along the lake shore and set up. Away from the crowds and work any passing ducks that way.

Your 16ft boat should work just fine on the lake with a 40HP. My first boat was a 16FT Mirrocraft with a 35HP. Some guys use dogs with there boats but I wouldnt unless you could get to your dog right away if it got into any trouble. As far as decoys go, the more the merrier. As the season progresses just see what the ducks do. If they flare off your spread, cut back on the amount of decoys and see how that works.


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## Bowhuntter

There has been issues with "skybusters". Usually with the large spread i put out ,along with the ideal location for docking my boat, i wouldnt be surprised if i take up 75-100 yds with my spread. Yeah i do lose some shots on the outside, but i usually have the middle all to myself. Usually i know 3-4 guys set up there also so we end up with a few hundred yards of "skybuster free" zone. The majority of time we have to use 2 boats just to get out all our decoys. I have found out the rule is" he with the most decoys usually wins". My usual spread when alot of divers are down is anywhere from 12-15 dz.
DiverJoe also has a good idea of setting up along the shoreline. That can get crowded but not usually. 
I try to stay away from the offshore wall due to some very scary moments out there in the past. 

Goldeneye, we'll hook up sometime.

Bow


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## Goldeneye1

I'm up for it. You set me up on the lake, and i'll take you to a couple inland lakes and some places I have found to be good


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## punkboy8826

if any of you guys ever need a hand setting up dekes i would love to tag along just to see how you guys hunt it. i have thought about trying up in ashtubula but i am not sure where you are allowed to hunt .so if any of you guys need any help let me know!!
andy thomas


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## DiverJoe

Punkboy:

From what I have heard so far this year about Ashtabula is that you can hunt anywhere along the breakwalls in the harbor. But, you must be in a boat if hunting near Penny Docks. I'll do my best to explain here for you. There are three small breakwalls located in front of the beach area. You need a boat to reach them tho. You can sit on those walls or sit in your boat. The long breakwall that runs east and west is the same way. You can sit on that one or sit in a boat. Need a boat to reach as well. There is a medium size breakwall located inside the harbor on the west side of the harbor that you can sit on or sit in a boat. Need a boat to reach as well. The "CandyCane" or "J" wall is located in front of CEI plant and I heard you are not allowed to hunt from it. Not 100% sure so ask around to find out. The game commision should be there opening day. From what I heard there was 17 boats hunting there opening day. So yes it was a ZOO! The breakwall that runs north and south with the lighthouse located on it is the same as the others. You can sit on it or sit in a boat there. The launch area is a total disaster this year because it was not dreged this year. Very shallow once you start out away from the launch. But it is free to launch there. One other option is to launch at ARU which is located up the Ashtabula river. Be prepared to maybe pay to lauch and it is at least a mile or more from the launch to the harbor area. I dont know for sure if it does cost to launch there at ARU because I have only launched there once before with my friend and didnt know if he paid or not. 

I first started hunting at Bula' harbor back in 95. I got fed up with Fairport. The skybusters and the stand behind guys. Bula was great. Not alot of pressure and not alot of boats. Now it is very pressured and hunted almost every single day. There would be times that I would be the only hunter out during the weekdays and would limit out in an hour or so. But that was back then around 95 to 98. As time goes on more and more guys are coming there and it gets pretty crowded especially in the early part of the season.


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## punkboy8826

thanks for the info, i will maybe try latter on in the year when i can get someone to go out too. i have a small jon boat, which i feel will get me out to the walls. i am just always looking to try something new. good luck this year..


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## DiverJoe

Punkboy,
Do me a very large favor when you decide to hunt Ashtabula harbor. If you have a small jon boat like you say, please only hunt the harbor on a south wind day. I've seen three footers inside the harbor area on days with a NNW or NNE wind. I have only hunted the lake with a 16 to 18 foot deep V's. I honestly dont know how your boat handles but lean towards caution for me. Two years ago I was set up near those 3 small breakwalls and just before legal shooting time a canoe with two guys come paddling right by me. I was polite and stood up in my boat and said it was legal shooting time in about 5 minutes so could you please paddle away so you wont blow any shots I may have. They leave and start paddling north out into the lake area. A few hours go by and I see the coast guard chopper out doing figure 8 search patterns. Turns out they capsized the canoe and one of the guys decides to try to swim to shore. He never made it and drowned. I still feel horrible about that. I was the last guy they saw. They did rescue the one guy. The kid who drowned was engaged to the other guys daughter. I'm not trying to be your big brother or father figure type (I'm 34) I just know how rough it can be at the harbor. Good luck this season and hopefully I'll run into you down there one day.


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## Bowhuntter

Please do not use a jon boat. I also use a 16ft deep v. No duck is worth it. ive seen that lake get 3-4 ft in less than 15 minutes.....im always lookin for some help..you can go with me sometime.

Bow


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## fishpro43452

Don`t even think about that jon on the Lake! My advice to you would be, get with someone who knows the lake. If you haven`t hunted it, find someone who has! It`s a whole differnt ball game than inshore marshes and small lakes.


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## Baldpate

I hate to sound like a broken record about this, but what these guys have said about the jon boat is extremely important. A small jon boat has no place on Lake Erie. Sure there are days when it would handle fine, but the weather and lake can change so quickly that you would be in danger before you had a chance to escape it. It does not take very large waves to swamp and or roll a small jon boat. Always better to be safe than sorry. 

There are many guys on this forum that have a lot more "big water" experience than I do, but take it from a guy who experienced a close call, you can't be too careful in dealing with rough water during the winter months.

Be safe.

Baldpate


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## punkboy8826

thanks for the info guys. i figured i would have gone up a couple times before i decided to hunt and see what was going out thier, and how far out those walls where before i ever tried it. i hope to be getting a bigger boat this next year and if i can figure out how you guys hunt up thier i would start to make sense. i have fished alot up their but it is uaually out of lorain and the break wall their isn't to far from the docks. thats the problem sometimes is that when it is new and you want to try it your really not sure for what you are into. i try and get as much info about something until i feel comfortable with doing it.( took me three years of searching and talking to guys to buy a dog) so i figured that it will take a few times to figure out how you guys hunt the lake. thanks for the advise and thanks bowhunter for the invite.


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## DiverJoe

Punkboy:
I would invite you to hunt with me but I had to get rid of my Lund 18ft Alaskan. So this year I'm out of a boat. I will be hunting with some friends who have boats. I just remembered another thing about hunting the breakwalls. What I used to do was bring about 2 or 3 old trailer tires to hang over the side of the boat between the the breakwall and the boat. This helps cushion the boat if it were to bounce into any rocks. You get what is known as lake surge there. The waves will hit the breakwalls and some of the water does pass thru but it creates this surge where it will rock your boat around some. Only way to counter this is set up further from the rocks or use some kind of cushion like tires so you dont beat your boat up. The surege can be tricky when the waves are really rockin out there. If you do use a dog just keep a very close eye on it because that surge can be tough on the dog.I never used a dog there because I dont own one. If I had to retrieve a duck I would just untie my anchors one off the bow and one off the stern. I would use magnum size decoys or a H frame to wrap the anchor lines on and just toss them in the water.


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## punkboy8826

never thought about it but i guess a boat would really take a lot of banging around off the rocks and the tire idea is a great one. thanks for thinking about a newbe erie hunter. if you guys ever want to get together inland let me know you guys have been very generous with your info and you will always be welcome in my blind. good hunting


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