5/8oz is the go to . Some guys use the 3/8oz for a splash count but I don't.
Red is known as the sheephead color. You're greens always seem to be good. I throw gold as well but it catches it's fare share of farm animals as well.

 

I use 3/8 oz with a green yellow combo. eyes seem to love it. plus if you have a good drift of .7 mph and above you can just cast out and let it ride and I wont sink to far down.

 

green and yellow or chart. and weight depends on drift speed and if you want to drag them or reel them or combo it.

 

Yellow, green, gold, and any combination of them. Wife just throws them out and sits back for the next bite! Last Friday she actually got tired of handling fish and decided to take a break!

 

I,m glad I never got rid of my Erie dearies and broke them out over the weekend on my medium light spinning gear. It was a blast to let them out count and retrieve them like we used to in the 80's I used the gold or green and white and actually managed a few 20" fish with them near Lorain.

 

I would rather cast or drift and catch any day rather than troll with all that gear. Much more fun! Glad you had a good time, I did too!

 

Years ago when we used to drift all the time red always seemed to produce our biggest fish. Haven't drifted in some time but will definitely try it this summer as the shorts have been relentless on the trolling gear

 

Looks like I need to get some then. Thanks for all the info.

 

My favorite color was chartruse and yellow.Weight 3/4 or 5/8oz depending on depth and speed.Guess with all the young fish can catch on them,but switched to gold#4 spinner with lip over decade ago.Worked better than the Toms or Erie Dearie when fish less plentiful and harder to catch.

 

I did a lot of Walleye fishing back in the 80's, so I have tons of Erie Deeries and Golden Nuggets! I have a few of the Erie Drifters too. Those were kick === lures then too. Pearish Pees were another good lure for Walleye. I think the next couple years will be amaising! I don't think it will get back to the 80's tho. Seemed like every fish was 3 lbs or more!

 

Half a crawler will last 2-4 fish on a Dearie. Helps with cost and getting the lure wet quicker. Green and chartreuse 5/8 worked for me.

 

Half a crawler will last 2-4 fish on a Dearie.

I might try a Gulp crawler with some Procure next time and see if can save on the crawlers a little. I kinda remember threading the crawler on the hook and pinching it of half way like your say back in the day. I will definitely have to start thinking out of the box more to put keeper fish in the cooler.

 

used to love going out in the evening out of turtle creek when the lake would flatten out and cast and retrieve erie dearies. that to me is fishing, love to feel that hit at the end of the line..... now that to me is fishing. many great memories when my 2 boys were young

 

Always liked Erie deries in gold. Also have a pile of Fofrich mooneyes and Lake Erie Hellons. Now those are old school.

 

Gold Erie Dearies worked well last Saturday SW of Kelly's for handling over 125 fish and getting 12 nice fish for 3 of us., 6 being over 20, 1- 25 and the rest were 16-18. Went thru 6 dozen crawlers in pieces. Sometimes it was a morsel but as long as there was scent, those little guys banged it. Almost had a fish every cast. We would cast, count to 10 and get the blade spinning on mostly 1/2 oz lures, give a slow stedy sweep and if nothing hit it, reel a little fast and BAM, game on.. Love that fishery..

 

I bought a whole card of erie dearie off ebay for $40 various colors. 50 lures. Gold is tough to beat. Had good luck just west of kellys saturday casting. 6 keepers 1 short in 23 feet if water. Love erie dearies

 

I've had many great days using pearl white as well

 

I have a question for you experts. How much of a crawler do you use on these lures? And how do you put the crawler on? Do you cover the point of the hook or does it matter? Do you use a stinger hook as well? thanks

 

No stinger necessary, I have better luck on the back half of the crawler with about 1 inch left to dangle off the end of the hook. I pinch it in half before putting on and then thread it on the hook all the way up to the point. Cover the point of the hook but not as necessary as the little tail on the crawler and right now with the hungry shorts out there that doesn't matter as much as it does in lean times. I also like to use just a half ounce ball jig, usually white with a crawler on it as described and just bounce it along the bottom. Deadly.

 

I also troll, but never quit using Erie deeries. The fish have not fundamentally changed, the fisherman have changed courtesy of marketing and advertising. Everyone believes they are or need to be a professional , tournament angler and pro staffer, and need to troll, or just troll blindly to cover water.
I Casted for walleye today out of Vermillion. I use half a night crawler, just make sure the crawler is hanging off the hook.
Get those flashlights and coffe cans out after a rainstorm.

 

If you dip your fingers in a can of sawdust as you pick, your fingers will not slip on the crawler as you pull. That's what injures them and causes them to die in a few days.

 

I use half, thread it on let the rest hang off, no stinger. I also use inline weighted spinners that I tie up with 8lb fluorocarbon and can change the blade size and color and weight

 

Great to be able to get my kids out on the lake CASTING for these fish. Trolling is not nearly as fun as casting in my opinion. cheaper on gas too. during the hatch we use GOLD Erie Dearies. OR we cast Harnesses with GOLD blades with 5 Red beads and ONE green bead. DONT be afraid to put a bottom bouncer out with a harness when fishing a little deeper. OR use a 1.5 to 2 OZ weight forward of a harness to get down to the fish. we were casting in 51 FOW handled over 100 fish on Saturday. I fish what some call " the swing " as well as a retrieve My dad taught me 25 years ago. slowly swing the rod to the side pulling the bait toward the boat. if you can feel the blade thumping you are doing good. then reel down to the bait moving your rod slowly back to the water.... repeat. when the walleye hits... give them about 2 seconds while you reel down and SET THE HOOK!!! I hope y'all have fun out there this season. I will be fishing from a 63 Chris Craft. " Hollywood" give me a shout!

 

The best weight forward spinner I've ever used were the Hot N Tot Pygmy's that are now discontinued. If you find a good deal on E-Bay, I recommend giving them a try.

 

The best weight forward spinner I've ever used were the Hot N Tot Pygmy's that are now discontinued. If you find a good deal on E-Bay, I recommend giving them a try.
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I found a good buy on them several years ago and bought a dozen of every color they made. Some colors like the rainbow, I bought two dozen. So I'm set for the foreseeable future.

 

Anyone remember the earie dearies with twin blades? I pulled one out one day and all my buds made fun of it till I kicked their butts with it!

 

Before I moved East,these Nuggets were all we used-raise and spread the antennaadd a worm and get ready

 

I still have a couple hundred weight forwards, a mix of I think about any ever made, some still in their original packaging. I plan to break them out again in a week or so.

 

The weight forward spins also work well at times when cast and jigged with half a crawler. Especially along the edges of points and drop offs. Here is another old bait that I used to fish a lot, the Manns Little George.

 

You know your on a hot wieght forward bite when this happens. You cast out, count it down, then slowly start reeling until you feel the blade turning, then all the sudden the line goes slack for a second, and then all the sudden the fish damn near pulls the rod out of your hand. That's because the fish charged the bait so hard that your life went slack. Doesn't happen very often but when it does it's special.

 

U guys that fish the harness with weights are u using a single blade or Doubble and about what size are they? Also what length are these harnesses? This sounds like a god time I've been wanting to give it a try for a few years and with all the good reports of the technique working so well I'm ready. I may tie up some harnesses until I can get out

 

I like a 12 inch harness single blade for casting..less of a tangle issue. For drifting , the wife lets out a 18 inch double hook with a single blade. Seems to work for us.