Catching Lake Erie walleyes is not difficult, and you have several options on how to do it. Trolling is now the most popular, most productive and easiest method for talking a limit of Erie 'eyes. Target the 12- to 18-foot depths and pull flatlines or in-line boards trailing Wiggle Warts, Wiggle Os, Wally Divers or other crankbaits to fool the suspended walleyes. Small spoons are also becoming very popular pulled behind Dipsey Divers or disc divers. Look for clusters of boats on schools of fish and then skirt the pack. However, it's very easy to slip over the Ohio state line. It's wise to purchase licenses for both states. If trolling isn't your thing, you can jig, drift or cast. With the number of walleyes in Lake Erie in 2006, it will be pretty hard to not catch your limit. For more information on Lake Erie walleyes, see page 20 of this magazine.

When you're done cleaning fish. you can take in Monroe's Riverwalk Festival, powerboat races, art fairs or head south to Toledo to the Toledo Zoo, Cedar Point Amusement Park, Erie Street Market or the Merry-Go-Round museum. I never go to Lake Erie without sampling some of Tony Packo's famous chilidogs. For more information on things to do in Toledo, go to www.toledoohionow. com.

LAKE ST. CLAIR
Detroit-area residents don't realize how lucky they are to have such a great fishery right at their back door. Some of the finest smallmouth bass and Great Lakes muskie fishing in the world is within an hour of millions of people. Yellow perch populations are booming on Lake St. Clair. Changes that have taken place in the lake over the years have made it a food factory, and a number of fish species have flourished because of it. With the exceptional fishing close at hand and all the amenities of the big city, a visit to Lake St. Clair is definitely worthwhile.

"It's pretty hard to beat a tube jig if you're fishing Lake St. Clair for smallmouths," claimed Kelly Bridgewater of KD Outdoors in Waterford. "There are basically two colors you need to have -- pumpkinseed and silver glitter. The pumpkinseed imitates the crayfish and gobies, and the silver color imitates the shad and native spot-tailed shiners in the lake."

Bridgewater said you can hop, swim, skitter, rip and pop, or just retrieve the tube -- and the smallies will jump all over them. The 3- to 4-inch models that are salt-impregnated work best. If the water is calm, which is rare on St. Clair because of the boat traffic, twitching stick baits on the surface can be a hoot. Spinnerbaits in white or chartreuse excel when you need to cover water. The bronzebacks will average 2 to 3 pounds, and bass topping 6 pounds are very common.