BY MARK CAHLIK

The early leader in the Fall Brawl, the Lake Erie walleye derby that runs through Dec. 3, was a 10.07-pound, 29.75-inch walleye caught by Charles H. Reed in the Cleveland area.

Lake Erie walleye are being caught between Huron and Vermillion in recent days as the fall fishing season moves into high gear. The big schools of walleye generally migrate from the deep waters of central Lake Erie to the waters just east of Kelleys Island, and anglers have been reporting good success.

While shore anglers are starting to find walleye willing to chase a lure after dark while casting from the piers and breakwalls, boat fishermen have been trolling during the day to put fish in the cooler. They are reporting a nice grade of walleye are being caught.

Dead Eye Lures seem to be the ticket right now while trolling the diving plugs 70 to 110 feet behind the boat with a 2-ounce inline weight. Dead Eyes are outperforming Bandits, and white body baits seem to be working the best.

Eye Baby’s are performing well behind 50 Jet Divers at 50 feet back. The colors of choice have been gold or chrome colors and a red lure head.

Lake Erie yellow perch are still being caught, and with a daily bag limit of 30 perch around the Western Basin of Lake Erie, there is still plenty of interest in putting some perch in the freezer.

The most consistent reports have been around Kelleys Island 30 to 36 feet of water, and mainly the north side of the island. A decent report came in from Clinton Reef in 17 feet of water, as well. Overall, it has not been a bad week for fishing.

The Lake Erie walleye derbies — the Fall Brawl and the Walleye Slam — are in full swing, and last week casting from the Lake Erie shoreline was the hot topic. Most of the trophy walleye checked in were hooked and landed while casting from the piers and breakaways from the Marblehead Peninsula to the major harbors of the Central Basin of Lake Erie.