Lake Erie
Walleye
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Great Lakes · Lake Erie (western basin) · Port Clinton, OH
Port Clinton fishing conditions
Port Clinton calls itself the Walleye Capital of the World: the shallow western basin of Lake Erie and the Lake Erie Islands hold huge walleye and perch numbers. This page shows live wind, waves, water temperature and lake level from NOAA stations, the National Weather Service forecast, and a rough daily bite estimate for walleye, yellow perch, smallmouth bass.
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Bite estimate
Rougher estimate · 0–9Rough estimate
Lake Erie
Yellow perch
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Lake Erie
Smallmouth bass
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Conditions now
Wind
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Waves
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Water temp
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Barometer
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Lake level
NOAA CO-OPS Marblehead, OH (9063079), feet above Low Water Datum (chart datum). The Great Lakes have no real tides; level swings come from wind setup, seiches and the seasons.
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NWS forecast
National Weather Service point forecast for Port Clinton, OH.
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Stations used for Port Clinton
| Source | Location | Type | Distance |
|---|---|---|---|
| NDBC 45202 | Port Clinton Buoy, OH (Cleveland Water Alliance) | nearshore buoy · seasonal (pulled for winter) | 1 nm |
| NDBC MRHO1 | Marblehead, OH (NOS 9063079) | harbor station · year-round | 10 nm |
| NDBC SBIO1 | South Bass Island, OH | island station · year-round | 8 nm |
| NDBC 45203 | Huron Buoy, OH (Cleveland Water Alliance) | nearshore buoy · seasonal (pulled for winter) | 21 nm |
| CO-OPS 9063079 | Marblehead, OH | water level (ft above Low Water Datum) | near spot |
| GLERL GLSEA | Daily satellite lake-surface temperature at 41.56, -82.9 | water temp fallback | on the lake |
| NWS forecast | Point forecast for Port Clinton, OH; gridded wave forecast on the lake | forecast | at spot |
| NWS LEZ143 | Nearshore marine forecast: Reno Beach to The Islands OH | official marine forecast | zone |
Where they fish: Walleye on the reefs and open western basin; perch around the islands; smallmouth on the island rock piles.
FAQ
Where does the Port Clinton fishing data come from?
Wind, waves, water temperature and pressure come from NOAA NDBC stations 45202, MRHO1, SBIO1, 45203 (first station with a recent reading wins; seasonal buoys are pulled for winter). Lake level is from NOAA CO-OPS station 9063079 (Marblehead, OH). When no station reports water temperature, Swelldex uses NOAA GLERL's daily satellite analysis (GLSEA). The forecast and wave forecast come from the National Weather Service.
What does the Port Clinton bite score mean?
It is a rough 0–9 estimate of how good conditions look for walleye, yellow perch, smallmouth bass, based on wind and waves, surface water temperature, the time of year, the barometer trend and forecast storms. It does not count fish and it is not a safety rating.
Why is there no tide table?
The Great Lakes have no meaningful tides. Instead, Swelldex shows the lake level against chart datum and how much it moved in the last 24 hours; fast changes usually mean strong wind setup or a seiche.