Drop a worm in the water on a summer day and just try to not catch a bluegill. But in winter, sometimes those same big slabs get finicky and only bite best at classic walleye times—dawn and dusk.

The walleye are starting to bite in Lake Erie. I spent a couple of days last week with two members of my family on the Great Lake, fishing for those tasty fish and our captain, Keith Eshbaugh, made it ...