For Canadians, Erieau, Ont., is a good place to start. With sand beaches, some of Canada’s best pickerel (walleye) fishing and a friendly welcome, it’s also a great place to spend some time.
Pointe Aux Pins is the low and sandy peninsula that encloses Rondeau Bay to the northwest. About six miles by two miles and averaging about eight feet deep, the bay is popular with anglers and cottagers. There’s also Rondeau Provincial Park on the bay’s southeast shore. Trailer boaters and anglers often come for the day to visit Rondeau Bay or to fish offshore for pickerel, but most cruisers stay at Erieau Marina.
The marina and village of Erieau are on a sandy spit that extends east from the mainland at the mouth of the bay. Once in the harbour, or the bay for that matter, boaters are well-protected from the waves and wind of the open lake.
The entrance to Rondeau Bay is a former shipping channel – first dredged out in 1844 – and a quick turn to port takes you into the Erieau Marina, located in a former coal-shipping railway terminal. After being converted to a pleasure craft basin in the early 1970s, Erieau Marina has been owned by the Barnier family since the 1980s. They have developed it into a first-class boating facility and destination for anglers as well as local and transient cruisers.
The marina has 300 slips with room for about 60 transients and can handle boats as long as 125 feet, drawing up to 12 feet. It’s a place where a 60- or 70-footer has the space needed to manoeuvre and dock, so cruising boats of all sizes from both sides of the lake regularly stop here.
Boaters have access to picnic tables and gas barbecues, showers, washrooms, wireless Internet and laundry facilities. There’s a children’s playground, an adult fitness room and a swimming pool for the whole family.
Charter boats and private anglers at the marina take advantage of the excellent pickerel and rainbow fishery in the open lake. And if weather rules out fishing there, well-protected Rondeau Bay has great bass and perch fishing. The marina sponsors fishing derbies and has busy launch ramps that bring in many boaters for the day.
Erieau Marina operator Dave Barnier says the area’s mild weather is another major attraction, effectively extending the boating season by a couple of months.“I like to say you can’t live any further south and still be a Canadian,” he says. “The weather in Canada doesn’t get any better than this.” Erieau Marina ensures boaters have all they need close at hand. Barney’s Ship’s Store is well stocked with boating supplies and fishing tackle and the marina is a retail partner of The Beer Store and an agency for the LCBO. The village of Erieau is virtually next door to the marina and has plenty of restaurants offering a wide range of fare, plus grocery and variety stores.
Fuel and pump-out, as well as boat and motor repairs, are also available, along with a 60-ton Travelift and heated indoor storage for boats up to 70 feet long.The marina’s park-like grounds are equipped with picnic tables and firepits. For many area families, the marina is a favourite weekend destination, where they are among friends.
Because of its position, Erieau is an ideal “eastern gateway” for visiting boaters headed into the lake’s western basin. It’s also within easy reach of Cleveland,Ohio. So Canadian boaters seeking a more urban waterfront experience can leave Erieau and head about 62 miles due south, across the widest part of Lake Erie.