I use to fish out of maitland only years ago when I 1st started fishing the big water. Was fishing the river only till one day we ventured out into the lake.. As soon as we came out of the mouth we made a right and trolled up that shore line in 10-25ft range,smalliez and the 1st ever lake erie walleye came into the boat. We were hooked after that run.
After a few trips we learned a few things.. 20 & 30ft tail dancers(rainbow trout & red tiger color) and big magnum walleye divers(blue/silver & black/gold)were the ticket as we had no fancy diving aids or down riggers..hell we didn't even have trolling rods just our spinning rods and baitcasters.
Later we added 2 inline planner boards to the spread becouse a guy at fishingworld told us "if your not using board over that shallow clear water your missing out on a lot of fish" and he was right.. them planner boards alone was a game changer. Later we added couple rod holders and small hummingbird GPS fishfinder with navionics to monitor the speed and watch our track. We Cought a variety of fish all the time..
Rainbows,browns,pike,smallmouth bass whitebass and walleye. Never a limit of walleye but the eyes we did get always over 6lbs and as much as 10lbs. Smalliez often filled the cooler but we would ALWAYS have a few bigger fish(walleye or trout) to add to the meat by the end of day. Always spooled up with 20lb braid and never let the bait hit bottom as the rock there is sharp and will cut the line quickly.
Running Bomber long As and husky jerks off the planner boards put many fish in the boat for us as well. Cast it out as far as possible and give a few rods sweeps extra worth of line, put the board on and wait for it to happen.
You will just have to go when the weather is right and take chance that the weather holds up in your favor. Many times I was chased back to the safety of the river becouse I didn't know any better and went out to the lake when I should not have. Learning to watch the weather forecast is a must if your going fish the big water with a small boat.. ANY NORTH winds we would be going fishing there as we would be in close to the shore and next to no waves. Any south winds we would only go if the forecast was calling for 15km winds MAX or less. On the nicest days we could make it all the way to the reef(tecumseh)..troll the whole way there along that shore line.
When the Budweiser walleye tournament is on late June out of port colborn MANY of the anglers make the run to maitland to do there fishing and for good reason..there is fish in them waters and big1s.
Some guys will troll in front of the lighthouse(at the mouth) and some will work that shore line I mentioned all the way to the reef. I can promise if you fish that rocky shore line to west of the mouth you will bring fish topside. You don't have to go miles down the shore line to hit fish in that area but you will hit fish down that whole shore line if you do get to work it.
Try and get your hands on some maps to study the shore line and bottom as there are many humps,drops and breaks. The bottom can go from 20ft to10ft and from 10ft to 5ft in matter of seconds.
I hope this info helps you in some way.. I was in the vary same boat as you once upon a time.
You don't need riggers,dipsys,leadcore or snap weights to catch out there in that 10-20ft water. Just some deep divers and the will to try.
What you want is planer boards to get away from the boat. Or just flatline with long leads....
Very different.....makes much more sense now 
lol
