ODNR Weekly Fishing Reports

ODNR Fishing Reports-These are updated weekly and come straight for the ODNR website. If you have anything to add to the reports please do so. Also if you see a report before I get around to posting it please let me know.
:note: I will not be posting new reports on a new post. I will erase the last weeks post and put the updated one in its place. THANKS-O.F.

The Fish Ohio Report
April 28, 2010


CENTRAL OHIO

Deer Creek Lake (Fayette, and Pickaway counties) - In the creek above the lake just north of Cooks - Yankeetown Road, use small jigs and twisters or small rooster tails when seeking white bass. Most of these fish will measure eight to 12 inches. Their spawning period has started and will peak in a couple of weeks, which causes them to be active and offers great fishing. Crappie can be caught around submerged woody cover using minnows suspended under a bobber. Crappie must be nine inches long or longer to keep. Channel catfish can be taken on chicken livers, shrimp, night crawlers and cut shad.

Knox Lake (Knox County) - Areas of woody shoreline cover are good locations to fish for largemouth bass at this time of year. Try dark-colored creature baits and jig-and-pigs fished shallow for the best results. Most of these fish measure 12 to 18 inches. There is an 18-inch minimum for keeper largemouth at this lake. Use jigs and minnows in brushy areas to take crappie. Crappie will be moving shallow as the temperatures warm. Use cut bait, chicken livers or night crawlers fished along the bottom to take channel catfish. Some channel catfish weigh up to 10 pounds. Boats greater than 10 horsepower must travel at no wake speeds.

NORTHWEST OHIO

Norwalk #3 (Huron County) – The water temperature is 59 degrees. Some nice catches of perch and bluegill have been reported. Fishing minnows or wax worms under a slip bobber during the daytime is producing the best results. Try fishing just west of the walk bridge.

Delphos Gillmor Reservoir (Van Wert County) – The water temperature is 57 degrees. Saugeye are being taken in the evenings. Minnows under a slip bobber are working well. The west side is the most productive.

Van Wert Reservoir #1 (Van Wert County) – The water temperature is 60 degrees. Nice catches of bluegill are being taken in the evenings. Still fishing wax worms or small tube jigs is working well. Try the south side of the reservoir.

NORTHEAST OHIO

Lower Killbuck Creek (Holmes and Wayne counties) – South of State Route 62 on the Killbuck Marsh Wildlife Area, anglers can catch northern pike on creek chubs. A simple slip bobber set up at two and a half to three feet deep works well.

Mahoning River (Stark County) – Anglers can catch white bass while fishing with minnows in Alliance. Fishing the dam near the intersection of E. Gaskill Street and Apple Avenue usually produces good numbers. Limited parking is available at a pull-off area or nearby Early Hill Park on Vine Street. Parking and fishing access is also available near the bike trail off of E. Gaskill Street, just east of SR 225/Union Avenue.

Nimisila Lake (Summit County) – The pre-spawn bass bite is in full swing. Spinner baits fished through emerging lily pads have produced good numbers of fish when they are active. During slower periods, try soft plastics fished deeper or tight to fallen trees. Shoreline anglers have also done well while catching crappie on small minnows suspended two and a half to three feet below a bobber.

SOUTHWEST OHIO

Adams Lake (Adams County) – To kick off “Free Fishing Days” the Adams County Longbeards Chapter of the National Wild Turkey Federation will hold a youth fishing event on Saturday, May 1. The event is free to youth and the club will supply fishing gear and refreshments. On Saturday May 1 and Sunday May 2 anglers may fish any of the state's public waters without a license. The lake was stocked in March with rainbow trout and anglers are still reporting limits, five fish, taken from the lake as well as crappie and largemouth bass. Bass are being taken on pumpkinseed jigs.

Lake Loramie (Auglaize and Shelby counties) - The annual free fishing derby and campout will be held at Lake Loramie State Park starting Friday April 30. For information, call (937) 295-2011 or go to http://events.limaohio.com/minster-oh/events/show/113844845-annual-spring-campoutfishing-derby

Acton Lake (Preble and Butler counties) – Anglers are catching crappies in the 509-acre lake located at Hueston Woods State Park. The outlook is excellent and success is reported on the east shoreline along the brush and fallen trees and at the south end of the lake by the dam. The crappie range from eight to 11 inches, and are being caught all day on live minnows under a bobber.

Paint Creek Lake (Highland County) - Crappies are biting from one side of the lake to the other in three to 10 feet of water on minnows and jigs. Look for wood and rocks. Bass are hitting black jigs with blue pork at five to seven feet. In the spillway, plenty of saugeyes are being caught on chartreuse twisters and crappies are hitting minnows. White bass are in the creeks, hitting minnows and shiny spinners

Indian Creek Wildlife Area (Brown County) –Bluegill and sunfish are being taken by anglers using red worms, earthworms, or wax worms. Keep the bait about two to three feet deep. The Family Fishing Pond is best and is marked and accessible from Campbell Road in the wildlife area.

SOUTHEAST OHIO

Burr Oak (Athens County) – Anglers report good catches of bluegill while fishing earthworms or wax worms under a bobber from shore. Try fishing the shallow areas near the docks. Largemouth bass are also being caught using spinners, plastic crayfish, and jigs with plastic worms fished off the docks or within five to ten feet of the bank near the rock cliffs. Channel Catfish have been reeled in from some of the deeper areas of the lake using earthworms or chicken livers fished off the bottom.

Piedmont Lake (Belmont County) – Saugeye in the 16 to 20-inch range are being taken near the dam by shore and boat anglers. Best fishing is at dusk or dawn or all day if there is cloud cover. Most fish are being taken on jig and minnows fished six to eight feet deep using a slip bobber. Fair numbers of nice (12 to 14 inch) black crappies are being taken in the same area by the same method. A few largemouth bass from 12 to 15 inches are being caught on spinner baits fished slowly in shallow water.

LAKE ERIE

** Free Fishing Days are May 1st and 2nd **

** 2010 fishing licenses are now on sale and have been required since March 1, 2010 **

** The daily bag limit for Lake Erie walleye is 4 fish per angler until May 1, when the limit will return to 6 fish per day. The minimum size limit for walleye is 15”. **

** The daily bag limit for Lake Erie yellow perch is 25 fish per angler in waters west of the Huron pier. The limit will remain at 30 fish per angler in Ohio waters from Huron eastward. Any boats landing west of Huron, Ohio will be subject to the 25 fish daily bag limit, while boats landing at Huron or points east will be subject to a 30 fish daily bag limit. Shore-based anglers west of the Huron pier will be subject to a 25 fish daily bag limit, while those on the pier and eastward will remain at 30 fish daily. Beginning May 1 the bag limit will return to 30 fish per day on all Ohio waters of Lake Erie.**

** The steelhead daily bag limit is 2 fish September 1 through May 15. The minimum size limit for steelhead is 12 inches. **

** The daily bag limit for Lake Erie black bass (largemouth and smallmouth) is 5 fish per angler. The minimum size limit is 14”. The catch-and-release only (no possession) season begins May 1 and runs through June 25. **

When conditions have allowed walleye fishing has continued to be exceptional. Even as the spawn begins to wind down, limits are still being caught by anglers jigging hair jigs (with and without shiners) or vibrating blade baits in Maumee Bay, nearshore around Turtle Creek, and on some of the Camp Perry reefs. Trolling catches of post-spawn walleye has improved from the outer buoys of the Camp Perry firing range to Kelleys Island, using both crankbaits and spinners. Good catches of yellow perch have been reported between Marblehead and Kelleys Island, east of Kelleys Island, and north of Lorain.

Most recent river walleye run update

Most current steelhead information

Anglers are encouraged to always wear a U.S. Coast Guard-approved personal flotation device while boating.

Vew the predicted weather forecast for Lake Erie

Lake Erie boating information, safety tips, and launch ramps

OHIO RIVER

Racine Dam - Overall fishing remains slow to moderate with evenings and early mornings the most productive times. Sauger, in the nine to15-inch range, are being caught on white and chartreuse twister tails, grubs and crank baits. Hybrid striped bass and white bass are being caught on similar tackle. There are some hybrids being caught over 20-inches but action is still somewhat slow.
===========================Lake Erie Region

Walleye fishing has been exceptional. Quick limits have been caught by jigging in Maumee Bay, nearshore around Turtle Creek, and on many of the Camp Perry reefs. Large walleyes have been caught by trollers fishing around the outer buoys of the Camp Perry firing range, according to the DNR_Division of Wildlife.

The Rocky River is currently still fairly low and clear despite the recent rain, but that could all change dependant upon how much precipitation we receive. A needed bump in water level would serve to bring more fresh fish into the system. Steelhead fishing remained good on the Rocky for anglers willing to implement a finesse approach. The fish are very well distributed from the marina area all the way up both branches of the river. There have been a mix of pre-spawn (fresh), spawning and post-spawn (spent) fish available to anglers. With the warmer temperatures, many anglers have been finding the most active fish in the well oxygenated faster areas with broken water, although many willing post-spawn steelies have been caught in the deeper holes, as well. The cooler weather in the forecast should serve to relocate some fish back to the deeper holes and a significant rain will bring in more fresh fish.

With the clear water and heavy fishing pressure, successful anglers are beginning to downsize offerings and use finesse tactics. Using lighter fluorocarbon leaders (4-6-pound test) and smaller floats/indicators and less/smaller split shot are all good bets. Bait anglers have been catching fish on small jigs tipped with maggots, small eggs sacs, single salmon eggs, minnows and rubber trout worms in white and pale pink. Fly anglers have been out in full force, and many fish have taken eggs patterns, such as pale pink, yellow or cream sucker spawn or Glo-bug patterns in sizes 12-16. A beadhead stonefly nymph in that same size range has also been working very well for anglers. Another good change-up tactic for pressured fish is to fish a small spoon (such as Little Cleos), medium size spinner (such as a Vibrax or Rooster Tail), or small plug (such as a Flatfish or Rapala minnow).

Lake Erie run white suckers are available in large numbers in the northern Rocky River. Fishing a worm or grubs right on the river bottom with a sinker is a simple and effective tactic for suckers, as is fishing nymphs or small wet flies on a light fly rod. Suckers congregate in huge numbers at river fords, which impedes their upstream migration, which makes this a popular area to catch them during elevated river conditions. Additionally, reports of smallmouth bass and redhorse suckers have also increased over the past week.

Trout have been biting all around Cleveland Metroparks. The East Branch Rocky River was stocked with 650 pounds of rainbow trout between Route 82 (Royalton Road) and the ford just south of Wallace Lake. Many larger trout were mixed in both of these shipments, and angler feedback about that has been all positive. Shadow Lake was stocked with 500 trout this past Thursday by the Ohio Division of Wildlife. Additionally, Wallace Lake was stocked with 600 pounds of trout in late March. Other lakes worthy of anglers' efforts are Ledge, Shadow, Judges, and Ranger lakes; all of which have received planting of trout throughout the winter.