# ODNR Fishing Report 10/26



## Big Daddy

Final report of 2005. ODNR reports will resume again in April of 2006.

Wildlife News 
Ohio Department of Natural Resources

Division of Wildlife

The Fish Ohio Report
Oct 26, 2005

CENTRAL OHIO
Buckeye Lake (Fairfield, Licking, and Perry counties)  For channel catfish, use chicken livers and night crawlers fished on the bottom for best results. Shoreline cover offers the best locations to take crappies. Use minnows beneath a bobber fished at depths of three to six feet. Use red worms and wax worms when seeking bluegills. The eastern half of the lake offers the best bluegill fishing.

Hargus Creek Lake (Pickaway County) - Bluegill may be taken from shoreline areas with small worms and larval baits from this lake 132-acre lake just east of Circleville. Use chicken livers, shrimp and other traditional baits fished on the bottom for catfish measuring 12 to 22 inches long. Crappies can be caught using minnows suspended by a bobber around woody structure. Use spinner baits, plastic baits, and live bait for largemouth bass around the islands, dam and along the east bank. Electric motors only.

Indian Lake (Logan County) - Excellent opportunities exist to catch saugeye in this 5,040-acre Logan County lake. Try drift fishing with a worm harness in the Old Indian Lake area and the Moundwood canal feeder. Also, jig minnows along the bottom from shoreline areas. Many large perch are also being caught here. Use minnows and jigs around the shoreline cover when seeking crappies. Areas with good current are producing excellent catches of channel catfish.

NORTHWEST OHIO
Lake McKarns (Williams County)  The water temperature is 65 degrees. Trout are being taken in the morning hours by casting spinners.

Lake Borton (Williams County)  The water temperature is 65 degrees. Crappie are being taken in the evening by fishing with minnows. Casting a white and black spinner jig is also working well. The southeast corner seems to be the best spot.

Nettle Lake (Williams County)  The water temperature is 62 degrees. Channel catfish are being taken at night by tightlining nightcrawlers. The northwest corner is the best spot.

Pleasant Hill Lake (Richland County)  Excellent catches of saugeye in the 15 to 22 inch range have been reported here this past week. Casting crankbaits or jigs and minnow combos have been working the best. All of the shoreline areas are good. Very good catches of crappie are also being reported. Minnows under slip bobbers provide the best results.

NORTHEAST OHIO
Rocky River (Cuyahoga County)  The increase in precipitation the last few days may help push the steelhead out of deep holes and fords where most are currently residing. Fishing is challenging this time of year, but once the rain stops and the water clears, anglers should have more success. Popular baits right now are small spawn sacs, salmon eggs, red worms, live minnows and small jigs tipped with grubs. Anglers are also still catching steelhead off of Edgewater Park in Cleveland. For more information, call Wildlife District Three and request the free Lake Erie fishing guide.

Wildwood Park (Cuyahoga County)  Yellow perch anglers are doing exceptionally well off the shores of Wildwood Park in Cleveland. Fish ranging about nine to 11 inches are being found in 36 to 40 foot of water. Wildwood Park, part of the Cleveland Lakefront State Park system is located east of East 72nd Street and west of Neff Road. Euclid Beach Park and Euclid Park nearby are also good shore-fishing locations. Consult the Lake Erie fishing guide for details. 

SOUTHWEST OHIO
Adams Lake (Adams County) - Bluegill and sunfish are being caught by anglers using red worms, earthworms, mealworms, and wax worms on a #9 or 10 long-shanked hook as bait. Cast from a boat, pier, or along the shoreline. Keep the bait off of the bottom and two to three feet deep using a slip bobber. 

C. J. Brown Reservoir (Clark County) - Crappie are biting one jigs with plastic bodies and live minnows. Fishing is good form a boat or the shoreline. Fish the bait slowly along the bottom, still fish, or use a slip bobber. Fishing the bait between three to more than 10 feet deep will produce results. Use a #6 fine wire hook for the minnows.

Rush Run Lake (Preble County) - Access the area from the boat ramp off of parking lot #4 off of Pogue Road. Rainbow trout were recently stocked at this lake and are still providing an excellent opportunity to take your kids fishing. Currently, the trout are biting on black rooster tails and Trout Power Bait. Cast the bait from a boat or the shoreline and keep the bait about four to five feet deep. Use a #6 baitholding hook for the Power Bait. Cast the Power Bait out and reel in very slowly. Fishing is good along the bank areas the wind is blowing the water into.

SOUTHEAST OHIO

Piedmont Lake (Belmont County)  Saugeye are starting to move into the shallow areas of the lake as the temperatures start to cool. Anglers have had good catches of saugeye all along the south side of the lake, especially at the County Road 100 bridge. Fish with twister tails or small crankbaits that resemble shad. Water conditions are normal to low with a temperature in the low 60s. Fishing and fish structure location maps are available from the ODNR Division of Wildlife, visit http://www.dnr.ohio.gov/wildlife/PDF/piedmont lake.pdf 

Tycoon Lake (Gallia County)  Crappie fishing is excellent right now; many crappie reeled in are between 12 and 15 inches. Use minnows, twister-tails and wax worms in four to six or eight to ten feet of water. Some of the best crappie fishing is going to be near submerged structure along the shoreline near felled trees and stumps.
LAKE ERIE 
Western Basin

Walleye - Walleye fishing has been good on Kelleys Island Shoal. Most of the fish caught have been from 15 to 18 inches from the 2003 year class, but a few bigger fish are also present. Drifting with crawler harnesses or casting weight forward spinners have been the most productive techniques. As water temperatures drop larger adult walleye will migrate back towards Kelleys Island, the Bass Islands, and the area around Marblehead and Lakeside. 

Yellow Perch - The best western basin perch areas have included Niagara reef, between Rattlesnake and Green Islands, and east of the Kelleys Island airport. Most fish are still running on the small side, but larger fish (10 to 12 inches) are starting to appear in the catch. A perch spreader tipped with shiners is the most popular set-up.



Central Basin

Walleye - The best walleye fishing recently has been offshore from Lorain to Huron in water over 40 feet deep. The sandbar and the deep water to the west of the sandbar have been productive, along with 42 to 44 feet of water from Vermilion to Huron. Many of the fish being caught have ranged from 15 to 18 inches from the 2003 year class, but a few larger fish up to 11 pounds have been reported. Spoons or crawler harnesses trolled deep with dipsy divers, jet divers or downriggers have produced the most consistent catches.

Yellow Perch - The best yellow perch fishing has been two to three miles north of Geneva, two to three miles north from Ashtabula to Conneaut in 52 feet of water, three miles northwest of Euclid Creek in 42 feet of water, and five miles north of the Chagrin River in 53 feet of water. A perch spreader tipped with shiners is the most popular set-up. Fish have ranged from eight to12 inches.



For up-to-date steelhead fishing information visit: http://www.ohiodnr.com/wildlife/Fishing/fairport/steelhead.htm

Lake Erie surface temperatures range from 55 to 60 degrees.

To view the predicted weather forecast for Lake Erie visit: http://weather.noaa.gov/cgi-bin/fmtbltn.pl?file=forecasts/marine/great_lakes/le/lez160.txt

OHIO RIVER

Belmont and Monroe counties - River conditions are clear and normal to low. Walleye and saugeye fishing has picked up along the river, particularly when they begin feeding - about an hour before sunset and then throughout the night. Check out the pier at the Pike Island Dam (Belmont County), where anglers have had excellent success vertical jigging with twister tails or jig-heads tipped with a minnow. Good catches of smallmouth bass and smaller white bass have been reported in the Pike Island area as well  try casting out with crankbaits resembling minnows or shad. Hybrid striped bass have been caught on big creek chubs or any deep-diving bait that resemble minnows. For hybrid striped bass and channel catfish stay in any of the tailwaters. Channel cats are being caught on cut bait, live shad, chicken livers and worms throughout the river.


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