# ODNR Report 9/28/05



## Big Daddy (Apr 6, 2004)

Wildlife News 
Ohio Department of Natural Resources

Division of Wildlife

The Fish Ohio Report

September 28, 2005

CENTRAL OHIO
Indian Lake (Logan County) - Saugeye fishing really picks up this time of year. Troll rattle traps and shallow minnow crank baits along the dredge breaklines and riprap on the break-walls and dams. Largemouth bass are starting to use shallower cover and feed heavily on the young gizzard shad that are moving to shoreline areas. Most bass measure 12 to 18 inches. Night-fishing with minnows near the bridges is the best method for taking white bass.

Kokosing Reservoir (Knox County)  Areas with drop-offs along the old creek channel remain good places to fish for largemouth bass. Most of these fish will measure 12 to 16 inches. Try using small crank baits, buzz baits, 6-inch plastic worms and jig-and-pig combinations for best results. Areas along the shoreline with brush and fallen trees can produce fishing action for crappies when using a minnow suspended beneath a bobber. Fish along the lake bottom with soft crayfish, chicken livers, night crawlers and prepared baits to catch channel catfish day or night. 10 horsepower limit.

NORTHWEST OHIO
Pleasant Hill (Richland County)  Saugeye in the 15 to 16 inch range are being taken on jigs with night crawlers cast out and jigged back. All shorelines are great places to fish.

Oxbow Lake (Defiance County)  Crappie and perch are being taken in the morning on night crawlers. Still fishing is the best method.

Riley Creek Reservoir (Putnam County)  Crappie in the 12 to 14 inch range are being caught in the morning. Minnows fished under a slip bobber is the method that is working the best. Road 6 and Road 5-N have been the hot spots.

Paulding Reservoir (Paulding County)  Channel catfish have been taken in the morning by still fishing with chicken liver.

Maumee River (Paulding County)  Flathead catfish have been taken at night by still fishing with shiners. Try the Cecil Bridge. Channel cats are also being taken at night by still fishing with night crawlers. The whole river has been great for channel cats....no one spot is better than another. 

NORTHEAST OHIO
Cuyahoga River (Summit and Geauga counties)  Beginning at Munroe Falls to the Portage Trail bridge, northern pike are hitting in the early afternoons. Anglers are having the best of luck with pike shiners suspended below a float while fishing in slow, deep pools. In Geauga County, some of the best fishing tends to be between Russell Park and State Route 422. 

Lake Erie near Edgewater State Park (Cuyahoga County)  Steelhead anglers will be happy to know that Ohios silver bullets are headed back to the tributaries after a summer in Lake Erie. Although many steelhead are still cruising the deeper water with the walleye, several 26 to 30 inch fish have been retrieved off of the Edgewater State Park breakwall. Other areas reporting steelhead are near the mouths of Euclid Creek, Grand River, and Rocky River. Anglers are reminded that for salmon and trout caught in Lake Erie the length limit is 12 inches and the bag limit is two fish (singly or in combination) per angler beginning September 1 through May 15. 

SOUTHWEST OHIO
Caesar Creek Lake (Clinton, Greene, and Warren counties) - Anglers are beginning to catch crappie fishing minnows under a bobber and casting jigs in coves with standing timber. Remember all crappie less than nine inches long must be immediately released back into the lake. Anglers casting in-line spinners, bucktails, and crankbaits are starting to catch a few muskellunge and, also, having fish follow their baits. Try fishing the deep standing timber areas of the lake. Saugeye anglers are catching a few 15 to 18 inch fish from six to 15 feet depths, but most fish are small. Troll medium or deep diving crankbaits along submerged points or underwater humps. Cast or drift with live night crawlers on a bottom bouncing harness rig, or use a lead head jig tipped with a piece of worm. Channel catfish are being caught by shore anglers using night crawlers, shrimp, and chicken livers. Fish the bait tight line along the bottom in five to eight foot depths.

Acton Lake (Preble County)  Bluegill and sunfish are being caught by anglers using crickets, red worms, earthworms, mealworms, or wax worms on a #9 or 10 long-shanked hook as bait. Keep the bait off of the bottom and two to three feet deep using a slip bobber. Largemouth bass are being caught along the east shoreline in four to five feet of water by angler casting black rubber worms. Remember all bass less than 15 inches long must be immediately released back into the lake. 

SOUTHEAST OHIO

New Lexington Reservoir 1 and 2 (Perry County)  To access the reservoir from New Lexington, travel north on State Route 13, turn right on Perry County Road 19. Water temperature in the reservoir has been 74 degrees and clear. Anglers have had success catching smaller-size largemouth bass in the evening hours using artificial lures, particularly topwater bait. Bluegills have been biting on small in-line spinners and wax worms. Electric motors only.

Hocking River (Hocking County)  Success continues to be high for smallmouth bass fishing in the Hocking River south of Sugargrove in the stretch north of Logan. Concentrate your fishing in high velocity current, where woody structure is present in more than 20 inches of water. Float shallow diving minnow imitation lures, or use white and chartreuse twister-tails on 1/8 to 1/9 ounce jigs. Water conditions are slightly cloudy and low, with a temperature of 76 degrees F.

LAKE ERIE 
Western Basin

Walleye
Walleye fishing has remained slow with little targeted effort. Walleye have been caught incidentally by perch anglers around Kelleys Island shoal. 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
Perch fishing was good the week of September 19, with limit catches coming from many different locations. The recent wind has slowed fishing. Last week the best areas included the turnaround buoy of the Toledo shipping channel, the northern cans of the Camp Perry firing range, between Green and Rattlesnake Islands, and between Gull and Kelleys Island shoals. 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
Walleye fishing has been good in Ohio waters of the central basin. The best areas were east of the northern end of the sandbar off Lorain and eight to 10 miles north of Conneaut in 68 to 70 feet of water. Trolling 30 to 50 feet down with spoons or crawler harnesses, using planer boards, jet divers, or dipsy divers have produced the best catches. Fish have ranged from 15 to 24 inches.

Yellow Perch
Yellow perch fishing has been good on the southern end of the sandbar off of Lorain. Further east, excellent perch fishing can be found five miles north of E 72nd Street of Cleveland in 48 feet of water, two to four miles north of Ashtabula to Conneaut in 48 to 52 feet of water, and two to three miles north between Eastlake and Fairport Harbor in 45 to 50 feet of water. A perch spreader tipped with shiners is the most popular set-up. Fish have ranged from 7 to 13 inches.

Steelhead
Steelhead are starting to be caught by casting off of the Fairport Harbor pier with small spoons or spinners. Fish have ranged from 16 to 28 inches. 

Lake Erie surface temperatures are in the upper 60s and lower 70s.

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
Lawrence, Monroe and Washington counties  Water temperature is between 74 and 78 degrees F and conditions are clear and normal to low. Catfish success is best through the night and in the early morning hours before daybreak. Bass fishing continues to be challenging, due to the large amounts of forage fish available. However, a few largemouth, smallmouth, and spotted bass are being caught. Stay along the shoreline, along old concrete lock walls, concrete blocked banks, and various pier structures. Top rated bass lures included plastic worms/tubes that are black, pumpkinseed, and watermelon colored, white and chartreuse spinner baits that are 1/8 to 1/4 ounce. Flathead and channel catfish have been reported at a good catch rate. Anglers are catching channel catfish on cut bait and night crawlers fished tight-line on the bottom. For flathead catfish, use live shad, large suckers, and goldfish


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