# Fairport Report



## Scorpio V (Aug 23, 2013)

We have been quietly having a nice start to our 2016 walleye season. Spent most of April and May at Anchor's Away Marina in Marblehead, Ohio. We are now back home in Fairport.

We have been fishing crankbaits almost exclusively since early April. While we were out west, our "go to" cranks were Bandits. Perch, IB-Frozen and Red Head Wonder Bread were all producing fish, but the absolute best color was Humble Bee. We fished these baits with leads from 20' to 100' depending on where we were and obviously what the fish wanted, shorter early in the season and longer later into May.

Now that we are home in Fairport, we have been doing mostly the same. Bandits, same colors, but the leads are longer. We have been consistently putting fish in the boat with leads between 100' and 150'. Friday we were struggling a bit and felt we needed to get deeper, so 70' out, a 1.5 oz. snap weight and 70' more, and it was game-on, 2.3-2.5 MPH was the speed. The fish have been wanting the faster speed. If you are having difficulty getting fish to bite, I would change your speed till you find what they want. As I mentioned, faster has been better than slower. As for where we have been finding fish we have been fishing off of the nuke plant in 45' to 60' of water. Off of the rayon plant in 25' of water. We have also spent some time between Headlands and the Lagoons 25' to 45' of water. Just have to look till you find them.

One last thing, expecting the spoon bite to start anytime now.


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## miked913 (Feb 29, 2008)

Thanks for the report! good fishing!


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## BlueW (Sep 22, 2014)

Thanks for the report.


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## Leighway (Oct 31, 2011)

Great report. Thank you


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## SKRAMER (Sep 17, 2014)

Thanks for the report.


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## Scorpio V (Aug 23, 2013)

You're welcome, I'll try to update the fishing reports as often as possible. Here are a few photographs too!!





































Notice the sea lamprey on the walleye in the third photograph. Tight lines!!


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## KPI (Jun 4, 2011)

Wow what a day we fished the Cleveland yacht club tourny today and ran out by you guys seemed like you were on the fish I tried to get a program dialed in out there but I could not figure them out like you guys thanks for trying help us out!!!!your pictures were killing me seeing them hogs had me jealous nice work today !!!!


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## Scorpio V (Aug 23, 2013)

Thanks KPI always trying to help out. Tight lines. We will be out again in the morning.


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## Scorpio V (Aug 23, 2013)

Hello all-

The plan was to fish crankbaits until the fish tell us they want to eat something else. Well, the walleye have spoken. 

For us (and most others it seems) the crank bite is over. We switched to spoons and have been doing well. Stinger spoons, anything purple and black or pink, orange and chartreuse with copper or pink backs have been working. We are fishing 47'-52' of water from Headlands to just west of Mentor Lagoons.

Our program has been, 40 Tru-Trips 65'-75' back with speed being anywhere from 2.1-2.8, but fish _*your*_ marks and put the bait right in their face. Have been sorting through smaller and sub-legal fish and have been filling the box with 18"-26" fish. We still pick a few 28" plus fish each trip, but it has been tough finding pods of large fish. When we begin catching small fish we move, looking for larger fish. It has been our experience that fish are schooling based on size/age class. I know the rule is "don't leave fish to find fish," but when small fish are the rule, you have to move to find larger fish.

Give us a shout on channel 68.

Tight Lines!


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## Bluewalleye (Jun 1, 2009)

Thanks for the update. Good to hear the spoon bite is starting. Nice and easy way to fish...


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## SKRAMER (Sep 17, 2014)

Thanks for the report again. I like that you showed the lure in the picture. Going to grab a few that color now.


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## fishkiller (Feb 6, 2007)

Very generous for you to share your information on this site, as I am sure you realize the possible consequences as a charter capt.


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## achase (Apr 7, 2014)

Are spoon harnesses working at all?


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## Scorpio V (Aug 23, 2013)

Fishkiller, there are lots of fish in the lake. You still need to find active fish and catch them. I have literally waved people over to where we are perch fishing and they cannot catch a fish and we are just knocking them dead. No reason not to share what's working.


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## Scorpio V (Aug 23, 2013)

Achase, we don't own any spoon harnesses, so I can't help you there.


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## achase (Apr 7, 2014)

Thank you


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## The Fishing Addict (Mar 19, 2014)

Thanks for the report... Keep up the good work!


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## Evileye (Jan 29, 2006)

Agreed, seems like fish are schooling by size. Thank you for the report.


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## ldrjay (Apr 2, 2009)

g&g you guys seem pretty cool. sharing information and flagging guys to put on fish. I'll be spreading your charter best I can. hope it helps. unlike another fairport based d bag charter I'm suggesting everyone that asked go to you. keep up the good work and reports! not evileye btw


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## TheShoreman (Sep 17, 2015)

ldrjay said:


> g&g you guys seem pretty cool. sharing information and flagging guys to put on fish. I'll be spreading your charter best I can. hope it helps. unlike another fairport based d bag charter I'm suggesting everyone that asked go to you. keep up the good work and reports! not evileye btw


I agree with Jay. Sharing is caring.


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## ldrjay (Apr 2, 2009)

shore man your a good one too.


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## Scorpio V (Aug 23, 2013)

Thanks Ldrjay, referrals are always nice and greatly appreciated. We try to help others as best we can. We will keep the fishing reports coming as time permits.
As a side, just want to mention that over the years I have met many OGF members and all have been friendly generous people. That makes helping out easy.

Tight Lines!


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## Scorpio V (Aug 23, 2013)

How is everyone doing? For us, the fishing has been good and it seems as though that has also been the case for many others. We have been fishing west of Fairport from just east of Mentor Lagoons to just east of Eastlake. 45' to 52' of water. The fish have been holding in this area all week, but we have had to search for active fish each day. 

We have been trying to fish spoons, but it seems that the fish are really responding to the harnesses. Double willows, purple/black and pink/orange have been best, but we have caught fish on almost any color combo, however the aforementioned colors have been best. Spoon colors are the same as the harnesses. We are fishing the large Stingers.

The skinny...
40 Tru-trips, 75'-85' back early, but as the sun begins to get high, we have been increasing our leads to 100'-110'. Speed 1.6-2.1 MPH. 

Here is a FYI. Yesterday one of the guys at our marina was having a tough time. He called looking for a bit of help. We turned him on to our program and location and he still ended the day blank. Talking to him back at the marina revealed that his reels were not calibrated, his gear did not match and he was fishing different types of line (some mono, some braid and different pound test), hence he was not consistent with his depths. I'm sure that has been his problem all season. Guys and gals, I can't emphasize enough the importance of dialing those reels in to within one foot, plus or minus. It can be the difference between a few fish and a full cooler.
A few photographs from Wednesday 7/6 too.




































Tight Lines!


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## Erieangler51 (Sep 24, 2012)

Nice work!! Fish should be on their way east from Cleveland before to long. 

Calibration is so critical on line counters. I check mine 3-4 times a year and I don't fish everyday. I always do 99 on the counter that way if I loose some im still good. People calling info out on the radio and you duplicate it to the T but aren't calibrated can be the most frustrating thing to deal with on the lake.


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## Scorpio V (Aug 23, 2013)

Thanks Erieangler51


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## SKRAMER (Sep 17, 2014)

Thanks again.


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## sherman51 (Apr 12, 2011)

great detailed reports. thanks to guys like you it makes it better on guys like me who only get to come up a couple of times a yr. sure hope they move east soon. coming up to Geneva on the 14th and will start fishing the 15th.
sherman


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## KPI (Jun 4, 2011)

Never made it out your way I worked Saturday soon enough I will be out there how did you guys do this weekend ????


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## Scorpio V (Aug 23, 2013)

Hey KPI, been out a bit here and there and putting fish in the boat. Not many truly big fish, but good eaters. We have been and are encouraging our clients to put those 18" and smaller fish back to grow another year. That said, if they really want to keep small fish, as long as they are legal we have no problem with that.


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## Scorpio V (Aug 23, 2013)

Time for a fishing report!!

We have been fishing 52'-58' of water northwest of the harbor. This past week we have been finding fish stacked here. Pretty much between Headland's Beach and just west of Mentor Harbor. We have been catching fish on spoons, but harnesses are outfishing spoons by a wide margin. We usually fish spoons and harnesses to see what produces best and this past week the harnesses have been the ticket.

We have been marking lots of fish 37' to 45' down. 40 Tru-trips 125' back with double willow leafs. Best colors have been watermelon, purple/black, purple/chartruse and pink/orange have all been equally productive. Speed has been 1.8-2.1.

We try to fish Tru-trips as much as we can because that's what we like, but it doesn't really matter what you use as long as you are putting your bait in their face. In-line weights, jets, Tru-trips, Dipsys whatever is on your boat will work. Sometimes one will work better than another, but you should be able to catch fish with whatever you have.

Here is something that can help keep those pesky non-target fish off of your lines, or at least reduce the number that you catch . If you are picking up a bunch of those time wasters, try dropping your leads back a bit and increasing your speed slightly. It also helps to move to slightly deeper water, provided you can find good marks there.

A couple of photographs from Wednesday, 7/20/16.









She's not really kissing that walleye!!










Sorry about the shadows from the trees, nothing I could do about it.
Give us a shout on channel 68 if you are on the water.
Tight lines!!


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## Leighway (Oct 31, 2011)

Great job and nice report. Thanks.


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## stinkyfingersjr (Oct 8, 2010)

I agree with everything you have said and I have had similar success with the faster speed and cranks glad to hear about the spoons


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## Scorpio V (Aug 23, 2013)

Hello gang-

Three days of fishing with mixed results. 

We had a charter booked for last Wednesday. Went out on Tuesday in the AM to look for walleye. Only had a few hours to fish due to work commitments, but found fish in the same areas we have been fishing for the past week or so. Depths, leads, speed and spoon colors were the same as in our prior report. Fish were active and boxed several nice eyes (22"-24") put back a bunch of sub 15" fish as well as three or four 16"-18" fish. Again just scouting for Wednesday's charter. Got out again in the evening with a buddy and Ldrjay. Got into the perch late, but the pick was pretty hot. Fished the "hump" 46'-48.' Went in confident that we were prepared for Wednesday.

Wednesday morning, we meet out guests and are anticipating a good day of fishing. Well, I'm sure you guessed where this is going... Started out fishing for walleye, we couldn't buy a legal fish. Threw every trick we know at them, changed speed, leads, fished deep, fished shallow, cranks, spoons and harnesses, I think we boxed one 18" eye and a jumbo perch. Decided to head to our perch marks from the previous evening, nothing. Moved a half dozen times, same thing. By now it's pushing noon and out guests are ready to "tap-out." We head in feeling bad that we couldn't make anything happen. 

Yesterday, Sunday, had a perch charter booked. Mom, Dad and two seven year old boys. We had fished a bit between Wednesday and Sunday. The bite had been good late afternoon and into the evening. So, we had our guests meet us at 4:00 PM. Headed to the "hump" in the same areas we had been fishing all week. Started in 46'-48' and hit a few pretty quick, then the action slowed. We picked a few here and there and decided to move. Several stops and not much happening. We had fish stacked below us, but nothing working. Decided to slide out to 56.' Found them thick again and set the anchor. Hit them for about 20 minutes to a half hour, but they shut down and by now it was getting late. Headed in with a lite cooler, but enough for a few fish fries. Had a blast with the boys. They were full of questions and interested in everything. It's refreshing, fishing with children. They just have fun, no worries about how big the fish are or how many are in the cooler. (Although they kept looking in the cooler wondering how they were going to tell who caught which fish.) Take a kid fishing whenever you get the chance!!

The perch are there. I think we just need a few days of fair weather and the bite will become more consistent and predictable. We are considering making a run to deeper water to see if we can find some big walleye. We'll let you know what happens if we get the chance to go.

As always, a few photographs.























































If you are out, give us a shout on 68. 
Tight lines!!


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## Scorpio V (Aug 23, 2013)

Hello all-

It's been a couple of weeks since our last report, but truth be told there hasn't been anything consistent to post. Well, let me "qualify" that. 

We have been catching fish, both walleye and yellow perch, but it hasn't been consistent, predictable or repeatable. 

Walleye have been biting anywhere from Headlands to Willowick in water 46'-58'. shallow running cranks and harnesses behind 40 TruTrips, in-line weights or snap weights and let's not forget the dipseys. 

Here's the dope...
Shallow Thundersticks and floating Rapalas. Colors: fire tiger, blue/silver, perch, purple/silver, clown all have been working. Harnesses: green, yellow, purple/black, orange/yellow, chartreuse/black have been working. Leads between 90' and 125'. Inline weights, 1 ounce to 1.5 ounces. Just keep switching things out till you find out what is working. Speed 1.7-2.1 MPH.

Here's the issue...
A generally unstable weather pattern that has the fish moving around and not feeding regularly. The need to search for fish daily while asking the question, "Why aren't they interested in the same pattern today that they were yesterday?" But, If you find them and figure them out, you can put fish in the box. It's just that things are changing on an almost daily basis. 

Use the information above to start and you should figure them out sooner rather than later.

Yellow perch:

The good news is that the fishing appears to be picking-up and I'm hoping that some consistency will come of it too. 

As of the last several days, we have or friends have been catching fish in the late afternoon/early evening. 42'-52' NW of the harbor. We have been catching fish in the deeper water, (48'-52') but the fishing has been better shallower. Look for the pack, it will most likely be around 50'-54'. If they aren't hitting them, slide in to 42'-44'. You should do well/better there. 

We have been fishing with preserved emeralds that we caught last fall and this spring, but others have been using golden shiners and catching fish. Our preference is fresh emeralds, preserved emeralds then golden shiners in that order.

If you are not catching, try cutting your minnows in half. Also, don't move until you have fished the area from the bottom to 15' or so off of the bottom. We have found that lately when the bite slows, if we start fishing off the bottom a handle crank or two at a time, we usually get back into them without moving. When it slows again we go back to the bottom and if necessary begin the process again moving up till we get bit again.

Hope this helps.

A few photographs from Thursday evening 8/18. 
90 perch... well the count at home was actually 89. The counter must have double clicked or someone opened the cooler!


















Can you guess who doesn't like to touch fish!!!

If you are out, give us a shout on 68. 
Tight lines!!


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## crestliner TS (Jun 8, 2012)

nice report and cool cooler


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## powrguy (Sep 4, 2010)

Great job on reporting. Much appreciated.


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