# ODNR Fish Report 9/20/06



## Big Daddy

Wildlife News 

Ohio Department of Natural Resources

Division of Wildlife

The Fish Ohio Report
September 20, 2006

CENTRAL OHIO

Indian Lake (Logan County)  Largemouth bass fishing has been heating up. Good locations include shoreline riprap areas on the main lake and in canals, and along pad and weed edges. Bass are feeding heavily this time of year on two to four-inch gizzard shad, and successful anglers are focusing efforts on areas that contain a lot of these shad. Try chartreuse & white spinner baits, small shad or chartreuse-hued crankbaits, and dark colored plastic worms and tube baits. Many bass are in the 12 to 18-inch range. Reduced temperatures earlier this week are anticipated to cause the saugeye fishing to really pick up. Troll shallow minnow crank baits along the breaklines and riprap on the breakwalls and dams. Casting rattle traps and vibrating blade baits in chartreuse or fluorescent orange hues in these same areas is also productive. Since 2000, the Division of Wildlife has stocked over seven million saugeye in Indian Lake. Crappie fishing should improve with the lower water temperatures as well. Focus on areas with a lot of cover, including brush and docks, using small minnows or jigs.

Olentangy River (Delaware and Franklin counties)  White bass are being caught below the dam at Delaware Lake. Saugeye can also be taken in this area. Smallmouth fishing is very good in any portion of this stream, especially north of the Highbanks Metropark. In-line spinners, small twister tails and small jerk baits are all good bets to catch these species. 

NORTHWEST OHIO

Archbold #1 and #2 (Seneca County)  Saugeye fishing in #1 is good. Anglers are using jigs and crankbaits near the bottom. Catfish fishing is good in #2. Use night crawlers on the bottom.

Beaver Creek (Seneca County)  Anglers are catching walleye and largemouth on worms or yellow twister tails fished under a bobber. 

Wauseon Reservoir (Fulton County)  Bluegill fishing has been good. Anglers are using wax worms under a slip bobber in five to seven feet of water.

NORTHEAST OHIO

Ladue Reservoir (Geauga County)  While fishing for most species has been slow in this 1,475-acre lake located one mile east of Auburn Corners on U.S. Route 422, channel catfish are keeping anglers spirits up. As a matter of fact in 1992, the 38-pound state record channel catfish was actually caught in this northeast Ohio lake! Good numbers of catfish are being caught on a wide variety of baits such as shrimp, chicken or beef liver, worms, and cut bait for bottom fishing, or throw in some stink bait for the cats to bite, whether homemade (form a mixture of cheese, decayed meat or minnows, animal blood, oats, flour, and anise into small balls) or commercially prepared. Remember, catfish are opportunistic feeders so you can try night crawlers, animal entrails, frogs, grasshoppers, clams, crayfish, and also artificial baits such as plugs, spoons, jigs, spinners and plastic worms. Catfish have small eyes and a keen sense of taste/smell compared to many other fish, so think big, colorful, and smelly. Always keep your bait geared to the size of fish that you would expect to catch and get your hook close to the bottom where catfish spend 90 percent of their time. One more thing: catfish like to get their mouths on the bait, so youll likely feel some nibbling before the fish takes the bait. Have patience and youll land a mess of keeper-sized fish or maybe a new record! A total of 5,770 channel catfish averaging nine inches were stocked in 2004. 

Shreve Lake (Wayne County)  Channel catfish are keeping anglers reels busy all over northeast Ohio right now and at Shreve Lake, this is no exception. Although this body of water is small (60-acres), shoreline access and catfish are abundant. Channel catfish have been stocked in good numbers during alternate even-numbered years. Approximately 1,500 yearling catfish are to be stocked this fall, following the last stocking of 1,518 yearling fish in 2004. See LaDue Reservoir above for details on fishing for catfish. Shreve Lake is located one mile west of Shreve, north of State Route 226. A boat launching ramp is accessible from Township Road 316 on the southeast corner of the lake (electric motors only please). A fishing pier, designed for people with disabilities, is located near the boat launching ramp. 



SOUTHWEST OHIO

Acton Lake (Preble County)  Channel catfish are biting on creek chubs or night crawlers fished along the bottom or between six to 10 feet deep. Fishing for channel catfish is productive anywhere in the lake. Bluegills are being caught by anglers using wax worms or night crawlers as bait. Bluegill fishing is bountiful along the banks. Crappies just starting to bite on minnows or PowerBaits Crappie Nibbles fished about eight to 10 feet deep. 

Grand Lake St. Marys (Auglaize and Mercer counties)  Channel catfish are being caught by anglers using night crawlers, cut shad, or chicken liver as bait. Fish the bait along the bottom of the lake. Anglers are having great success with #2/0 and #4/0 sized circle hooks. Keep the bait along the sides of underwater structure such as stumps. Bluegills are being a caught by anglers using wax worms as bait. Keep the bait under a bobber and near the bottom. Fish the bait along the shore, near any type of structure including the rocky areas and seawalls, and into the channels. Yellow perch are being caught on tip a jig with night crawlers, minnows, or wax worms. Fish the bait in four or five feet of water and about six-inches off of the bottom. Largemouth bass are being caught by anglers using rubber worms, spinner baits and crankbaits in the back of the bays. Shad color variations, chartreuse, glitter green, or pumpkinseed colored lures are working well. 



SOUTHEAST OHIO

Hocking River (Athens County)  Anglers are reeling in smallmouth bass in the deeper pools on the river near Whites Mill (Athens area) and in the Nelsonville area near the old train station. Try casting Rebel craws or other artificial soft craws. 

Ross Lake (Ross County)  Anglers have had success fishing for largemouth bass. Fish in the 10 to 15 inch range have been reeled in on rubber worms and top-water lures. Fishing has been most successful in the more shallow parts of the lake. Electric motors only at this 143-acre lake.

Tycoon Lake (Gallia County)  As temperatures begin to cool off, crappie are starting to bite at Tycoon Lake. Fish for crappie using minnows or two to three inch long grub tails that are chartreuse, pearl, grey or speckled grey in color. Suspend bait under a bobber in about six to eight feet of water. Sunfish fishing is starting to pick-up with some bluegills in the six to seven inch range being caught on wax worms or meal worms fished under a bobber. Catfishing with cut baits, shrimp or chicken livers has been excellent towards the breaks of deep waters where the waters start to shallow.



LAKE ERIE 

**The walleye daily bag limit is six fish. A 15 inch minimum size limit for walleye remains in effect for the entire season. The Lake Erie daily bag limit for yellow perch is 40 fish. The daily bag limit for black bass on Lake Erie is five. The minimum size limit for black bass on Lake Erie is 14 inches. The steelhead trout bag limit is now two. The minimum size limit for steelhead is 12 inches. **

Western Basin

Fishing effort directed towards walleye has greatly decreased as western basin anglers are switching to perch fishing. Some success has been reported on Kelleys and Gull Island shoals, in Ohio waters near Middle Island, and to a lesser extent around Rattlesnake Island and F can on the Canadian border. Drifters are using mayfly rigs or weight forward spinners, while most trollers are using worm harnesses or spoons with jet or dipsy divers. 

Yellow perch fishing is improving in the Western Basin. Over the past week the Toledo water intake, C and D cans of the Camp Perry range, Niagara Reef, Rattlesnake Island, Lakeside, Cedar Point, and Kelleys Island have all produced some limit catches. Perch spreaders with shiners fished near the bottom produce the most fish. Yellow perch are averaging 8 inches long. 

Smallmouth bass should start moving shallower as water temperatures drop heading into fall. Fish rocky drop-offs and reefs around the Bass Islands and Kelleys Island along with nearshore areas from Catawba Island to Sandusky Bay to find active fish. Tube jigs and drop shot rigs with goby imitations are the most popular set-ups for smallmouth. 

Central Basin 

Walleye fishing in the central basin has also slowed down with anglers switching over to perch. A few walleye have been taken at the north end of the sand bar between Vermilion and Lorain, seven to nine miles northeast of Geneva in 60 to 70 feet of water and seven to nine miles northwest of Ashtabula in 60 to 70 feet of water. Fish have been caught on worm harnesses trolled with dipsy divers. Fish are suspended and anglers are fishing down 35 to 50 feet. Yellow perch fishing is excellent in the central basin from one to three miles north of Huron to Lorain, four miles north of Euclid in 49 feet of water, two miles northeast of Rocky River in 38 feet of water, two to three miles north to northwest of Fairport in 51 feet of water, and two miles north of Ashtabula 45 feet of water. Fish have ranged from seven to 11 inches. Perch rigs with shiners fished near the bottom have produced the most fish. 

Smallmouth bass fishing has been excellent along the shoreline from Fairport Harbor to Conneaut in 15 to 25 feet of water. Fish have been caught on goby color tube jigs, goby color drop-shot rigs, jigs tipped with minnows or leeches, or by trolling crankbaits. 

The best white bass fishing has been one-half mile north of Eastlake CEI power plant. Anglers are using agitators with white, yellow and green twister tails. Shore anglers are catching white bass at the Eastlake CEI, Mentor Headlands lighthouse, Wildwood State Park, Rocky River, Avon Lake and Lorain piers using agitators with white, yellow and green twister tails or small spoons.

Steelhead are beginning to move up into the rivers and creeks and anglers are catching fish in the Rocky River, Chagrin River, Grand River, Geneva State Park, Conneaut Creek and along the Conneaut west breakwall. Shore anglers are using small spinners and spoons, and jigs rigged with a split shot under a light bobber. 

Lake Erie surface temperatures range from 67 to 69 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

Lawrence, Monroe and Washington counties  Water temperature is between 74 and 79 degrees F and conditions are clear and normal to low. 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. Flathead catfish are being caught on live shad, large suckers, and goldfish. Catfish success is best through the night and in the early morning hours before daybreak. Bass fishing has been challenging, due to the large amounts of forage fish available. A few largemouth, smallmouth, and spotted bass are being caught; reported bass catches ranged from four to 15 inches. 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, Deep Baby Ms and Deep Tiny Ms.


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## peple of the perch

what does this have to do with this report


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## Sluggo

"Ralph_drunkdork"....I think you owe everyone an apology for pimping your non-related topics/spam here. I come here to escape the very BS you have posted. Do you truly believe that posting that ignorant rant has contributed positively to this site in the slightest way? I can't speak for everyone but as for me....it's not welcome here. ......Since Ralph will probably not apologize, I will offer Big Daddy an apology for the obvious moron who tried to benefit from the popularity of your posts........your posts are almost always informative, helpful, interesting and have helped me to catch more fish and have more fun doing it ...... and are thus a 'must read' on my list when I see your name by them. In my opinion, this numb-nut simply is trying to take advantage of that fact.


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## TheKing

Sluggo - I think you speak for everyone here!


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