OHIO DEPARTMENT OF NATURAL RESOURCES
DIVISION OF WILDLIFE
Weekly Fish Ohio Fishing Report!
CENTRAL OHIO
Hargus Creek Lake (Pickaway County) - Crappies are active in coves and around woody cover; use minnows or jigs suspended under a bobber. A good number of bluegill and redear sunfish up to 8 inches can be caught on wax worms in shallow areas this time of year. A large population of largemouth bass from 12-15 inches inhabits this lake, with fish over 20 inches present; these can be caught on crankbaits, plastics tubes and creature baits near points with cover. Note special bass regulation: anglers can possess 4, two under 15 inches and two above 15 inches. Electric motors only.
Kokosing River (Knox County) - Ohio’s first water trail, this scenic river offers paddlers and anglers access to 28 miles of river fishing. Smallmouth and rock bass can be caught on small crankbaits, tubes and jigs. Sunfish, crappie and catfish are present and offer good fishing. Maps and information are available from the ODNR at www.ohiodnr.com.
NORTHWEST OHIO
Resthaven Wildlife Area (Erie County) - Located just outside Castalia on SR 269, the area has 444 acres of water contained in 10 different ponds. Bluegill fishing is usually very good this time of year; try casting wax worms, small jigs and spinner baits throughout the pond edges. Ponds 7 and 8 should be doing the best right now; pond 8 has a boat ramp and handicapped-accessible fishing pier. Boats may be used on the other ponds; however, no ramps are available. Gasoline motors up to 9.9 HP may be used on all ponds.
Killdeer Plains Reservoir (Wyandot County) - Located 10 miles southwest of Upper Sandusky along SR 67, this features a new floating boat ramp and 241 acres of fishable water. Smallmouth bass should be biting this month; try the rocks along the island and the south shore, casting the shoreline using crayfish or leeches under a slip bobber set just off the bottom. Also, try casting dark-colored tube jigs or crankbaits along the shore. Crappie should also be biting; try the south shoreline using live minnows under a slip bobber or 1/8-oz. jigs with a twister tail tipped with a minnow. There is a 10-HP limit here.
Barton Lake (Williams County) - Located on the St. Joseph River Wildlife Area, along CR J, west of CR 10, southwest of Montpelier, it is 19 acres and now is an excellent time to pursue crappie; try the inlet near the fishing access off of CR J, especially using minnows under a slip bobber. A ramp for small boats is available. There is a limit of 10 sunfish area-wide and only 5 bass, which must be 18 inches in length, may be kept.
NORTHEAST OHIO
Tappan Lake (Harrison County) - The white bass bite is firing up. Anglers are catching exceptional quality fish around the dam; live gizzard shad have been a hot bait, while crankbaits are also delivering consistent action. Crappie continue to be taken on minnows and jigs near shore; wax worms under a bobber are producing sunfish. The bass bite has picked up somewhat, with soft plastics producing some good fish along the shoreline.
Deer Creek (Stark County) - Crappie have moved up along the shoreline of this quiet electric-only lake; anglers are taking numbers of fish on minnows fished about 3 feet below a bobber. Similar setups tipped with wax worms are producing nice sunfish. Daytime catfishing has also been good; use nightcrawlers off the bottom for these tasty eaters.
SOUTHEAST OHIO
Veto Lake (Washington County) - Crappie, sunfish, catfish and largemouth bass should all be biting at this 160-acre lake. For crappie, fish a minnow under a bobber at 2 feet off the bottom along woody vegetation. For sunfish, try small worms, wax worms or minnows under a bobber, particularly near the picnic shelter and the boat ramp. Fish for largemouth bass using green-colored crankbait; cast out along banks, quick drop-offs and vegetated areas and reel in slowly. Channel cats can be fished for at night using cut baits, chicken livers and nightcrawlers.
Hanging Rock Ponds (Lawrence County) - 50-75 ponds of various sizes can be found on this recreation area operated by the Wayne National Forest, surveyed and stocked by the ODNR Division of Wildlife. Some can be driven to by vehicle, some by ATV (with Wayne NF Trail Permit) and some are walk-in only. Spring is a great time to catch bluegill as they gather in shallow water to spawn, which makes these ponds a great destination. During this time, bluegill become aggressive and can be fairly easy to catch; both the novice and experienced angler will enjoy fishing since these fish can be caught with just about any tackle, will take a great variety of baits, are not particularly wary and fight well for their size. Once you locate a bed, cast a piece of worm, jig or other bait beyond the bed and slowly retrieve it through the nesting area.
SOUTHWEST OHIO
Rocky Fork Lake (Highland County) - Prior to the heavy rains, bluegill were being taken in 2-4 feet of water along shorelines with fallen trees and brush; use wax/red worms or pieces of nightcrawlers fished 1 1/2-2 feet below a small bobber. Try saugeye fishing in 5-10 feet of water near the islands and along shoreline points; cast silver-colored crankbaits and jigs with twister tails, or trying slowly drifting while bouncing a nightcrawler along the bottom.
Ohio Brush Creek (Adams County) - The white crappie — up to 14 inches — are being caught on live minnows around stumps and laydowns; creek level is good and so is the water quality.
OHIO RIVER
Meldahl Dam (Clermont County) - Channel catfish are being taken in good numbers all along the river; try chicken livers, shrimp or night crawlers fished on the bottom.
R.C Byrd (Gallia County) - Anglers looking for catfish should see continued success this week; popular baits in the past have included white twister tails and grubs, bucktails, nightcrawlers, minnows and cut bait. Hybrid-striped bass may still be caught but success will start to slow; try plastic shad, shadrap or flukes. Sauger may also be caught downstream of the dam; try white or chartreuse twister tails and grubs.
LAKE ERIE
Regulations to Remember: The daily bag limit for walleye on Ohio waters of Lake Erie is 6 fish per angler; minimum size limit is 15 inches. … The daily bag limit for yellow perch is 30 fish per angler on all Ohio waters of Lake Erie. … The trout and salmon daily bag limit is 5 fish per angler; minimum size limit is 12 inches. … Black bass (largemouth and smallmouth bass) fishing is closed to possession (no harvest) through June 28.
Western Basin: Walleye fishing was good over the past week (as of Tuesday); the best areas were from the turnaround buoy of the Toledo shipping channel to West Sister Island, Niagara Reef, W of Rattlesnake Island and Green Island and N of Kelleys Island. Trollers have been catching fish on crankbaits and worm harnesses; drifters are using worm harnesses with bottom-bouncers or are casting mayfly rigs. … Yellow perch have been caught N of Kelleys Island; perch-spreaders with shiners fished near the bottom produce the most fish.
Central Basin: Walleye have been caught N of Lorain in 48-50’ of water, off Rocky River in 53’ of water fishing on the bottom using worm harnesses and nearshore off Cleveland in the early mornings and after 6 p.m. in 35-38’ of water using rapalas, husky jerks and reef runners. Anglers are starting to catch some fish in 38-42’ of water off Mentor Lagoons trolling dipsy/jet divers with worm harnesses and stick baits. … Yellow perch fishing has been good (weather permitting) in 42’ of water N of Gordon Park in Cleveland, in 38’ of water N of Bratenahl and in 38’-42’ of water N of Mentor Lagoons. Fishing has been very good in 40-43’ of water N of the Ashtabula and in 28-42’ NW of Conneaut; perch-spreaders with shiners fished near the bottom produce the most fish. Shore fishing has been good off the East 55th Street and East 72nd Street piers in Cleveland using spreaders with shiners; mornings have been best. … Smallmouth bass fishing has been good in 15-25’ of water around harbor areas in Cleveland, Fairport Harbor, Geneva, Ashtabula and Conneaut. Largemouth bass are also being caught in the same areas using drop-shot rigs with rubber worms, soft-craws, leeches, tube jigs and crankbaits.
Steelheads: Most steelhead have begun their journeys back to Lake Erie for the summer; a few fish are still in the lower portions of the main rivers. Note that the US Fish & Wildlife Service will be in Conneaut Creek over the course of this week putting lampricide into the river and crews will be collecting larval lamprey. All steelhead have been stocked for the year; please gently release any smolts that you may catch.
Vermilion River: Fish from the Vermilion boat ramp up to SR 2.
Rocky River: Fish from the metroparks marina to the fords.
Cuyahoga River: Fish in Cleveland Harbor and at the Rt 82 dam.
Chagrin River: Fish from the soccer fields upstream to the SR 2.
Grand River: Fish from the Fairport breakwall up to Painesville.
Arcola Creek: Fish the river mouth, estuary and creek in the metropark.
Ashtabula River: Fish from the river mouth up through Indian Trails Park.
Conneaut Creek: Fish from the river mouth up to Creek Road.
The water temperature is 63 degrees off of Toledo and 53 degrees off of Cleveland, according to the nearshore marine forecast. … Anglers are encouraged to always wear a U.S. Coast Guard-approved personal flotation device while boating.
