East and West Harbor for largemouth

Bass fishing has been excellent in East and West Harbor for largemouth; some good runs of white bass have also been coming in the harbors and up the local rivers. Some good smallmouth bass fishing has been going on in the Ohio island areas, mostly in 14-24’ of water. Look for a rough, rocky bottom area or drop off for the best numbers of smallmouth. Soft Craws working best for them now and large minnows also work well when hardware fishing gets slower.

Yellow perch fishing remains spotty with some of the best catches coming from the west side of Green and Rattlesnake Islands. Some other areas to look for perch are near B can and east of Ballast Island. NE of Kelleys Island shoal has had some perch also. The bait situation is not looking very promising for emerald lake shiners as many suppliers are having difficulty catching them since late last summer. Alternative minnows are golden shiners and fat heads which most bait shops are carrying now.

Upper and Lower Twin lakes

 Largemouth bass are providing most of the action at Upper and Lower Twin lakes. Live worms, minnows, soft plastics fished on a jighead and, to a lesser degree, crankbaits are said to be catching fish.

Lake Erie Walleye fishing

Lake Erie: Walleye fishing was slower than previous weeks as anglers dealt with strong winds and a large mayfly hatch. Those doing the best were heading out deep and found walleye straight out from Stony Point, Estral Beach and near the Femi Plant in 24 to 28 feet or near the Dumping Grounds and the E-Buoy in 23 to 26 feet. The fish were hitting on crawler harnesses with hot pink, purple or copper inline blades trolled with bottom bouncers. Yellow perch fishing was slightly better with a couple decent catches taken in 16 to 20 feet straight out from Sterling State Park and Toledo Beach with emerald shiners on spreaders. Anglers fishing 5 to 8 feet did well for smallmouth bass with tube baits straight out from Bolles Harbor. Shore anglers at Sterling State Park caught several large and smallmouth bass on husky jerks. Catfish were taken on crawlers in the marsh channel and lagoons. Those fishing from the Evans Municipal Pier in Luna Pier caught largemouth bass on buck tail spinners and channel cats on shiners and crawlers.

Post spawn bass

 The females are now off spawning beds and scattered, moving around chasing perch, spottails, and fattening up on crawdads. Broken rock shorelines, boulder points, downed timber, reed/ emerging weed cover while males are still on and guarding nests. Wacky worms, finesse worms, and a drop shot leech or minnow for the guardians.  X-raps, crawdad cranks, tubes, jigs, spinner baits for the roaming females have worked well.

Lake Lowell (Bass)

Summertime bass fishing is hitting its peak at Lake Lowell. The days are long, the weeds are coming up along the shorelines and anglers are catching healthy numbers of largemouth on a consistent basis. This is a time of year when you can really experiment with your tackle, as multiple tactics are likely to produce fish. Top-water frogs, plugs and poppers work well, especially early or late in the day.
Spinnerbaits, jigs and soft plastic creature baits work well for fishing in and around heavy cover. And crankbaits and jerk baits like Rapalas are effective near rocky shorelines and other open areas where they aren’t likely to get snagged up. Lake Lowell gets pretty busy on hot days and weekends, so be courteous to your fellow anglers and boaters. And remember, all bass are catch-and- release until July . If you are looking for keepers, Lowell also has channel catfish, bluegill, perch and crappie available.

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Rocky Fork Lake:

 Saugeye fishing continues to be good. Anglers are trolling with chartreuse or pumpkinseed twisters tipped with a piece of nightcrawler around the island and in front of both beaches in 6-10 feet of water. Bluegill fishing has been outstanding around docks, stumps and brush. Use an ice jig tipped with a waxworm. Crappies are around laydowns, 6-10 feet deep. Use minnows or black/chartreuse tubes. Bass fishing continues to be good. Try fishing points with crankbaits or look for weedbeds and fish the edges with buzzbaits or 6-inch pumpkin worm, Texas rigged.

Chatfield Reservoir

The walleye are starting to show up in their summer zones. Live bait, rigging leeches and worms on the main lake are producing for walleye, and jigging small three-inch grubs tipped with a leech or worm in 6 to 10 feet of water on the southeast side of the Swim Beach is also producing for walleye. Smallmouth bass are in spawn mode and large fish are being caught on jigs and crank baits along the dam especially along the southwest shore from Massey Draw to Fox Run picnic area. Trout can be caught trolling blue and silver spoons along the “No wake buoys” near Swim Beach. Try the handicapped pier fishing area with bottom baits like orange rubber power eggs. As water levels continue to rise, many fish, including bass and walleye, will follow the water levels and should be targeted in the extreme shallows of the shoreline and flooded timbers.

Sandusky River

 The white bass catch has varied on this stream, according to ODNR creel survey technician John Hageman, with some anglers taking significant numbers of fish and others getting just a few. Hageman said a lot of boats have been in the river in downtown Fremont, but none of the anglers was making large hauls of white bass. The fishermen in waders are doing better than the shore casters, focusing on the deeper holes in the river as the water level has dropped. Hageman also reported bottom fishermen using worms were connecting with channel catfish.