Pelican Lake

Pelican Lake near Orr is a relatively large, nearly 11,000 acre, lake with a diverse fishery that provides opportunities to catch northern pike, bass - largemouth and smallmouth - walleye, black crappie, and bluegill. Special regulations for northern pike and bass were first implemented in 1998. The northern pike regulation protects all fish from 24 to 36 inches and the bass regulation protects fish from 14 to 20 inches. A fish population assessment completed in 2016 indicates the fish community has responded well to these regulations, with increased size observed for both northern pike and bass. In addition, abundance of black crappie, bluegill, yellow perch, and walleye has generally increased since the regulation was implemented.

Caesar Creek Lake:

 There has been some flooding and boat ramps have been under water, but the lake is not in bad shape. Saugeye fishing has picked up on the flats. Try tightlining a nightcrawler or trolling a crawler harness. Bass are tight to the banks. Use spinnerbaits or plastics in shallow water. Crappies have been hitting minnows in water 6-15 feet deep. Look for structure. A few muskies have been caught under the Ohio 73 Bridge and by bass fishermen.

Pymatuning Reservoir

Pymatuning Reservoir, fishermen are picking up crappie, yellow perch, channel catfish and bluegill. It also is anticipated that walleye will be available to catch shortly.

Rocky Fork:

 Bass fishing has been great. Use a red square-bill and fish around wood in water that’s 8 feet deep or less. Also try a spinnerbait, but keep it close to wood. Some nice size crappies have been caught in the brush on minnows or black-chartreuse jigs. For saugeyes, try trolling off of the south beach with a chartreuse/red flake twister, tipped with a nightcrawler piece. Bluegills are plentiful around docks.

St. Lawrence River Muskellunge

SUNY College of Environmental Science and Forestry (ESF) manages the St. Lawrence River muskellunge studies as ESF was contracted by DEC to do so beginning in 1987. Since that time, over 80 musky spawning and nursery areas have been identified, and those sites have been granted additional levels of protection from habitat alteration.
Despite that protection, muskellunge populations have declined, and the identified causes are habitat changes (vegetative and fish communities on nursery grounds), the presence of round gobies in spawning/nursery habitats, and Viral Hemorrhagic Septicemia virus (VHSv) mortality. The VHSv outbreaks in 2005 and 2006 saw massive die-offs of pre-spawn female muskellunge.
In assessing muskellunge population trends, the Annual Report states, “Spring trap-net surveys at index sites sampled each year indicated declining spawning adult abundance since 2008, with marginally improved catches in 2013 and 2014. Catches of young-of-the-year muskellunge in index seine hauls also declined since 2004, but improved lightly in 2013 and 2014.
“An angler diary program, which indicates the relative quality of muskie fishing through angler catches, also indicated that angling success remains well below the target of one fish caught per 10 hours of fishing.”

Lake Erie anglers

Fishing for walleyes, the big daddy for Lake Erie anglers, will be exceptional this year, thanks to outstanding hatches in 2014 and 2015. Anglers can expect to encounter many walleyes from year classes dating back to 2009 along with a fair number of fish hatched in 2003 and now measuring 28 inches and more. With a lot of fish from the successful 2015 hatches available this year, Erie walleye anglers can expect to catch a few sub-15-inchers. Anglers are reminded Erie walleyes less than 15 inches long must be released immediately.The daily walleye possession limit is four through April 30.
Quota allocations set by representatives of Ohio, Pennsylvania, New York, Michigan and Ontario set the possession limit at six walleyes daily from May 1 through Feb. 28, 2018.Yellow perch, easy to catch and tasty on the table, will be readily available this year on Erie waters, especially in the western basin. Central basin anglers will find average numbers, with most of the perch coming from the 2012 year class and some from the 2014 hatch.
The daily bag limit for perch is 30 with no minimum length regulation.Fishing for hard-fighting smallmouth bass is expected to be on par with recent years. Smallmouths love the hard-bottom areas near and off shore, leaving the harbors and marshes to exceptional numbers of largemouth bass. Areas with vegetation, brush and wood cover are likely largemouth hangouts.

Devils Lake

 

Ice fishing is done for the season, and the focus now will shift to the coulees that are opening upstream in the basin. Northern pike generally show up first, followed by walleyes and white bass, but some anglers already have reported catching walleyes and white bass. Basically, any ditch or coulee with open water has the potential of holding fish right now if it connects to Devils Lake or other bodies of water in the basin. Don't forget new North Dakota fishing licenses were required as of April 1.

Lake Powell

 It has come up 6 inches since last week. Spring runoff has begun a bit early due to warm days in March. That may change as another storm front is now on the way. Early runoff is a double edged sword for fishing success from Trachyte to Good Hope Bay. This week, reports indicated good steady fishing success for smallmouth bass, walleye, stripers and largemouth. Catching was steady for those using bass jigs along the shoreline and trolling with wally divers and shad raps at 2.5 to 3 mph in open water.
Early runoff will “muddy the water” and have some impact on fishing success in the northern lake. Right now the mudline is in the vicinity of White Canyon/Trachyte. The muddy water could move quickly downstream depending on the strength of the Colorado River inflow. Anyone headed to the northern lake this weekend will find good fishable water and good success in catching a wide range of species.
In the southern lake bait fishing was working better for stripers than most other methods. Most anglers were finding success at the dam. One reported suggested cutting an anchovy in half and hooking it on a 1/4 oz. leadhead. “Then cast the bait out about 50 to 60 feet into deep water and let it just drift down on its own arc controlled by the length of line out. By the time it gets to about 40 to 50 feet deep you’ll get a good bite.” The Wahweap fish cleaning station was busy every day with many fishing crews bringing in 20-30 fish to fillet