T_boy
04-11-2008, 01:57 PM
The steelhead fishing has been good to outstanding from the Vermilion River to Conneaut Creek, with lots of trout in the deep pools and some moving to the gravel beds to spawn. There are post-spawn steelhead trout slowly moving back to Lake Erie, as well as fresh trout moving up the rivers. The Grand River has finally reached good status, with the eastern streams best right now.
Fly fishermen have been swinging minnow patterns - white and olive are tops - and bait fishermen have been suspending minnows and Berkley Gulp Minnows under a float to target the trout holding in the pools. Anglers are keeping their fingers crossed that today's rains won't raise water levels too high and muddy the waters yet again.
The walleye fishing around Western Lake Erie has begun to sparkle on and around the reefs, with anglers casting hair jigs tipped with minnows. The color patterns seem to be changing hourly, and stinger hooks attached to the jigs have been a good bet. The 12- to 14-foot depths around the reefs have been producing the most walleye.
The yellow perch fishing from Lorain to Cleveland is still very spotty, with some caught in 36- to 38-foot depths.
Spawning walleye have moved into the Sandusky River in Fremont and the Maumee River south of Toledo. The water levels are down and the current has been just right this week, with Maumee anglers finally able to access the prime Blue Grass Island area. Anglers are working the river bottom with jig-twister tail rigs and Carolina rigs with a barrel sinker, two- to three-foot leader and a floating jig head and brightly-colored twister tail.
The water is warm enough but the largemouth bass fishing is still sluggish as bass begin to move to shallows. Crappies and bluegills are being caught in the shallow bays in 2 to 5 feet of water on jig-maggots and minnows on most area lakes. Fish the northern shorelines at this time of year.
The Cleveland Metroparks is stocking rainbow trout in the East Branch of the Rocky River. Lakes and ponds that have recently been stocked with trout include Wallace Lake in Berea, Forest Hill Pond in East Cleveland, Westlake Recreation Center and Hinckley Lake in northern Medina County.
Fly fishermen have been swinging minnow patterns - white and olive are tops - and bait fishermen have been suspending minnows and Berkley Gulp Minnows under a float to target the trout holding in the pools. Anglers are keeping their fingers crossed that today's rains won't raise water levels too high and muddy the waters yet again.
The walleye fishing around Western Lake Erie has begun to sparkle on and around the reefs, with anglers casting hair jigs tipped with minnows. The color patterns seem to be changing hourly, and stinger hooks attached to the jigs have been a good bet. The 12- to 14-foot depths around the reefs have been producing the most walleye.
The yellow perch fishing from Lorain to Cleveland is still very spotty, with some caught in 36- to 38-foot depths.
Spawning walleye have moved into the Sandusky River in Fremont and the Maumee River south of Toledo. The water levels are down and the current has been just right this week, with Maumee anglers finally able to access the prime Blue Grass Island area. Anglers are working the river bottom with jig-twister tail rigs and Carolina rigs with a barrel sinker, two- to three-foot leader and a floating jig head and brightly-colored twister tail.
The water is warm enough but the largemouth bass fishing is still sluggish as bass begin to move to shallows. Crappies and bluegills are being caught in the shallow bays in 2 to 5 feet of water on jig-maggots and minnows on most area lakes. Fish the northern shorelines at this time of year.
The Cleveland Metroparks is stocking rainbow trout in the East Branch of the Rocky River. Lakes and ponds that have recently been stocked with trout include Wallace Lake in Berea, Forest Hill Pond in East Cleveland, Westlake Recreation Center and Hinckley Lake in northern Medina County.