Grand Lake St. Marys: Crappie fishing has been very good with many limits being caught. Fish the channels around brush and docks with minnows or jigs. A 17-inch crappie was caught last week. Bluegills have been mixed sizes, hitting waxworms. Catfish are going after cut shad all over the lake.
C.J. Brown Reservoir: Crappie fishing has been excellent, but many are small. You might catch 15 to get two keepers. Use minnows and fish around the marina and around fish attractors. For walleyes, anglers are trolling and jigging over the humps with crawler harnesses and bottom bouncers. Erie Dearies and Vib-Es are also being used. White bass are being caught in the marina and along the rocks on minnows and inline spinners.
Cowan Lake: Crappie fishing has been excellent, even though many fish have been small. (There are no limits on crappies at Cowan.) Most are using minnows and fishing the north coves, in front of the marina and around the island. Bass are shallow, hitting jigs and spinnerbaits. For bluegills, look for brush and use waxworms. A few saugeyes have been caught on minnows.
Caesar Creek Lake: The lake level has been rising, but the Wellman ramp is still the only one available. Boaters and bank fishermen have been catching crappies about 9-12 feet deep in 15 feet of water. Use minnows. Bluegills have been nailing waxworms in brush. For bass, fish tight to the banks with plastics.
Rocky Fork Lake: Crappies are spawning and plenty have been caught at depths of 3-5 feet on minnows and white or chartreuse jigs. Look for laydowns and brush. Bass are also spawning, so fish tight to the banks around wood with spinnerbaits or shaky heads with pumpkin worms. Bluegills are around docks and brush, biting on waxworms. Saugeyes have been caught by casting the points with Shad-raps and Hot-N-Tots or trolling twisters tipped with nightcrawlers in front of the two beaches.
Paint Creek: Fishing has been excellent in the lake and the spillway. In the lake, crappies are being caught from 3-5 feet deep with the larger fish mostly on the deeper side. Work channel banks and any brush with minnows or black/chartreuse jigs. For bass, use jigs or shad-colored crankbaits along the banks from 3-6 feet deep. Use nightcrawlers and cut shad to catch catfish on the flats. In the spillway, crappies and saugeyes are hitting chartreuse/red flake twisters or minnows.
Acton Lake: Crappies are being caught all over. Look for any kind of wood or brush and fish with minnows or jigs tipped with waxworms. Bluegills have been biting on waxworms and crickets in brush. Bass fishing has been good with motor-oil-colored plastics worked close to the banks. Catfish are biting on nightcrawlers, cut shad and strawberry chicken. Saugeyes have been caught using Carolina rigs fished with chubs or bass minnows fished close to the bottom.
Lake Erie: Walleye fishing improved over the past week as weather conditions stabilized. Anglers trolling caught fish around "F" and "B" cans of the Camp Perry firing range, between Mouse Island and South Bass Island, northwest of North Bass Island, and north of Kelleys Island, including deep water around Kelleys Island Shoal. Jig fishing is still producing fish at little Cedar Point near Maumee Bay and on the reefs of the Camp Perry firing range. Yellow perch have been caught off the Marblehead Lighthouse and Vermilion.
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