WEEKLY OHIO FISHING REPORT

WEEKLY OHIO FISHING REPORT
NORTHEAST OHIO
Highlandtown Lake (Columbiana County) This lake has been producing a lot of nice catfish, some as big as 39 inches. Inventive anglers are using everything from hot dogs to shrimp and salami to pick up the cats. Bluegill fishing has been spotty, but if you try the deeper water closer to the dam you can pick up a lot of bluegills. Try using red worms or maggots on pin-min ice fishing jigs.
Nimisila Reservoir (Summit County) Anglers have been taking decent sized bluegills on tiny lead headed jigs with a twister tail attached. This lake has also been yielding some largemouth bass up to 15 inches with anglers using artificial lures on the bass.
Killbuck Marsh Wildlife Area (Holmes County) Anglers are picking up small bluegills in Miller's Pond and some young bowfin out of Killbuck Creek off of Valley Road.
Tuscarawas River and Beach City Dam Tailwaters (Tuscarawas County) A good spot for those who like to fish for catfish, bullheads and carp. Nightcrawlers and canned corn fished on a tight line near the bottom should work. Some of the catfish are measuring up to 18 inches.
LAKE ERIE
Western Basin -- Consistent warm weather has heated up walleye fishing in the Western Basin. Expect to catch fish in typical summer locations between the Bass Islands and the Toledo shipping channel. Over the past week limits of 18- to 22-inch fish have been caught in the area around the Toledo Shipping Channel Turnaround Buoy, West Sister Island, and the Northwest Reef area west of North Bass Island near the Canadian border. Best methods have included casting gold weapons or drifting bottom bouncers with crawler harnesses, and trolling purple, orange or gold spoons. Although fishing has slowed around Kelleys Island, a few trophies continue to be caught by "trollers" around Gull Island Shoal north of Kelleys Island. Yellow perch fishing improved over the past week for anglers in the Catawba and Marblehead areas. Spreaders tipped with shiners have been most productive for 7- to 14-inch fish west of Catawba Island on Clinton Reef and in 25- to 40- feet of water northeast of the Marblehead Lighthouse. Kelleys Island and the Bass Islands have produced the best smallmouth bass catches. Tube jigs have been used to catch fish between 15 and 20 inches. June is the peak spawning period for smallmouth bass in Lake Erie. When practicing catch-and-release please return fish to the water quickly so that the bass may return to its nest to protect its eggs from goby predation. With warming water temperatures, largemouth bass fishing should improve in Sandusky Bay, the Portage River, East Harbor and West Harbor.
Central Basin -- Smallmouth bass are being caught in near-shore break wall and harbor areas from 15 to 30 feet of water around Vermilion, Lorain, Conneaut, Ashtabula, Geneva, Fairport and Cleveland. Fish 4- to 18-inches have been caught on tube jigs, jigs tipped with shiners and crankbaits. June is the peak spawning period for smallmouth bass in Lake Erie. When practicing catch-and-release, please return fish to the water quickly so that the bass may return to its nest to protect its eggs from goby predation. Yellow perch are being caught 2 miles north of Lorain in 35 to 45 feet of water, in 32 feet of water off of the "castle" between Ruggles Reef and Vermilion, 1 to 3 miles northwest of Ashtabula in 40 to 47 feet of water, 1 to 3 miles northwest of Fairport in 40 to 47 feet of water, in 40 to 44 feet of water at the Cleveland Crib, and 1 mile NW of Wildwood State Park in 35 to 42 feet of water. Spreaders tipped with shiners are taking fish from 7 to 12 inches. Walleye fishing in the Central Basin has been best from Beaver Creek to Lorain three to four miles out in 35 to 48 feet of water, in 34 to 38 feet of water north of Vermilion, two to four miles north of Lakewood in 40 to 51 feet of water, three to four miles north of Euclid and East Lake in 39 to 52 feet of water, and 4 to 7 miles north of Geneva and Ashtabula in 40 to 70 feet of water. Anglers have been trolling dipsy-divers with spoons (most color schemes with a copper back have been best) or crawler harnesses for fish from 15 to 30 inches. Steelhead have been caught by trollers using dipsy-divers with spoons 5 to 7 miles north of Fairport, North Perry and Geneva in 62 to 70 feet of water. The steelhead have ranged in size from 23 to 29 inches.
OHIO RIVER
Water conditions in the river have returned to normal pool and have cleared. Water temperature is running 73 to 78 degrees.
Washington County -- Fishermen are tight-lining with goldfish, chicken liver, or night crawlers to catch 20 to 30-inch catfish.Work any of the area along State Route 7 at Newport, near the Lafayette Hotel in downtown Marietta, or near the plants in Belpre.
Meigs County -- Fish for flathead catfish at night below the Racine Dam. Use night crawlers or a variety of cut bait.
Scioto County -- The Greenup area is hot, hot, hot for sauger right now! There is a lot of fish activity resulting in heavy fishing pressure. Sauger 12 to 16 inches are being caught on river shiners. These bait fish are against the wall on the lower fishing platform, so anglers are retrieving their bait with cast nets. Using a heavy lead slip sinker (about 1 ounce), anglers are jigging the shiners up and down touching the bottom. Use a 1-foot leader line when jigging. A few stripers are being caught, but activity for sauger is so good that most striper fishermen change their focus to sauger. A few walleye up to 4 pounds in size have also been caught. Channel catfish can be caught on cut bait, shad, and skip jack by using a heavy lead and casting out from the platform into the swift current.