BLOGGER FEED BACK

Yesterday I logged by 18,000th  person to visit my website and I am puzzled why I have had only a few comments sent to me. I encourage everyone to send there comments or questions and I will respond accordingly. Tell me what you want to see or read about over the winter months or for next fishing season. Hope to still see you on the water!

ODNR CENTRAL AND WESTERN BASIN FISHING REPORT 10/16

Western Basin

Walleye fishing effort has been low recently. There have been a few reports from “A” can of the Camp Perry firing range, northeast of Crib Reef, and Green Island. As temperatures drop expect fishing to improve as migratory walleye return to the islands and also nearshore areas. Trolling crankbaits behind planer boards is a popular method for catching fall walleye.

Yellow perch fishing improved over the past week. The best areas have been the turnaround buoy of the Toledo shipping channel, the gravel pit, northeast and northwest of West Sister Island, “C” can and “F” can of the Camp Perry firing range, Northwest Reef, southwest of Green Island, Rattlesnake Island, the green buoy northwest of Catawba State Park, Gull Island Shoal, and E of Kelleys Island and Kelleys Island Shoal. Perch spreaders with shiners fished near the bottom produce the most fish.

Largemouth bass fishing continues to be good in harbors and nearshore areas around Catawba and Marblehead, and also in Sandusky Bay. Some smallmouth bass have been caught around Kelleys Island.

Central Basin

Walleye fishing was good off Huron, 14 miles northeast of the river around the offshore dumping ground. Worm harnesses with inline weights, or crankbaits with snap weights have produced the best catches. There weren’t many angler interviews this past week, but excellent fishing continues with a few limit catches in 70 to 71 feet of water north of Geneva and in 56 to 70 feet of water north of Ashtabula. Anglers are trolling wire line with white, pink, blue, yellow, orange, green and red stick baits.

Yellow perch fishing has been fair north of the condos that are east of Vermilion, around the south end of the sandbar, north of Lorain and off Ruggles Reef. Excellent fishing was reported in 46 feet of water northwest of Rocky River, in 38 to 42 feet of water northeast of Gordon Park, in 47 feet of water northwest (the hump) of Fairport Harbor, in 46 to 54 feet of water northeast of Ashtabula and in 39 to 53 feet of water northeast and northwest of Conneaut. Spreaders with shiners fished near the bottom produce the most fish. Shore fishing off the Cleveland and Fairport area piers has been slow.

Smallmouth and largemouth bass fishing has been good in 10 to 20 feet of water around harbor areas in Cleveland, Fairport Harbor, Geneva, Ashtabula and Conneaut. Anglers are using crayfish and leeches.

White Bass fishing has been hit and miss off the E. 55th street and E 72nd street Piers in Cleveland and the long pier in Fairport Harbor. Small fish are being caught off the Fairport Harbor pier. Evenings have been the best. Lots of large white bass are being caught by boat yellow perch fisherman off Fairport Harbor. On the lake, look for gulls feeding on shiners at the surface; the white bass will be below. Anglers are using agitators with jigs and small spoons.

Steelhead Trout are being caught off the long and short Piers in Fairport Harbor and also in the river up to Vrooman road. Anglers are using jigs tipped with maggots with a bobber and small spoons. 

The water temperature is 61 degrees off Toledo and 66 degrees off Cleveland according to the nearshore marine forecast.

Anglers are encouraged to always wear a U.S. Coast Guard-approved personal flotation device while boating

VERMILION DUMPING GROUNDS 10/13

Returned to this area on Sunday and what a difference a single day can make. We fished for three hours and only pulled 6 fish before our customers decided to pull the plug due to rough water and a slow day. We pulled all the fish the first 45 minutes prior to a wind change, once the wind switched from north west to north the bite stopped. Five of the fish came on long leads 140, 160 and 180 with 2 ounce weights on Reef Runners (Mud Minnow and Copperhead). The largest fish was 29 1/2 inches and weighed 9.7 lbs. We tried to maintain a speed of 1.8 to 2.0 knots. Hoping some changes are made in this weeks weather report, winds may make it difficult to fish. Typical weather for October. See you on the water!

VERMILION DUMPING GROUNDS

Fished north of the dumping grounds Saturday and pulled 27 walleyes some real nice HAWGS. Pulled Reef Runners all day with one side with leads of 20, 30 and 40 feet with no weights and the other side 140, 160 and 180 feet with two ounces. The longer leads worked best but both sides pulled fish all day. Speed varied from 1.6 to 2.0 knots. Best Reef Runners were Mud Minnow, Pink Lemonade, Green Flash and Pink Panties. This area has been good since the Huron Walleye Challenge, nice to see some of the big fish returning to the Huron and Vermilion area. There were 29 fisherman in this second annual IBEW local 246 tournament and 508 lbs. of walleye were caught. The largest fish caught was 29 3/4 inches aboard Trolling Eye. Congratulations to this team. See you on the water!

ODNR LAKE ERIE FISHING REPORT 10/9

Western Basin

Walleye fishing effort has been low recently and there have been very few reports from the western basin.  As temperatures drop expect fishing to improve as migratory walleye return to the islands and also nearshore areas.  Trolling crankbaits behind planer boards is a popular method for catching fall walleye.

Yellow perch fishing was fair over the past week.  The best areas have been around West Sister Island, near the N end of the Toledo shipping channel, 9 miles out from the Toledo water intake, West Reef, W of Green and Rattlesnake islands, between Kelleys Island and Lakeside, NW of Kelleys Island, E of Kelleys Island, and off of Kelleys Island Shoal. Perch spreaders with shiners fished near the bottom produce the most fish.

Largemouth bass fishing continues to be good in harbors and nearshore areas around Catawba and Marblehead, and also in Sandusky Bay.  Some smallmouth bass have been reported around Kelleys Island. 

Central Basin

Walleye fishing is improving off of Huron, mostly 8 to 15 miles NE of the river.  The offshore dumping grounds SW of the weather buoy has produced big fish over the past week.  Worm harnesses with inline weights, or crankbaits with snap weights have produced the best catches.  Fishing continues to be excellent in 68-71’ of water N of Geneva and in 68-72’ of water NE of Ashtabula.  Some limit catches were reported this past week.  Anglers are trolling wire line with white, pink, blue, yellow, orange, green and red stick baits.

Yellow perch fishing has been fair 1 mile N of Beaver Creek, in 38’ of water N. of Lorain, and at the S end of the sandbar between Vermilion and Lorain.  Excellent fishing was reported in 38-40’ of water NE of Edgewater Park, in 42’ of water NW of Wildwood Park, in 44-53’ of water NW (the hump) of Fairport Harbor and in 44-55’ of water NE of Geneva.  Spreaders with shiners fished near the bottom produce the most fish.  Shore fishing off the Cleveland area piers has been slow.

Smallmouth and largemouth bass fishing has been good in 10 to 20’ of water around harbor areas in Cleveland, Fairport Harbor, Geneva, Ashtabula and Conneaut.  Anglers are using crayfish and leeches.

White Bass fishing has been hit and miss off the E. 55th St and E 72nd St Piers in Cleveland and the long pier in Fairport Harbor.  Small fish are being caught off the Fairport Harbor pier.  Evenings have been the best.  On the lake, look for gulls feeding on shiners at the surface; the white bass will be below.  Anglers are using agitators with jigs and small spoons.

Steelhead Trout are being caught off the short Pier in Fairport Harbor and also in the river up to Vrooman Rd.  Anglers are using jigs tipped with maggots and small spoons. 

The water temperature is 64 degrees off of Toledo and 67 degrees off of Cleveland according to the nearshore marine forecast.

Anglers are encouraged to always wear a U.S. Coast Guard-approved personal flotation device while boating

NORTHWEST OF GREEN ISLAND 10/6

Returned to the west end of the lake after fishing the Huron Walleye Challenge and fished northwest of Green Island. Pulled 25 walleyes on small Stinger Spoons behind 40 Tru-Trip divers trolling 1.8 to 2.0 knots. A north to south troll pulled most of the fish. Pooh Bear Purple and Jager Bomb were the dominant spoons. Running Saturday and Sunday to the Huron and Vermilion area to fish for some Hawgs. See you on the water.

FISH HURON WALLEYE CHALLENGE

First of all I would like to thank everyone that made the tournament possible, it was once again a great tournament. A sincere thanks to the FHO board members Doug Studer, Sheila Earhart, Doug Steinwert, Rick Messenburg, Matt Solberg, Deborah Schisler, Don Ritzenthaler and to the City Manager of Huron Andy White. Congratulations to the winning team with 44.38 lbs. Tony Plue, Chuck Disanto, Rocky Caillihan and Jeff Hewit.  Also a special thanks to all of the local sponsors. A complete list of the tournament results can be found on OGF. We pre-fished for the tournament on Friday and located fish on the Vermilion dump and pulled fish running 40 Tru-Trips  40, 50 and 60 back in the morning and later in the day dropped the leads back to 110 and 120 with harnesses and double willow leaf blades. We could not pull any 9 or 10 pound fish  the day of the tournament and we finished with a total of 33.52 lbs. for five fish. We pulled 17 eyes for the day just not the hawgs needed to place. It was a great day and I enjoyed fishing with my good friends. A final thanks go out to Dan Heyne owner of Big Fish Tuff Tackle Company home of the Tru-Trip Divers for sponsoring us in the tournament. A total of 478 fish were caught in the tournament for a total of 3306 pounds an average of 6.9 lbs per fish.  Fall fishing is on now and should continue so if your interested in a trip call me NOW or your favorite Captain. See you on the water!
                

NORTH EAST OF PELEE ALONG CANADIAN LINE 9/27

Perched fish today moved from Sugar Island after only pulling 13 perch in an hour. Relocated north east of North Bass along the Canadian Line and pulled 168 over a two hour period. Averaged 3 perch per lb. not great but nice box with one walleye. See you on the water.