Lake Loramie:
Crappie fishing has been good. Fish around brush 18-24 inches deep with pearl-white jigs or minnows. Bluegills are still hitting waxworms and redworms off of the rocks, walls and around docks. Use jigs tipped with waxworms. Catfish are hitting nightcrawlers and cut bait. Saugeye fishing has been slow.
C.J. Brown Reservoir:
Crappies are being caught around the marina and the sunken trees using minnows or jigs tipped with waxworms. One angler said he caught about 300 crappies on a trip last week with about 30 being keepers (9 inches). For walleyes, try trolling over the humps with a crawler harness. A few perch and bluegills are being caught around the marina.
Caesar Creek Lake:
Saugeye fishing was good on the flats and around the island when the water temperature was down, but has slowed with warmer temps. Look for it to improve as temperatures drop. Those trolling for walleyes or muskies have been surprised to catch large crappies (12-13 inches). Crappies can also be caught off of deep structure with minnows on jigs. Fish in the creeks for catfish with chicken liver, cut shad or nightcrawlers.
Rocky Fork Lake:
Look for sunken structure 10-15 feet deep to find crappies. Use minnows or jigs tipped with waxworms. Bass have been hitting green/pumpkinseed worms and Shad-Raps off of rocky points and around Fisherman’s Wharf. Bluegills are biting on waxworms in the coves. For catfish, use nightcrawlers or cut shad and fish off the south beach.
Acton Lake:
Channel catfish are biting on creek chubs or nightcrawlers fished along the bottom during the late evening or early morning hours. Bluegills are biting wax worms or cut nightcrawlers as bait. Saugeye are being caught by anglers using nightcrawlers, bass minnows or jigs trolled through water that is 8-10 feet deep.
Paint Creek Lake:
Due to the low lake level the only open ramp is at the marina. Crappie fishing has been picking up. Fish with minnows or chartreuse twisters or tubes about 3-5 feet deep around wood. Fish in brush for bluegills with waxworms. For bass, look for rocky points and cast shad-colored crankbaits.
A few saugeyes are being caught by trolling a chartreuse/red glitter twister along the beach and through the hazard zone.
Grand Lake St Marys:
Fishing has been halted by an EPA advisory not to have contact with the lake. It is unknown how long the order will last and what effect the toxins in the water will have on fish.
Lake Erie:
Perch fishing has been good in the Western Basin. The best reports have come from the gravel pit west of West Sister Island, north of West Sister, the Toledo water intake, northwest of North Bass Island, Ballast Island and off of the Marblehead lighthouse.
There have been no walleye reports.
For Lake Erie information, visit wildohio.com or call (888) HOOK-FISH.
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Outdoors columnist Jim Morris can be reached through his Website at
www.examiner.com/outdoor-recreation-in-dayton/jim-morris
or by email at sports@DaytonDailyNews.com.
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