Caesar Creek Lake: The musky fishing has been very good in the past three weeks. The best method has been trolling or casting musky lures along the banks and around sunken trees. Try Musky Cove and around the small island between Wellman ramp and the Ohio 73 bridge. Bass have been hitting crankbaits along the banks. Crappies are 8-12 feet deep at the mouths of coves. Bluegills are biting on waxworms around the stickups in the coves. Fish the flats for saugeyes by tightlining a nightcrawler or large minnow or try trolling around the island with spinners. For white bass, look for jumps in the main lake.
Lake Loramie: Crappie fishing has been good with the best action around bridges and in the brush about 2 feet deep. Use black/chartreuse jigs on cloudy days or white jigs on sunny days. Minnows have also worked well. Bluegills are hitting waxworms and redworms along the rocks. Saugeye fishing has been good in the Luthman Road bridge area. Anglers are trolling with crawler harnesses and Vib-E's or casting Rat-L-Traps from the banks.
C.J. Brown Reservoir: Walleyes are being caught over the humps by trolling nightcrawler harnesses and by jigging with nightcrawlers and bass minnows. Some nice crappies have been caught by boaters fishing anywhere from 12 to 20 feet deep, using minnows. Crappies are also being caught around the marina. For bluegills, work the fish attractors with redworms or waxworms.
Clark Lake: Good catfishing has been reported, mostly with nightcrawlers. Crappies have been hitting minnows.
Rocky Fork Lake: Good bass fishing continues. Work the rocky points with black/blue jigs or shad-colored crankbaits. Crappies have been caught 10-15 feet deep on minnows. Look for wood or deep structure. Saugeye fishing has been slow with a few taken by trolling Shad-Raps around the island. Use cut shad, chicken liver or nightcrawlers to catch catfish around the west side of the lake.
Paint Creek Lake: Fish along channel banks to catch crappies. Most are still deep. Fish in water 10-16 feet deep and work the areas about 2 feet off of the bottom with minnows. Bass have been hitting fire-tiger crankbaits and green/pumpkin plastics off of the rocks. Fish the flats for white bass with Roostertails and Mepps, anything flashy. A few saugeyes and crappies are being caught in the spillway.
Cowan Lake: Good crappie fishing has been taking place on front of South Shore Marina along the drop-offs. Use minnows or silver/red tube jigs. Bluegills have been hitting waxworms and redworms. Bass fishing has been picking up. Try a Mepps spinner or green/pumpkin plastics.
Acton Lake: The best crappie fishing has been off of the rocks at the dam and around the fishing pier. Use minnows and fish the drop-offs in 5-8 feet of water. Catfish have been hitting nightcrawlers, bass minnows and cut bait.
Lake Erie: Windy weather limited fishing over the past weekend (Oct. 1-2). Prior to the wind the best areas had been northwest of West Sister Island, east of Niagara Reef, around Rattlesnake Island, off of West Reef, off of Ballast Island, and east of Kelleys Island.
There have been very few walleye reports from the western basin recently. The best reports have come from Kelleys Island Shoal and Gull Island Shoal. Expect walleye fishing to improve as water temperatures drop and migratory walleye move back towards the west from the central basin.
For Lake Erie information, visit wildohio.com or call (888) HOOK-FISH.
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.