Maumee River: The number of anglers targeting walleye on the river has dropped off, according to river watcher Joe Roecklein, who reports from his daily survey that the run appears to be winding down. He said most of the activity in recent days has been around Orleans Park, a traditional hot spot for white bass as that run overlaps with the end of the walleye run. Roecklein expects a good weather weekend will bring the white bass fishermen out in droves, and big surges of white bass should move in very soon. The white bass anglers fish spinners, twister tails, or minnows floated under a bobber. The remaining walleye anglers are taking fish with floating jigs and swirl-tail grubs fished on a Carolina rig with a ½- or 5/8-ounce sinker.
Sandusky River: There were baskets of white bass coming out of the waterway midweek, with minnows floated under a bobber producing strikes, and twister tails in white and chartreuse working well, too. There are still walleye to be had, with some anglers fishing the upper reaches of the free-flowing stream and landing limits, according to Bernie Whitt at Angler’s Supplies in downtown Fremont. From all accounts, the river is nearing the tail end of the walleye run and ready to shift full speed into what has historically been a very productive white bass run.
Lake Erie: The experts at Netcraft report the jig bite was on earlier this week at locations on the big lake east of Crane Creek and around Turtle Creek. Anglers were taking walleye on hair jigs of ½ to ¾ ounce, fished in 12 to 17 feet of water. The fishermen reported that a slower vertical jigging motion was working better than snapping the jig. The most productive colors have been pink and white, yellow and black, and chartreuse.
Detroit River: Michigan angler John Zuelke reported from the waterway that a recent trip on the river produced a 25-fish limit for his group in under four hours. They fished the waters around the Ambassador Bridge, jigging in 46 to 52 feet of water and a stiff current. One-ounce jigs dressed with a twister tail and a stinger hook did the trick, and the limit was made up of all “eater” size fish, 17 to 21 inches long.
Free fishing: Ohio residents can fish the state’s waters without a license during free fishing weekend, which takes Saturday and Sunday. Throughout the remainder of the year, anyone age 16 and older is required to have a fishing license. The annual Ohio resident fishing license costs $19 for residents, and licenses are available at participating agents and at wildohio.gov. The sale of fishing licenses helps fund the ODNR Division of Wildlife’s fish management operations.
LEWT tournament: A sold-out field of 60 teams took part in the recent Crown Battery/Sharpnack Direct Lake Erie Walleye Trail event at West Harbor hosted by Hi-Way Bait, Tackle & Lodging. The team of Jerome Dorlack of Northville, Mich., and Nick Meisner of Swanton took first with five walleye weighing in at 35.03 pounds. The duo used Reef Runner lures for the win and collected $3,300. Second place and $1,760 went to Ohioans Dan Debenedictis of Montville and Eric Fraiser of Newbury with a five-fish limit at 30.97 pounds. Bob Barnhart of Perrysburg and Erik Van Denk of Luckey took third with a 27.40 pound limit. Barnhart and Van Denk also had the largest fish of the tournament at 9.88 pounds.
First Published May 3, 2018, 1:11 p.m.
