CENTRAL OHIO

Knox Lake (Knox County) – Largemouth bass are the most popular game fish in this lake. Fishing with tubes, crank baits and spinner baits around shoreline cover can be very productive this time of year. Largemouth bass must be 18 inches or longer to keep. Crappies are still being caught in nine to 10 feet of water in the old creek channel and next to deep wood. Channel catfish are being caught using cut shad and shrimp.

Oakthorpe Lake (Fairfield County) - This 41-acre lake in Fairfield County provides good largemouth bass fishing. Try plastics and spinner baits around shoreline cover and the lily pads on the north side of this overlooked lake. Crappies can be taken from the deep water on the west bank with a minnow suspended by a bobber; look for areas with submerged timber. Carp can also give anglers a fight here, try doughballs and night crawlers. Bluegills can be caught around lily pads. Use small worms, crickets, or insect larvae to catch these fish. One thousand channel catfish were stocked in 2006. Electric motors only.



NORTHWEST OHIO



Muddy Creek (Sandusky County) – Catfish are being taken in pretty good numbers in Muddy Creek at the State Route 53 bridge. Still fishing worms or shrimp off of the bottom at any time of the day or night is working great.

McComb Reservoir #2 (Hancock County) – The water temperature is 73 degrees and is clear. Catfish are being taken at night by tight lining worms, chicken liver or shrimp on the bottom. The west shore is producing the best results. Yellow perch over 10 inches long are being taken here as well. Fishing worms or minnows near the bottom during the day is working great on the perch. The north side seems to be the best spot.

Findlay Reservoir #2 (Hancock County) – The water temperature is 73 degrees and is clear. Catfish are being taken at night by tight lining worms, chicken liver or shrimp on the bottom. Fishing is great from the shoreline all around the reservoir.



NORTHEAST OHIO

Turkeyfoot Lake – During evening hours, both bullhead and channel catfish are biting frequently on this 483-acre lake. Anglers are having excellent success with chicken livers fished on the bottom near the outside edge of the weedline. After dark, anglers have reported good catfish action in the five foot range. This lake also has an excellent sunfish population, which can provide fast action and a tasty meal.

Leesville Lake – This 1,045-acre impoundment is the premier musky fishery in northeast Ohio. During July, musky spend most of their time near the thermocline. The most popular tactic for enticing summer time musky is trolling crankbaits near the thermocline depths. Another effective strategy includes using a fish finder to locate schools of gizzard shad and thoroughly trolling crankbaits around the shad.





SOUTHWEST OHIO

Indian Lake: The best fishing action has been early in the morning and in the evening. For Saugeyes, troll with a Rat-L-Trap, Shad-Rap.Anglers are reporting slow fishing from the shore. Bluegills have moved off of the banks and are hitting around rocks and docks. Catfish are biting on chicken liver, shrimp, cut shad and night crawlers

Paint Creek Lake: Crappies are hitting along banks around downed trees. Fish in four to 1 feet of water with minnows or pumpkinseed jigs. Jig for largemouth bass in about 4-10 feet of water. Bluegills are hitting wax worms in the coves around wood. Plenty of channel cats and shovelheads are being caught in the spillway on night crawlers and cut shad.

Rocky Fork Lake: A few saugeyes are still being caught in front of the south beach and around the island by trolling with Shad-Raps and Hot-N-Tots. Bass are hitting shad-like crankbaits and green/pumpkinseed tubes in seven to nine feet of water. Crappies are deep, 14 to 22 feet. Use minnows or try vertical jigging with small black/chartreuse tubes. Catfish have been hitting cut shad from the south beach to the campground

Lake Loramie: The best crappie fishing has been by boaters, working around structure at six to seven feet deep. Minnows have been the top bait. For bluegills, fish from the banks early and late. During the day, work the deep brushpiles. Catfish are hitting all over the lake on night crawlers, cut shad, chicken liver and prepared baits. For bass, fish off the banks in seven to nine feet of water with spinners and crankbaits

Cowan Lake: Crappies are being found in deep water. Fish at depths of 10 to12 feet over the drop-off in front of the marina. Minnows have worked best. Bass fishing has been good, especially early in the morning. Start with a top-water bait if the water is calm and then go with crankbaits in the coves around boats. The sailboat cove is usually a good place. Bluegills are deep, around brush. Use wax worms or redworms. Troll for saugeyes with small divers about 10 feet down. Work the area in front of the marina to the beach.

Caesar Creek Lake (Clinton, Greene, and Warren counties) - Saugeye anglers are taking good numbers early in the morning. Use a jig tipped with a worm. Cast or drift in the hazard area using a lead head jig tipped with a piece of worm. Troll deep diving crankbaits along submerged points or underwater humps.



SOUTHEAST OHIO



Lake Vesuvius (Lawrence County) – Anglers are catching good numbers of catfish throughout the lake fishing with cut baits or livers fished off the bottom. Anglers are still catching trout using powerbaits fished off the boardwalk pier. Largemouth bass are being caught in good numbers using a variety of artificials.

Turkey Creek (Lawrence County) – This week, black bass and crappie have been caught in good numbers using spinner baits, buzzbaits and worms fished in shallow water at approximately three feet of depth in locations all over the lake.



LAKE ERIE



**The daily bag limit for Lake Erie yellow perch dropped from 30 to 25 fish per angler effective July 1, 2008 in waters west of the Huron pier. The daily bag limit will remain at 30 fish per angler in Ohio waters from Huron eastward. Any boats landing west of Huron, Ohio will be subject to the 25 fish daily bag limit, while boats landing at Huron or points east will be subject to a 30 fish daily bag limit. Shore-based anglers west of the Huron pier will be subject to a 25 fish daily bag limit, while those on the pier and eastward will remain at 30 fish daily.**

**The walleye bag limit is 6 fish per day. The minimum size limit for walleye is 15”.**

**The black bass (largemouth and smallmouth) daily bag limit is 5 fish with a 14” minimum size limit.**

**The steelhead trout daily bag limit is 5. The minimum size limit for steelhead is 12 inches.**



Western Basin

West of the islands walleye fishing picked up in shallow water (12 to 22 feet) off of Crane Creek. Fish were also caught off of “B” can of the Camp Perry firing range and east of Kelleys Island. Drifting with bottom bouncers and worm harnesses or casting mayfly rigs has been productive. Trollers have been catching fish on spoons with divers, or worm harnesses fished with inline weights, snap weights, bottom bouncers, or divers. The best spoon colors have been pinks and purples.



The best yellow perch fishing has been off of Lakeside and Cedar Point. Perch spreaders or crappie rigs with shiners fished near the bottom produce the most fish.



Central Basin

Walleye fishing has been good on the sandbar between Vermilion and Lorain, northwest of the Chagrin River in 60 to 65 feet of water, northwest of Edgewater State Park in 58 to 64 feet of water, north-northwest of Fairport Harbor in 60 to 70 feet of water, northwest and northeast of Ashtabula in 68 to 72 feet of water. Trollers are using crankbaits or spoons and worm harnesses off jet divers, dipsy divers, planer boards and downriggers. The best action has been about 20 feet down and the best colors have been chartreuse, silver, orange, green and pink, and monkey puke.

Yellow perch fishing slowed down in the Cleveland area this past week. The best spots to try are northwest of Edgewater Park in 42 to 48 feet of water and northwest of Gordon Park in 45 to 50 feet of water. To the east, fishing remains good northwest of Fairport Harbor in 40 to 50 feet of water, and north of Ashtabula and Conneaut in 50 to 60 feet of water. Perch spreaders or crappie rigs with shiners fished near the bottom produce the most fish. Fish have ranged from seven to 12 inches.



Smallmouth bass fishing has been very good in five to 20 feet of water around Cleveland, Fairport Harbor, Ashtabula and Conneaut harbors. Fish are being caught on watermelon, pumpkinseed and green tube jigs.



Steelhead fishing is picking up and fish are being caught off Fairport, Geneva and Ashtabula. Anglers are catching steelhead on spoons while trolling for walleye.



Based on the nearshore forecast the water temperature is 72 off of Toledo and Cleveland.



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



To view the predicted weather forecast for Lake Erie visit: http://weather.noaa.gov/cgi-bin/fmtbltn.pl?file=/raw/fz/fzus61.kcle.glf.le.txt


To view Lake Erie boating information, safety tips, and launch ramps visit: http://www.dnr.state.oh.us/default/tabid/2062/Default.aspx





OHIO RIVER



New Richmond to Meldahl (Clermont County) – Water levels are up, around 28 feet, strong current but water clarity is decent. The water temperature is about 75 degrees. Catfishing is best at night. Try cut bait, chicken livers, dead shiners and shrimp. Sauger are being caught in the late afternoon and evening. Anglers are reporting success on crankbaits, Rapala Shadrap or Xrap.

Riverbend to Downtown Cincinnati (Hamilton County) – Water is high and running fast. Conditions are making fishing slow. Anglers are catching a few Channel catfish on cut shad and chicken livers.



Water levels in the River continue to fluctuate daily due to rainfall events. To check real-time water level data visit the USGS website at http://waterdata.usgs.gov/oh/nwis/rt. Anglers have been catching catfish in some areas of the river using cut baits as well as live bait including baitfish, crayfish and worms, but angling pressure has been light.