Jim Morris’ fishing report for May 20

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By Jim Morris, Contributing Writer 12:57 AM Thursday, May 20, 2010

Grand Lake St. Marys: Crappie fishing continues to be excellent. Black crappies have spawned and the white crappies are moving in. Try fishing brushy areas as deep as 4 feet, but make it shallower until you get some action, Minnows are the best bait. Bluegills are hitting around docks and rocks on waxworms and redworms. Catfish are biting all over the lake on cut shad, nightcrawlers and creek chubs.

Rocky Fork Lake: Bass fishing continues to be outstanding. Anglers are using crankbaits or plastics fished along the banks, 4-7 feet deep. Some of the best action has been on a Baby Brush Hog. Bluegill action has been hot and heavy. Use ice jigs tipped with waxworms, redworms or pieces of nightcrawler and fish the shallow water in the coves. For saugeyes, troll the south beach or north beach areas with twisters (chartreuse with red fleck or pink), crankbaits or crawler harnesses.

Indian Lake: Even through wet and windy conditions, anglers have been catching saugeyes. Work the areas around bridges with bass minnows or vibrating baits. Dream Bridge, the Long Island bridge and the south bank have been hot spots. Catfish are everywhere, hitting nightcrawlers, cut shad, chicken liver and softcraws. Try fishing around pads in the old game reserve to catch crappies.

C.J. Brown Reservoir: Windy and cold conditions have kept anglers off the lake and have seemed to make the fish go deep. White bass are still being caught around the marina and around the north end of the lake. Use minnows, a Mepps, Roostertail or white twister. Crappies have gone to the deeper holes, but should move up to the banks to spawn as the water temperature rises. Catfish are hitting nightcrawlers and cut shad all over the lake.

Caesar Creek Lake: Crappies are being caught at varying depths around sunken trees and other structure. Smaller fish seem to be shallow with large fish about 15 feet deep. Bluegills are being caught around stickups and brush at depths around 6 feet. Anglers are trolling with crawler harnesses around the island or tightlining large minnows over the flats. Bass fishing has been very good with plastics and spinners worked close to the banks.

Paint Creek Lake: Crappie fishing has been good — plenty of small fish, but a fair number of keepers, too. Work structure at depths of 2-6 feet with minnows or chartreuse tubes. Bass fishing has been good around rocky points with green/pumpkin plastics. Bluegills are hitting waxworms close to the banks in the coves. Spillway fishing has been good for saugeyes with chartreuse twisters and for crappies with minnows fished under a bobber.

Acton Lake: Crappie action has been very good with 25-35 percent being keeper size (9 inches or larger). A few up to 16 inches have been caught. Use minnows and fish close to the banks around brush. Bass are on the beds. Use white spinners or green tubes. Saugeye fishing continues to be good below the dam. A few anglers are using jerkbaits, but most are using a bass minnow or nightcrawler fished under a bobber.

Lake Loramie: Bluegill fishing has been outstanding.  Work the rocky shorelines or brushy areas at 14-16 inches deep. Waxworms and spikes have been the best baits. For bass, use plastics or spinners close to the banks. Try a white Chatterbait. Crappies have been biting on minnows or jigs tipped with waxworms at depths of 1-2 feet around brush. Catfish are biting everywhere on cut shad, nightcrawlers and chicken liver. Saugeye fishing has been slow.

Lake Erie: Walleye fishing continues to be excellent when the weather cooperates. The best areas to try are around the Bass Islands, near A and B cans of the Camp Perry firing range and north of Kelleys Island. Yellow perch fishing has been good between Marblehead and Kelleys, east of Kelleys and north of Lorain.

For Lake Erie information, visit wildohio.com or call (888) HOOK-FISH.

Outdoors columnist Jim Morris can be reached through his Web site at www.tinyurl.com/ylh2rol or by e-mail at sports@DaytonDailyNews.com. 

Send us your photos

Did you or someone you know reel in a big one? The Dayton Daily News is accepting photos of local people and their catches. Send them to sports@DaytonDailyNews.com for a chance to be featured on Jim Morris’ fishing report. You can also submit fishing photos to be viewed online by logging on to:

DaytonDailyNews.com/go/fish

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