Florida Bass

Joe Bokar with A Florida Bass

On the Fly

Steelies

Steelie

Photo of The Week

Congratulations to Steve Waterwash of Concord, OH.  His photo of this Brown Trout was selected for the Photo of the Week.

Walleye Divers

For all you walleye fisherman out there that troll Lake Erie....  Here are some new deep divers from company right here in Ohio.  Dan Heyne from Coldwater, Ohio, is an avid fisherman that started Big Fish Tuff Tackle Company.  Dan launched his new product, the Tru-Trip 50 Deep Diver.  

Steelie

Big Lake Erie Walleye

Huge Walleye Caught by Ross Robertson in Lake Erie out from Cleveland.

Walleye Running Hard

Huge BC Steelhead

Huge BC Steelhead



St Paddy's Day Fishing Shirt

Great shirt to rock for St. Paddy's Day.....   Lucky Shirt

Pymatuning Walleye 2012

Photo by Pennsylvania Fish and Boat Commission

The 2011 DNR netting surveys showed the walleyes had bounced back to healthy population levels, and those stocked in 2009 were near or over the 15-inch legal size.  Biologists in both Ohio and PA  predict outstanding walleye fishing at Pymatuning in 2012.

Full Story :  http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/12043/1209535-358.stm

OFS Gear

Support the site with a OFS Lake Erie Grand Slam T-Shirt.

Sizes

Large $11.99X-Large $11.99

Musky Country

Musky Country: Zero2Hero is a visually stunning introduction into what it takes to go after the toughest fish in freshwater - the mighty musky - with a fly rod.   Zero to Hero will transport you into the heart of the beast and along the journey shows you an angling frontier right in the heartland - Nothern Wisconsin.

New State Record Steelhead

The new state record Steelhead was caught off Avon Point in Lake Erie.  The fish was measured and weighed at Erie Outfitters weighing in at over 21 pounds.  The fish was caught on Reel Thrill Fishing Charters.  The fish measured in at 38 inches and weighed 21.3 pounds.  Great catch....

Fly Fishing Film Tour

The Fly Fishing Film Tour will be making two stops in Ohio this year.  The first stop will be in Columbus on Thursday, March 8, 2012 at the Gateway Film Center located at 1550 N. High Street
Columbus, OH 43201.  The doors will open at 6:00 with the show starting at 7:00.

The second Stop will be in Cleveland Heights on Tuesday, March 20, 2012 at the Cedar Lee Theatre located at 2163 Lee Road Cleveland Heights, OH 44118.  Doors will open at 6:30 with the show starting at 7:00.
 

State Records

HOOK AND LINE DIVISION
Type	Pounds	Length	Location	Name	Date
Bass, Hybrid Striped	17.68	31"	Deer Creek Lake	Rosemary Shaver, Logan	May 4, 2001
Bass, Largemouth	13.13	25 1/16"	Farm Pond	Roy Landsberger, Kensington	May 26, 1976
Bass, Rock	1.97	14 3/4"	Deer Creek near London	George A Keller, Dayton	Sept 3, 1932
Bass, Smallmouth	9.5	23 1/2	Lake Erie	Randy Van Dam, Kalamazoo, Mich.	June 16, 1993
Bass, Spotted	5.25	21"	Lake White	Roger Trainer, Waverly	May 2, 1976
Bass, Striped	37.10	41 1/4"	West Branch Reservoir	Mark Chuifo, Ravenna	July 2, 1993
Bass, White	4	21"	Gravel pit	Ira Sizemore, Cincinnati	July 1, 1983
Bluegill	3.28	12 3/4"	Salt Fork Reservoir	Willis D. Nicholes, Quaker City	April 28, 1990
Bowfin	11.69	33 1/4"	Nettle Lake	Christopher A. Boling, Montpelier	May 9, 1987
Bullhead	4.25	18 1/2"	Farm Pond	Hugh Lawrence Jr., Keene	May 20, 1986
Burbot	17.33	36"	Lake Erie	Bud Clute, Chardon	Dec.20, 1999
Carp	50	40"	Paint Creek	Judson Holton, Chillicothe	May 24, 1967
Catfish, Blue	96	54 1/2"	Ohio River	Chris Rolph, Williamsburg	June 11, 2009
Catfish, Channel	37.65	41 1/2"	LaDue Reservoir	Gus J. Gronowski, Parma	Aug. 15, 1992
Catfish Shovel/Flathead	76.5	58 5/8"	Clendening Lake	Richard Affolter, New Philadelphia	July 28, 1979
Crappie, Black	4.5	18 1/8"	Private Lake	Ronald Stone, Wooster	May 24,1981
Crappie, White	3.90	18 1/2"	Private Pond	Kyle Rock, Zanesville	April 25, 1995
Drum, Freshwater (Sheepshead)	23.5	37 1/8"	Sandusky River	James S. Williams, Fremont	July 21, 2001
Gar, Longnose	25	49"	Ohio River	Flora Irvin, Cincinnati	Aug 31, 1966
Muskellunge	55.13	50 1/4"	Piedmont Lake	Joe D. Lykins, Piedmont	April 12, 1972
Muskellunge, Tiger	31.64	47"	Turkeyfoot Lake	Matt Amedeo, Akron	April 28, 2006
Perch, White	1.72	14 1/8"	Lake Erie	Terry R. Patton, Galion	January 29, 2011
Perch, Yellow	2.75	14 1/2"	Lake Erie	Charles Thomas, Lorain	April 17, 1984
Pickerel, Chain	6.25	26 1/4"	Long Lake	Ronald P. Kotch, Akron	March 25, 1961
Pike, Northern	22.38	43"	Lyre Lake	Chris Campbell, Dayton	Oct. 3, 1988
Salmon, Chinook	29.5	42 7/8"	Lake Erie	Walter Shumaker, Ashtabula	Aug 4, 1989
Salmon, Coho	13.63	34 3/4"	Huron River	Barney Freeman, Kansas	Dec.1, 1982
Salmon, Pink	3.06	20 1/8"	Conneaut Creek	Andy Janoski, Chagrin Falls	Sept. 24, 2004
Sauger	7.31	24 1/2"	Maumee River	Bryan Wicks, Maumee	March 10, 1981
Saugeye	14.04	30 1/8"	Antrim Lake	Roger Sizemore, Orient	November 24, 2004
Sucker, Buffalo	46.01	42"	Hoover Reservoir	Tim Veit, Galena	July 2, 1999
Sucker, (other than buffalo)	9.25	27 1/2"	Leesville Lake	Wayne Gleason, Wellsville	April 3, 1977
Sunfish, Green	.99	10 5/8"	Farm Pond	Timothy C. Hively	May 8, 2005
Sunfish, Hybrid*	2.03	12 1/4"	Champaign County Farm Pond	Ray Durham, Mechanicsburg	July 21, 2003
Sunfish, Longear	.20	6 1/2"	Big Darby Creek	Brian Zimmerman, Hartville	June 6, 2004
Sunfish, Pumpkinseed	1.10	10 1/2"	Portage County Farm Pond	Scott Boykin, Uniontown	June 12, 2009
Sunfish, Redear	3.58	15"	Licking County farm Pond	Bert Redman, Newark	Oct 2, 1998
Sunfish, Warmouth	1.32	10 3/4"	Mahoning County Farm Pond	Douglas Koenig, Salem	July 19, 2009
Trout, Brown	14.65	29 1/4"	Lake Erie	Timothy L. Byrne, Brooklyn, Mich.	July 15, 1995
Trout, Lake	20.49	34"	Lake Erie	Tom Harbison, Natrona PA	April 20, 2000
Trout, Rainbow (Steelhead)	21.3	38"	Lake Erie	Jason Brooks, Tallmadge	June 25, 2010
Walleye	16.19	33"	Lake Erie	Tom Haberman, Brunswick	November 23, 1999
BOWFISHING DIVISION
Type	Pounds	Length	Location	Name	Date
Bowfin	8.79	31"	East Harbor	John Ehrman, Brook Park	April 30, 1989
Carp	47.65	38"	Sandusky Bay	Rich Cady, Newark	May 28, 2008
Gar, Longnose	14.72	50 1/2"	Little Miami River	Jake Kerstetter, Springboro	July 11, 2008
Sucker, Buffalo	37	40 1/4"	Hoover Reservoir	Don Paisley, Columbus	May 14, 1983
Sucker, (other than buffalo)	11.21	31 1/2"	Maumee River	Brent McGlone, Toledo	May 18, 2007

Maumee Walleye Run

I have been traveling to Maumee, Ohio for the annual walleye run for many years now.  Every spring I look forward to the chance of landing into a big one. The Maumee River is located in Lake Erie's western basin. Every spring the walleye migrate from Lake Erie into the Maumee River to spawn. This spawn makes up the largest walleye run east of the Mississippi River.

The start of the run differs from year to year.  Most anglers start fishing for the walleye in early March, but the local say that they start fishing a couple weeks after the ice is through melting.  The start of the run depends on two aspects; the weather and water temperature.  The more rain in the forecast, the more water flow that will be coming out of the river.  The walleye need the water flow to be up to get into the river.  If there is a minimum flow out of the river, then not as many fish can get up river.  Even if there is the right amount of flow coming out of the river, the water temperature needs to be right for the fish to start the run.  The water that reaches the lake needs to be between 35 to 40 degrees to trigger the walleye to migrate up the river.

The fishing technique that most anglers utilize is the swing technique.  This consists of throwing your line straight out in front of you and letting your bait swing downstream.  As your bait is swung downstream it will be bouncing on the bottom.  Once your bait swings downstream, reel your bait in with a slow retrieve.  This technique is the best for the Maumee River because of the amount of people that will be fishing.  This trip will definitely be a crowded one.  There will literary be hundreds of anglers lined up and down the river.

Most anglers use floating jigs with a twister on a Carolina rig.  The Carolina rig consists of a swivel, an 18" leader, a slip sinker, a floating jig, and a twister.  To make a Carolina rig: 1. Make a 18" leader of line. 2. Put your slip sinker on your main line.  3. Tie on your swivel to main line (The swivel acts as stopper for your slip sinker and also gives you something to tie your leader onto).  4. Tie your leader onto the swivel.  5. Tie your jig onto the leader.  6. Put twister on jig.  The anglers use the Carolina rig to prevent snags, the river bottom is very rocky.  The females migrate to these rock beds to lay the eggs.

The run usually lasts from March to the first part of May.  During the run, there will be fresh fish coming into the river when the water levels are up.  From past experiences, a great time to fish is when the water level is descending.  At this point the high water levels are going down, and the high water levels bring fresh fish into the river.  These fresh fish will be more willing to bite because they have not yet spawned.  The peak of the spawn is usually the second or third week of April, but can differ from year to year as well.   The best time to catch the big females is in the pre-spawn to the peak of the spawn.  The females are the first to migrate into the river, and this is why anglers are trying to fish the very first run to come into the river.  During the post-spawn most of the females migrate back to the lake, but the jacks stay in the river to feed.

Hopefully this was helpful to anyone looking to make the trip up for the walleye run.

Link for Lake Erie Walleye Tee...

http://www.worldfishingoutfitters.com/ProductDetails.asp?ProductCode=LEW

We are Moving info to a new server... We will be back soon...

 Tasha McMahon with a Bass.