Blade Fishing Report: Walleye the focus of spring fishing

TOLEDO — The best angling information from area experts. • Lake Erie/walleye: The wind has ruled the water in recent days, and when the blow is really churning, it stirs up the lake and stains large sections of the nearshore areas, forcing the fishermen to seek out other options in their pursuit of walleye. Many of the reports coming in from the big lake include accounts of groups of anglers making three, four, or more moves before locating cleaner water and cooperative fish. The lake was starting to clear up recently and the bite was improving, but the winds earlier this week reversed that cleansing process. When fish have been located and demonstrated a receptive mood, anglers have been working Bandits and SPRO Madeye Divers at 1 to 1.3 miles per hour in the 42-degree water. On the reefs, anglers have had some success working hair jigs, but they anxiously await the switch to flip and the spring bonanza to commence. • Rossford tournament: The lake and adjacent waters will see a flotilla of boats early Friday and Saturday, wind and weather permitting, as the competitors in the Rossford Walleye Roundup charge out of Maumee Bay in pursuit of big fish and a hefty bucket of prize money. The launch has been moved to Cullen Park while the Rossford Marina receives some upgrades, and the fishing hours run from 7 a.m. to 3 p.m. both days. The Ohio and Michigan waters of Lake Erie are open to the 48 two-person teams of tournament fishermen, who hail from Ohio, Michigan, Indiana, Pennsylvania, New York, and Wisconsin. The weigh-ins take place at Bass Pro Shops in Rossford at about 4:30 each day, with an awards ceremony following on the final day. There will be bleachers in place and plenty of room for social distancing. The tournament organizers expect to pay out more than $20,000 to the winning teams. • Licenses/limits: In the waters of Ohio, everyone aged 16 years and older is required to have a current Ohio fishing license when fishing in all public waters. The annual resident license costs $25, and three-year, five-year, 10-year, and lifetime licenses are also available to Ohio residents. The daily walleye limit for Lake Erie and its tributaries is six fish, with a minimum length of 15 inches for any fish to be kept. • Maumee River/walleye: Anglers working the annual walleye spawning run have done very well in recent days after a surge of new water brought the level up and apparently pulled a rush of fish in from the bay. River watcher Joe Roecklein reported that the rising water level seemed to turn on the action at Orleans Park, Buttonwood, and Jerome Road. Wading to Blue Grass Island is not an option with higher water levels. The pros at Netcraft recommend using medium-weight spinning gear with Carolina rigs and floating jig heads dressed with three-inch grubs. The floating jig heads keep the hook just off the bottom and out of the rocks, but within the strike zone of the spawning run walleye. • Sandusky River: With the water level a bit above normal and the flow measuring at 51 degrees, Bernie Whitt at Angler's Supplies in Fremont reports that good numbers of walleye are moving up the river. The historic spawning grounds through the downtown corridor are producing fish, as well as those upstream in the park and cliffs areas. While more of the Sandusky River anglers have stayed with the traditional lead head jigs, the Carolina rigs and floating jig heads dressed with three-inch grubs minimize snags and are the best producers of fish. Chartreuse and other brighter colors have worked the best in the stained water. • Walleye run regs: Through April 30, a special set of regulations is in effect for the Maumee, Sandusky and Portage rivers during the walleye spawning run. Anglers are allowed to fish just a single hook which may not be larger than one-half inch from shank to point. Any double or treble hooks are not permitted. Any fish not hooked in the mouth must be released immediately. Fishing is allowed from sunrise to sunset only on the Maumee River from the Ohio Turnpike bridge to the Old Waterville interurban bridge at the end of Forst Road in Wood County, and from the Ohio 295 bridge to the Grand Rapids Providence Dam, and on the Sandusky River from the Waterworks Dam in Tiffin to the northern tip of Brady's Island in Fremont, and on the Portage River from Ohio 19 to the dam at Elmore. See Page 12 of the Ohio Fishing Regulations booklet for a full explanation of the site-specific regulations for these waterways during the walleye run. ___ (c)2021 The Blade (Toledo, Ohio) Visit The Blade (Toledo, Ohio) at www.toledoblade.com Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.