April – The best time of the year to catch fish in Ohio?

Hold on to your Rod - It’s April! As soon as you can, get out and grab a couple of hair jigs in 5/8 ounce to 1 ounce that any local bait shop will carry, colors such as purple, green, and black are my favorites. I personally like Taylor Tackle made hair jigs with buck tail hair and a stinger hook to catch those short biting “eyes.” Early in the season I may tip them with a few minnows. The jigging cadence will be key to you catching fish, always start with light 6 inch to a foot hop and change from there if you’re not catching, remember to contact the bottom with every hop. Also, don’t forget a blade bait for muddy water or early morning, vertical jigging these can get a good reaction bite. Most people will be fishing out of Wild Wings, Turtle Creek, and Cooley Canal and even to the west on the Maumee Bay sandbars and as far east as Catawba later on in the month. Fish will be stacked in shallow areas and on the rocky reefs in front of the Davis Besse cooling tower. This is a very popular time of year and the catch rate can be great. A glance across the lake will have boats packed into certain areas where some fish are, but there will be many other places that are overlooked. Remember you don’t need to be in a pack of boats to catch fish. Be respectful of each other’s water best you can, so everyone can catch fish. A lot of boat traffic at high speeds can run fish out in a hurry. At times walleyes will be less than a mile from shore or up to seven or eight miles out on the reefs later in the spawn. For anglers looking for the BIG bite, trolling deep diving stick baits off the reefs in the deeper water will be key. Bandits, Reef Runners, and deep diving husky jerks will work great looking for big suspended females. Paying attention to weather and local rivers will decide if your fishing trip is going to be productive. Online, USGS provides up to date river levels and MODIS imagery will give daily satellite images of the lake. When the western end of the lake is brown, that’s normally a good judge to wait a couple days for the muddy water to settle. Of course, the Maumee and Sandusky rivers will be lined with anglers this time of year also. Once water temps go above forty degrees the fishing will be great for walleye throughout April in both rivers. 1/4 to 3/4 ounce jigs with chartreuse or white 3 inch curly tails are my go to in the ‘Dusky and the Maumee. I will use a Carolina rig, which is a 5/8oz. or 3/4oz. inline sinker with three to five feet of line to a floating jig head with similar tail colors and size. The techniques can intertwine between rivers but those are most productive for me, with bigger weights necessary with higher current flows. Downtown Fremont, Ohio will get you started in the Sandusky and Downtown Maumee or Perrysburg will give a look at many wading anglers in the Maumee River. Since Lake Erie is the walleye capital of the world it’s easy to let other fish species go to the back burner. Well, April is one of the best times, if not the best time of the year to catch fish in Ohio.

Catfish will be hot and will bite about anything, anywhere! Crappies and bluegills will be biting well in marinas and bays. Ice out crappies around docks and structure will love minnows under a bobber. Lastly, can’t forget about bass, largemouth and smallmouth will take off as the month progresses. Both can be caught in marinas, harbors, break walls and piers. Buy your fishing license for the new year and get on the water, I guarantee you won’t regret it!

As always if you’re looking to book a walleye or perch charter ask for me at Sea Breeze Charters @ 877-616-7780 (seabreezecharters.com). Be safe out there, Capt. Jonny Fickert

Dock
with
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2023!

Ohio Cold Water Bass

No matter what body of water you decide to fish in Ohio, the early spring bites can be extremely tough. It requires a lotof patience. But I use a few of my old tricks that I have been using for so many years when fishing tournaments as well as guiding on so many of our Ohio lakes and reservoirs.

One of my key areas to start are the areas where there is a deep channel that has quick access to the shallow bays close by. The first lure I grab is a 1/2 or 3/8 ounce spinnerbait in a light gray or off white color with a larger top Colorado blade and a smaller willowleaf blade on the bottom. with 10 or 12 pound P-Line Floroclear. This allows me to slow roll the spinnerbait and at this time of the year even as the bass metabolism is still slow, it will produce results.

Another area that will produce, will normally be around deep-water docks. And as the water warms, I will switch to shallow water docks. I mainly search for docks that have wooden dock posts rather than the galvanized steel dock posts. Bass will relate to wood much quicker.

I once spoke at a Bassmaster Seminar here in Akron, many years ago and during our break I was talking to my close friend Jimmy Houston, and we were discussing seasonal patterns of bass. And he mentioned so many different ways to adjust to catch more bass during the tough times such as cold fronts during the spring and throughout the year. I will share these with you in next month’s issue of the Angler Magazine. Until then please have fun and be safe out on the water.

Ron Slater - Pro Angler N.P.A.A 808, Bassfisher273@ gmail.com (330) 780-3652