As another rewarding angling season all too quickly winds down for many, it is time for us to take a break from autumn's last few dwindling days to look back nostalgically on 2009 and utilize our reporting stations (thanks to you all!) , readership, the Division of Wildlife,and our www.buckeyeangler members to combine with our own impressions, and rank our area fisheries as best we can by species of fish, top five each.Fisheries were judged not so much on past reputation and stocking stats, but rather on sheer fish caught and their relative size.> Here then are the top five District #3 per specie, for 2009:
LARGEMOUTH BASS
5.Lake Milton- 15'' limit continues to accomplish good things here. Evenings around the lake's relatively few precious docks a favored pattern 4. Lake Erie- inshore breakwalls and docks bite has become a common alternative for many, not just as a bad waves alternative anymore. 3. LaDue Reservoir- Geauga County favorite's mid-lake section continues to be a key area producer for many 2.Portage Lakes- not a banner year.Suffered through a curious late summer period of ongoing doldrums. Still awfully productive. 1.MOGADORE RESERVOIR- production still ongoing right now. Weedline edges bite on soft plastics and Traps gave way to summer topwater frog bite that was nearly as productive and more exciting.Late season deepwater crankbait bite (daytime) now gives way to (evening) buzzbait frenzy.
SMALLMOUTH BASS
5.West Branch- revisits category after extended hiatus. Population seems to be growing in sizes, if not sheer numbers. 4. Berlin Reservoir- infrequent early spring action topped by autumn points and deep water humps bite on blade baits and jigs. Better average size than West Branch. 3. Milton- continues to surpass this lake's encouraging bigmouth bite, even for average size.South side stands out 2.Lake Erie- good catches continue to be more elusive all the time, even as the comparatively less alarming walleye drop off gets all the press and wailings of concern. Will the true glory days ever return? 1.CUYAHOGA RIVER- with the smallmouth's now decided supplanting of the largemouth's premier status on all stretches but the Edison Pool, the easier access for most, greater fighting ability per pound, economic concerns and sheer numbers, the inevitable ascension of the river to the top spot had to happen.
BLUEGILL (INCLUDES REDEAR,SUNFISH,WARMOUTH,PUMPKINSEED)
5.Cuyahoga River- has all the species and sub-species in impressive numbers, if not always impressive sizes. 4.Portage Lakes- every lake in system has its own personality, and good numbers of often decent-sized panfish. 3.Lake Punderson- deeper than at most other lakes, but cold and sweet from these mountain-like waters. 2. LaDue- bottlenecks and weedy backbays remain the favored haunts of many of these nice 'gills. 1.MOGADORE- not what it once was, but that once lofty status certainly isn't threatened by any other fishery either. Redears stayed a little deeper than usual in this cool year, confounding many.
CATFISH
5.Berlin- area around old ramp continues to produce many quality channels. 4.Erie- more than a little iffy consumption-wise, but you could do worse than fish off these breakwalls on a hot summer's night. 3. Milton- start hitting surprisingly early in the year here, and some nice ones available. 2. Mogadore Reservoir- decade-old stocking of channels has positively and utterly transformed what was once just a haven for brown bullheads. 1.CUYAHOGA RIVER- we're largely talking legendary Edison Reservoir, of course, though LaDue and Rockwell more than hold their own. All the species are somewhere along the way, and deeper holes harbor the stuff of which dreams are made.
CRAPPIE
5.Cuyahoga River- arguably this fabled fishery's most under-appreciated specie.Pike, bass, and cats get all the attention, but check out the deeper sides of the Gorge Pier with a bucket of minnows some evening. 4.Portage Lakes- widespread throughout the system, with Turkeyfoot often best for size. 3.Berlin- average size may best its sister lake, but West Branch has the numbers. 2.West Branch- J-Lake area a sleeper.Rock Spring's Road area the most fished. 1.MOSQUITO RESERVOIR- easy ongoing champ in this category. Cemetery and Pikie Bay regions notorious.
MUSKIE
5.Erie- few and far between, but islands harbor more than a few. 4.Berlin- seldom discussed but much in evidence this past year, especially in July. 3. Clear Fork- a favorite of the hard core. 2. Milton- not one of the better year's here, but still a standout. 1.WEST BRANCH- good solid season here in 2009.
NORTHERN PIKE
5. West Branch- some nice ones came out of here this past spring. 4. Milton- a fun surprise for more than a few muskie trollers here. 3. Mosquito- if only we could fish the off-limits areas...You can actually hear the carp in their death-throes back there. 2.LaDue- doesn't measure up to the downriver hotspots, but certainly superior to other area lakes and reservoirs. 1.CUYAHOGA RIVER- again an easy choice.Tops in the category for numbers, size, relative health, and reproduction -by wide margins.
YELLOW PERCH
5.LaDue- lots of numbers, not much size. 4. Lake Hodgson- successful stocking of several years ago needs repeated. 3.Lake Milton- "off-season" blade bait bonanza just getting under way hereabouts. Surprising size. 2. Mogadore- emergence as inland Erie option well-deserved. Head southwest from islands west of Rt.43 and plumb the deeper holes. 1.LAKE ERIE- again, best perchin' of the year for the heartier just getting under way. Limit raise overdue.
TROUT- many of those newly-stocked specimens so unsuccessfully pursued in spring soon after go deep and bite even more readily just prior to when this private lake hangs it up for the year. 4. Rocky River- most underrated and accessible of the major Erie tribs.Runs clear to Montrose, and so do the steelhead 3. Punderson- clear, clean, deep,productive, and amazingly underfished. 2. Conneaut Creek- remote but ongoing king of the tributaries, a particular favorite of Keystone Staters. 1. ERIE- summer steelie spoon bite combined with autumn small-boat slow -troll successes along breakwalls and shipping lanes becoming too popular and notorious to not emphasize
WALLEYE
5. Milton-winter might be better than summer, ice or no.
4. Mosquito- lots of numbers but too often the crappie are bigger.
3. Berlin- has its moments, but there simply aren't enough of them.
2. West Branch- spring minnow & jig bite on mid-lake humps re-emerged nicely in later summer. 1. Lake Erie- precarious indeed hangs the crown. Walleye bite increasingly unreliable in midst of economic downturn = increasing numbers of anglers trying inland options.
Let the arguments begin!
