Anglers looking for trophy walleye in popular fishing derbies: NE Ohio fishing report

CLEVELAND, Ohio - Lake Erie continues to slowly cool down, with the Western and Central basins finally sinking below the 60 degree mark. Anglers are hoping their lures will now begin catching trophy walleye in the popular fishing derbies that yet have a month to go.

"Catches have been a little weird because of the weather, but that means there is lots of time to match, or hopefully to top, last year's winner," said Jason Fischer, head of the Fall Brawl and the Lake Erie Walleye Tournament Trail. "The predominate south winds have encouraged a lot of walleye to be caught, but the schools of big ones far offshore have been more elusive."

The Fall Brawl runs through Dec. 8, and the Walleye Slam derby ends on Dec. 1. The winner of both derbies a year ago was Ryan Smith of Olmsted Falls with a 12.54-pound walleye, caught just outside of the Cleveland Harbor break wall while trolling lures at midnight on a Friday, Nov. 24.

Anglers will face quite variable winds this week, which could change the fishing patterns and walleye locations. Both small boat fishermen who have been limited to near-shore waters, and anglers who are casting for walleye from shore, could finding derby success. Both are hoping schools of gizzard shad and shiner minnows will move to the more comfortable warmer shallow waters of Lake Erie, and bring with them schools of hungry big walleye.

Trout fishermen need rain The drought conditions around Northeast Ohio have discouraged the fall run of steelhead trout from Lake Erie to their traditional spawning waters of Northeast Ohio. Much fewer trout have made the run, and a lack of river currents have clogged the waterways with falling leaves, making fishing almost impossible.

Staging steelhead a bonus While the feisty trout are staging to run the rivers, they're feeding heavily along the near-shore waters from Vermilion to Conneaut to be ready when conditions improve. Small boat fishermen trolling spoons and diving plugs are finding a bonanza of the silver speedsters, which vault into the air when hooked and provide a tremendous battle on fairly light tackle and 10-pound test line.

Cleveland Harbor has been a steelhead hot spot, and with the brisk south winds this past week, fishing guides Sam Horn and Michal "Moke" Mochan have both scored all week by staying close to shore to ward off the quite brisk southerly breezes.

Big steelhead off Grand River There are some big steelhead waiting to make their runs, as well. The best so far that Don Moore's Steelhead Contest at Harbor Bait & Tackle on the Grand River has checked is a 13.8-pounder caught by Daryl Mummey.

Cuyahoga flow helps steelheaders The larger Cuyahoga River with its brisker flow has encourage stray steelhead trout to head up the large river, and make the rafts of falling leaves less likely. Look for the Cuyahoga to become an even stronger steelhead destination in the future now that the Ohio Division of Wildlife is making annual releases of year-old trout now that the Cuyahoga has made an amazing recovery after generations of pollution.