Along with the hot weather of last weekend, came some hot fishing action in the Cleveland area! Saturday, Kevin and I went out of the Rocky River to take one last crack at catching an upgrade derby fish. We were close to cracking into the money with a nice 10.4lber, but fortunately the 12.7lber that Paul and I caught a few weeks ago held strong to win the 2012 Spring Fling Derby! Fishing was good for Kevin and I as we caught around 10 nice walleyes all in the 7+lb range. 1 oz 45′ back and 2 oz 30′ back with Burnt Shrimp Sliver Streak blades definitely being the hottest sets.
Sunday, we got a late start, but heard of a hot bite between the 36 and 38N line off East 72nd in Cleveland. With Julia, her 2 sisters Jo and Becky, and Jo’s boyfriend Chris, we went out of 72nd and started smoking them right off the bat. A real nice grade of 6-8lbers with the same hot sets and colors as the day before. A storm kicked up to the North and kicked the lake up into 4-6footers at the snap of the finger. I lost count in the couple hours we were out, but it was a fire drill on the boat most of the time, I’m guessing 15-20 hookups in 3 hours. The storms cleared shortly after we came in and we ended a great day with a fish fry, some cold refreshments, and corn on the cob. What a way to spend Memorial Day weekend!
Monday, Julia, Kevin and his son Josh, and our new friend Cory hit up 72nd again. The bite and grade of fish wasn’t as hot as Sunday, but we still caught a boat load of fish, and 4 year old Josh caught his first ever walleye! A priceless moment and his first of what I’m guessing will be an endless number of the marble eyed monsters! With temps in the 90s, and hardly any wind, Julia and I got lots of exercise swimming along with the boat to keep cool. Surface temps by mid afternoon hit 72.5 degrees! Thats crazy considering its still May! Copper back blades were good in the morning, then chartreuse heated up in the afternoon.
From all the reports I’m hearing, the bite is good from the Lorain dumping grounds all the way past Cleveland. Fish are coming mostly in 45′ + depths, as anything shallower seems to be loaded the pesky bait stealing fish.
