Lake Ashtabula
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Lake Ashtabula Fishing Reports
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Reports from all past years within a 60-day time frame
Species
Yellow PerchSeason
Ice
Technique
Vertical Jigging 20'+
Structure
Rock Pile
HotbaitRapala Jigging Rap 2" / Pearl White
Out of Stock
StrikeMaster Lithium 24v Auger 8"
$352.99
$449.99
Species
Yellow PerchSeason
Ice
Technique
Ice Fishing Jigs
Structure
Open Water/Basin
Forage
Minnows
Everyone’s favorite day of the week! This weekend was a good one on the lake. Saturday brought light winds and frigid temps, Sunday brought warmer temperatures with some wicked winds. Both days offered good fishing on the lake. Most of the lake is right about the 9″ of ice mark. Some spots have a little less and some have a little more, that is pretty typical for this time of the year. Lots of people out and about on the lake fishing as well. Most of the lake is snow covered with roughly 2″ of snow and if you ask me that is a perfect amount. We still have lots of cold weather coming up for this week and I wont be surprised to see a few extra inches of ice for next weekend. Water is still a little on the stained side, but clear enough cameras will work. Perch are very willing to bite right now. They were also easy to find cruising the flats looking for an easy meal. Most of the perch caught are what I consider “sorters”. If you sort through them you will end up with enough for a meal. Water depth did not really seem to matter, anything from about 8-22 foot of water seemed to have fish cruising through. Wax worms worked well, minnow heads, and whole minnows all caught fish. White or perch color seemed to be a preferred paint scheme. I also caught perch on a larger chubby darter. I did not use any types of plastics, but based on the way they were feeding I am sure they will work. I would also add all the perch caught were puking up minnows. One thing to note, I had lots of marks on the vexilar at one point, but no bites. Being curious as to why that was I decided to drop a camera down to see what was happening. It ended up being bull heads and small walleyes around the 4-5″ mark. I moved off of that location, and was thankful i had my camera along to save me the trouble. Just another tool in the arsenal that can save lots of time. Walleyes were rather active this weekend as well. Minnow heads or hard minnow baits like chubby darters, ripping raps seemed to do best. While they were not super active they were willing to bite 16-18 foot of water seemed to hold the most cruising walleyes. I also found it helpful to use a larger “noise making” bait to get their attention and then hook them on a smaller flashy spoon with a minnow. Something like a rattling flyer, or tingler spoon.
Salmo Chubby Darter Ice Perch / 1 5/8"
Out of Stock
Salmo Chubby Darter Supernatural Shiner / 1 5/8"
Out of Stock
VMC Tingler Spoon 1/8 oz / Glow Blue Shiner
Out of Stock
VMC Tingler Spoon 1/8 oz / Glow Gold Fish
Out of Stock
VMC Tingler Spoon 3/16 oz / Glow Tiger
$3.29
$5.29
Species
Smallmouth BassSeason
Summer
Technique
Ned Rigs
Structure
Points
Species
Yellow PerchSeason
Ice
Technique
Vertical Jigging 10-19'
Structure
Ledges
Forage
Minnows
Lots of perch activity going on. Fishing was best with a minnow head on a small tungsten jig head. Don't be afraid to try a wax worm instead of a minnow. Sometimes one works better than the other. Yellow and orange was the best color for me. 17 fow was about the average
Species
WalleyeSeason
Ice
Technique
Vertical Jigging 10-19'
Structure
Open Water/Basin
Forage
Minnows
Fishing on the flats. Best bite has been dawn and dusk.
Species
Yellow PerchSeason
Ice
Technique
Ice Fishing Jigs
Structure
Open Water/Basin
Forage
Minnows
Water Temperature
40°
Ice travel remains good, this weekend was another busy one on the lake. Most of the access points have roads plowed and allow good access to get places. Fishing remains decent, I have noticed on the weekends with traffic the bite tends to shut off earlier than most days. I am not sure if that is the February slowdown or if it is related to more vehicles on the ice creating noise. We still managed a good bucket of fish the last weekend. I would certainly say the fish are pushing out into deeper waters, I think this is partially due to water levels being dropped and also a little to get away from some of the heavier fishing pressure. Don't be afraid to get away from the crowd on the lake. Perch are mostly focused on the 20 foot of water range, especially if you can find a deep flat you'll more than likely find a school or two roaming the flat. I have been unable to dial in a good walleye bite as of lately, but they are showing more interest in larger baits or dead stick a minnow. We are seeing plenty of walleyes on the camera but getting them to bite has been tricky.
Kenders Outdoors K-Rip - EOL 1/2" / Gold Magma
Out of Stock
Kenders Outdoors K-Rip - EOL 3/4" / Firetiger
Out of Stock
Clam Maki Plastics Maki - EOL Red / 1 1/4"
Out of Stock
Clam Maki Plastics Mino White/Red Flake / 1"
Out of Stock
Clam Maki Plastics Mino Fathead / 1"
Out of Stock
Species
Smallmouth BassSeason
Summer
Technique
Texas Rigs (Pitch/Flip)
Structure
Humps
Forage
Crawfish
Smallie fishing is on fire right now!
Species
Yellow PerchSeason
Ice
Technique
Ice Fishing Jigs
Structure
Ledges
Fishing has been on fire. We caught some dandy fish in about 20 foot of water. They have really dropped the lake levels so make sure you're fishing near the channel.
Clam Snow Drop XL Jig - EOL Lemon Drop / 1/32 oz
Out of Stock
Clam Maki Plastics Mino Red / 1"
$2.49
$3.79
