maumee river report 17 april 2026

SUNRISE/ FIRST CAST-6:51 AM
SUNSET/ LAST CAST-8:17  PM
WEIGHT: – 3/4 – 1 oz

BLUEGRASS ISLAND- CROSSING NOT PERMITTED / NOT SAFE

All right let’s talk water conditions.

We know the water is on the rise from all the rain the region has recently received.
We also know that when the warm water from the river goes into the colder water of Lake Erie, that’s what triggers the spawning instinct of the Walleye to come up into The river.
The last couple days have been warm, the river temperature is warmed up significantly. Let’s remember 5/6 days ago we were just ending a weekl ong stretch of 23° mornings , lines freezing all that good stuff.

At that point Lake Erie was still pretty cold.  

Now if we look at this season’s run I’m pretty sure that  even though it’s mid April , we’ve only had two good pushes of Walleye, other than that it’s just been a steady trickle.
So this is what I’m thinking, There are still quite a few walleye that did not come up the river yet. With this water on the rise and the very warm Maumee  river flowing into the 10 to 15° cooler Lake Erie, we are going to see one last big push of fish in the next 3 to 5 days . Still looking for some of those massive females that we see most years. 

Remember when that water is up the fish hug the shore line. 

Best spots tomorrow will be along the Towpath, Orleans and White street. 

At Orleans all those fishermen standing in the water will literally be in the fish . Try some bank fishing  over there tomorrow.

White bass- yep starting to see some. They are coming in with the warm water.  White perch too. 

More on those fish later.

Have fun be safe and good luck fishing