Maumee River Report- April 20, 2019 Tournament Day

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Sunrise/First Cast-  6:45 am

Sunset / Last Cast- 8:20 pm

Weight:   3/4 oz- 1 oz

Colors:  Darker  more natural colors -Green head/ Xmas lights tail, Orange head/ Pumpkin seed tail, black head / apple seed tail, yellow head / motor oil gold tail. 

Crossing to Bluegrass island is not permitted

The water is up from yesterday-I posted this about a month ago but here is a reminder on how to adjust your tactics for today.

“Fishing in higher water-Today with this high water the two best places to fish will be Orleans and White street–also along the Towpath and Ford Street access will be likely places to hit as well.  Tactics have to be adjusted to catch fish in this high water- of course heavier weights are required to get that lure down to the fish , but also placement is key. Picture this : a person trying to run full speed into a strong headwind, the resistance tires the person, but if he gets next to a wall the resistance is lowered. Same thing with these walleye  swimming in mid river against the stronger than normal current. When the water gets this fast and heavy the fish will gravitate towards the bank and lay up close to shore in little breaks and eddys to get out out of that strong resistance and catch a break. So all that translates in to this- fish close into shore.  Look for those little breaks in the current where a log or rock or pillar may be slowing the water down just a bit. Short cast up stream ( usually no more that 20-25 feet and try to get the lure to drift into that current break. When it hits that current break, get ready , there may be a good number of walleye layed up in there ready to hit. Last year under these same conditions we saw a large number of fish caught within 10 feet of shore . No need to try and cast across the river  when a good number of the fish will probably be right in front of you.

The forsythia bushes are just starting to bloom this weekend, so according to some of the natural indicators we are just getting t0 the peak of the run.

Have fun be safe and good luck fishing