Ashtabula Fishing Facts
Lake Erie is a wonderful asset to Ohio and its neighboring states with World Class Walleye, Perch, Steelhead and Bass fishing. Ashtabula, Ohio sits in the central basin of Lake Erie.Walleye Fishing
It's a summer hot spot for those big walleye looking for cool waters with plenty of bait fish to feed on. Because of the deep water, trolling with planer boards or downriggers are the preferred method for taking these big walleyes. The Ashtabula area starts getting good fishing for walleye at the end of June thru mid October.
Bass Fishing
Bass fishing starts mid April. May is a really productive month for catching Bass, throwing spinner baits, crank bait or dragging tube baits across the bottom. We work the rocks in the Ashtabula harbor and the river. Remember it is catch and release from May 1st until June 26th (the last Friday in June).Perch Fishing
Ashtabula is one of the best areas for perch fishing starting in mid May straight through late Fall. The most productive areas are directly out from the Ashtabula Light House a little west and in front of Red Brook, which is approximately 5 miles west of the light house. The depth of the water will vary from 35-60 feet of water depending on the time of year. Common methods of catching perch are to anchor your boat and use either a perch spreader, perch rig or a crappie rig with a sinker attached to get your bait to the bottom. Sometimes the fish are suspended and you have to crank up a few cranks to get to the fish. The bait of choice is live emerald shiners, but when live bait is hard to come by you can also use frozen shiners. Perch can be lite biters so you have to pay attention and have the right perch set up to make them easier to catch. Our staff will be happy to help get you started.Steelhead Fishing
Ashtabula's steelhead fishing may be one of the area's best kept secrets. Steelhead spend their winters in the Ashtabula river and are caught all threw the winter months or until ice on. In the spring (ice out) they are also caught in the Ashtabula river using small jigs, spoons, spinner baits, wax worms, maggots, emerald shiners, worms as well as live bait under bobbers. By the end of May, the steelhead have moved out into the lake and are only accessible by boat. Spoons and worm harnesses are used trolling at a slightly faster speed of 2.0 to 2.3 mph. By mid September, the steelhead start moving up the Ashtabula river for winter. They can be caught trolling the deeper parts of the river or by casting from the bank, using the same types of bait listed about for winter fishing. Ashtabula has a really large population of steelhead in the river. Our staff is ready to help you in anyway.
