03/30/2025
🙌 Top 1️⃣0️⃣ Lakes for Fishing 🎣
🐟 Fish Ohio records show that largemouth bass, saugeye, crappie, and sunfish are four of the most popular sport fish at inland lakes across the Buckeye State.
A largemouth bass longer than 20 inches, a saugeye longer than 21 inches, a crappie longer than 13 inches, or a sunfish longer than 9 inches qualifies for Fish Ohio status.
⏺️ Largemouth bass
Largemouth bass are aggressive predators that can grow to large sizes in Ohio’s lakes and reservoirs, making them a popular sport fish. The top three inland lake destinations for Fish Ohio largemouth bass in 2024 were Nimisila Reservoir in Summit County (1), Mosquito Creek Lake in Trumbull County (2), and Mogadore Reservoir in Portage County (3).
This species has a dark horizontal stripe that extends down the side of its body, and the mouth extends beyond the rear edge of the eye. It has an appetite for frogs, crayfish, large insects, and other fish. Artificial lure presentations that mimic these prey items may elicit a strike.
⏺️ Saugeye
A hybrid between a walleye and a sauger, saugeye are stocked in more than 60 lakes by the Division of Wildlife. These fast-growing fish thrive in Ohio’s inland waters and can be caught year-round, with 722 saugeye fish submitted to the program in 2024. Inland lake anglers caught Fish Ohio saugeye most often in Indian Lake in Logan County (1), Buckeye Lake in Fairfield, Licking and Perry counties (2), and Alum Creek Lake located in Delaware County (3).
Saugeye are identified by the dark bars or vertical spots between the spines of the first dorsal fin. They also have dark, oblong patches along their sides. They prey on gizzard shad and other small fish.
⏺️ Crappie
Black crappie and white crappie are abundant in Ohio. A black crappie has irregular blotches or spots along its sides, while a white crappie is distinguished by more uniform dark vertical stripes. Top crappie lakes were Mosquito Creek Lake in Trumbull County (1), Buckeye Lake in Fairfield, Licking and Perry counties (2), Alum Creek Lake in Delaware County (3), and Hoover Reservoir located in Delaware and Franklin counties (4).
Crappies are often found near structures like drop-offs, points, creek beds, brush piles, and fallen trees. These feisty sport fish can be caught on light tackle. The largest reported crappies from Ohio’s public waters last year were 19½-inch trophies.
⏺️ Sunfish
In almost every waterbody across Ohio, sunfish such as bluegill, redear sunfish, pumpkinseed, green sunfish, and longear sunfish can be caught. Due to their small size and popularity for being delicious to eat, sunfish have landed the nickname of panfish. Top sunfish lakes in Ohio for 2024 were Nimisila Reservoir in Summit County (1), Leesville Lake in Carroll County (2), and East Reservoir in Summit County (3).
Sunfish are often caught in shallow waters and near structure such as brush piles, fallen trees, piers, and points. Bluegills and other sunfish can be readily caught with many different small baits.
