Jack Wollitz with a trophy largemouth bass from Ohio

I have been an Ohio fishing writer for 43 years, an Ohio bass tournament angler since 1983, and fortunate to have fished with many of the world’s most accomplished bass anglers on some of the nation’s greatest bass waters.

With that experience rattling around in my head, I can use my Bass Cat’s front deck as a bully pulpit and declare a few beliefs that might raise eyebrows among the fishing community illuminati.

For example:

Lake Erie isn’t always fantastic.
The Ohio River doesn’t always suck.
And Ohio has bass lakes that rival some of America’s finest in terms of tournament and trophy catches.

Wait, what? Some might believe an Ohio-based bass writer is as handcuffed as a chef in a foodless kitchen. My Buckeye State has been the brunt of jokes around bass circles for decades. I am witness myself to the days when a limit catch in Ohio was a big deal and double-digit weights were as scarce as hen’s teeth. A writer buddy from a state famous for its bass fishing used to tease me that Ohioans took turns catching our state’s bass (singular).

Ohio Outdoor Writer Jack Wollitz with a largemouth bass caught from his dual console Bass Cat Boat

But I’m here to tell you that just in the past several months, tournaments on Ohio lakes were won with five-bass limits topping 20 pounds. Several went to 23-plus bags. Those were warm-weather, summertime events on public waters that host multiple big tournaments every weekend and weekly after-work jackpot competitions.

Anglers accustomed to big catches at Guntersville, Champlain, Okeechobee, Santee-Cooper, Chickamauga, Fork or other famous bass lakes may not be impressed by Ohio catches, but consider that most of our tournaments are on 3,500-acre (and smaller) lakes. Imagine putting 100 boats in one short creek off the Tennessee River.

Long-time Ohio tournament angler and TV personality Joe Thomas was quick to point to Ohio’s Rocky Fork Lake as an emerging star in Ohio. “Spring tournaments take close to 20 pounds to win. I’ve got 18 out there myself,” Thomas said. “It has a decent mix of weeds and hard cover, which is why I think it is good.”

Weeds, in fact, are the reason Ohio anglers are enjoying a surge in bass fishing success. Ironically, much of the aquatic vegetation taking root in Ohio is invading from southern U.S. waters with superior bass fishing.

Ohio fisheries officials Nick Radabaugh and Chris Amon both point to weeds as major factors in the surging bass fishing at lakes like Alum Creek, Indian, Rocky Fork, Portage and Mosquito.

“We’re hearing a lot of good things from the tournament people about Indian Lake recently,” said Radabaugh, Ohio Division of Wildlife District 1 fish management supervisor. “Also at Alum Creek, in the last seven or eight years, a lot more vegetation is showing up.”

He noted the weeds are mostly invasive species. “The vegetation, including Eurasian milfoil, came in fast a couple of years ago. Watercraft transports a lot of grass, especially hydrilla, as pieces cling to trailers and get sucked into livewells and then float out in new waters.”

Amon, Ohio DOW District 3 fisheries biologist, said better water clarity resulting from the establishment of invasive zebra mussels has helped the vegetation flourish. “Zebra mussels have their pros and cons, but the biggest benefit is they improve water clarity by filtering and reducing suspended algae,” Amon said. “The clear water allows light to penetrate in deeper water, thus encouraging aquatic plants to grow.”

Veteran Ohio tournament angler Ray Halter is pleased to see the grass growing.

“Best lake in Ohio? It’s a toss-up between Mosquito and Portage,” declared Halter, who fishes around 20 tournaments every year from his home base in Cleveland. “The weeds are the reason we’re seeing 18- and 20-pound bags every weekend and even in the after-work weekday derbies. The weeds took the heat off the baby bass and are great shelter for the food base.”

Halter also noted the proliferation of grass in Lake Erie estuaries, including East Harbor near Lakeside and Marblehead, Ohio, has spawned a surge in bass populations. But he fears weed control efforts may prove to be detrimental.

“If they kill the weeds, the great bass fishing could fade away.”

Ohio DOW biologist Amon is a tournament angler himself. “Nowhere in Northeast Ohio produces as many quality sacks as Portage. And Mosquito is right behind as number two. It takes more than 20 in the spring and the upper teens all summer to win there—and it has many 100-boat tournaments even though it’s only 7,000 acres.”

Winning limit of largemouths in an Ohio bass tournament

Mosquito’s expansive weed flats harbor gizzard shad, golden shiners, yellow perch and crawfish, which 20-year tournament angler Rich Glavac noted are feeding a bass growth spurt. “Plus, the electric-only lakes like Mogadore and LaDue are producing “average” bass around 3 pounds as well as a number of 8- and 9-pounders.

“Portage (on the doorstep of the Akron-Canton metro area) is the most pressured lake in Ohio yet it consistently yields 17- to 25-pound bags to tournament anglers,” Glavac noted. He has many first-place plaques from Portage as evidence of his understanding of the Portage Lakes fishery.

He also believes today’s more versatile and knowledgeable anglers are helping to reveal the quality of Ohio bass fishing. “We always need to have a deep and shallow pattern going and the littlest details make a huge difference,” he said. “You have to be real versatile in Ohio. I like to flip a tube, but I also do stuff other guys don’t do here, like big spoons and hair jigs. Also, the A-rig is great at Portage and Rocky Fork (Ohio has a 3-hook limit on Alabama rigs).

“It helps big time to show them baits nobody is throwing.”

Glavac also advises checking out the Ohio Power AEP Recreation Lakes near Caldwell, Ohio. “They are trophy lakes, with 6- to 10-pounders. I like to go in the fall and throw big swim baits.”