The April showers that traditionally bring May flowers have arrived with a vengeance in Ohio, with April Fool's Day thunderstorms disrupting the fishing for several days. Lake Erie was experiencing high water levels and muddy waters, causing the Vermilion River launch ramp to temporarily shut down. Expecting the near-shore waters of Lake Erie to be muddy for the next few days as the off-color water moves from west to east on the big lake. Once the rivers stabilizes, expect to see plenty of smallmouth bass and white suckers heading up the Rocky, Chagrin and other Lake Erie tributaries to spawn. The Lake Erie Committee of the Great Lakes Fishery Commission announced that Ohio’s Lake Erie walleye and yellow perch quotas will remain in place until April 30, 2027. The annual Barbie Rod Steelhead Derby was changed from the Rocky River to include the Cleveland Metroparks lakefront area of the Lake Erie and the park's lakes where trout are stocked. The Ohio Division of Wildlife released over 900 pounds of hatchery rainbow trout last Tuesday in Wallace Lake in Berea and 1,000 foot-long rainbow trout on Monday in Shadow Lake.