For additional cover, the ODOW placed 625 Christmas trees into the lake in 1997 and another 600 trees in 2003.

A 15-inch minimum length limit on black bass is in effect.

There are no horsepower restrictions on this 2,815-acre lake; however, boaters should watch the mid-lake buoys for the no-wake zone.

The District Four office can be reached at (740) 589-9930.

DISTRICT FIVE
Biologists in southwestern Ohio manage their bass waters by monitoring conditions and conducting fish population surveys as they develop recommendations on size and bag limits. The goal, of course, is to provide some great bass angling.

"My first choice for bass would be Acton Lake in the Hueston Lake State Park," said Debbie Walters, a fisheries biologist with the ODOW's District Five office in southwest Ohio.

"For bass anglers, the only downside is that there's a 10-horsepower motor restriction. However, that restriction probably helps keep the fishing pressure down a bit," she noted.

"For the last three years, we've been doing electro-shocking surveys in the spring, and when you compare catch rates during the surveys, Acton Lake has the highest catch rate in the state," said Walters. "We've seen quite a few 3- to 5-pound bass. If you want bass action, this would be the place to go."

Target the largemouths where the submerged weeds have become established. In hot weather, anglers may find lunker-sized bass off the steepest shoreline.

The lake lies in Butler and Preble counties and covers 625 acres of good bass habitat.

"If someone wanted to go to a lake to catch smallmouths, Caesar Creek is where I'd send them," said Walters.

There is a lot of tournament pressure on the lake. It has a 15-inch minimum-size limit, and good numbers of 10- to 14-inch largemouth bass may be found there. Occasionally, a 4-pounder is landed.

In the spring of the year, the wooded coves and standing timber are hotspots. The brush, timber and riprap shoreline on the main lake are also good spots for bass. Don't overlook the timbered part of Walkers Island and the nearby dropoffs and bottom contour changes.

A local tip after the spawning period is to keep an eye out for anglers with marker buoys or who are trolling. They're probably fishing for saugeyes, but occasionally these anglers take a nice bass.

Smallmouths will be found in the rockier, deeper parts of the lake. Tube jigs, small crankbaits and soft plastics are used to hook these fighters.

Caesar Creek also has more spotted bass than anywhere else in the district. These bass seem to relate to the same type of structure as do the smallies. Caesar Creek has four boat ramps and the designation of being the deepest lake in Ohio. The dam area reaches down to 115 feet.

The 2,607-acre lake is four miles east of Waynesfield and two miles west of Interstate Route 71 along state Route 73 about 15 miles southeast of Dayton.

For more information on District Five's top bass lakes, contact the ODOW at (937) 372-9261.

Bass-angling opportunities abound throughout Ohio, thanks to the hard work of the bass managers with the ODOW -- and it's only getting better. You can't ask for any more than that!