# What stretch for blues



## dropthetailgate (Apr 6, 2012)

What stretch of ohio would be best for big blues now


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## livtofsh (May 13, 2004)

Aint none left


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## livtofsh (May 13, 2004)

Go to your nearest pay lake to find Ohio's river cats whats left of thrm


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## dropthetailgate (Apr 6, 2012)

Yep that’s what everyone is saying.


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## Shad Rap (Nov 10, 2010)

Go to Hoover.


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## livtofsh (May 13, 2004)

Use to catch many in the 15 to 25 lbs range even got some 40s up to 70 haven't caught any over 10 for the last 5 yrs


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## Pooka (Jan 30, 2012)

If you forgot to pull your anchor up when you motored off, and it accidentally snagged a hoop net or 3,, Well, stuff happens. The Mighty O can be tough on expensive equipment.


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## dropthetailgate (Apr 6, 2012)

Got around ten last night. No monsters but One about 15 one about 20.


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## FISHIN 2 (Jun 22, 2005)

Just letting ya know, the perch are bitin..


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## dropthetailgate (Apr 6, 2012)

FISHIN 2 said:


> Just letting ya know, the perch are bitin..


I know thanks. Have made 10 walleye trips and 23 limits. There’s still just something special about floating the river you can’t explain.


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## FISHIN 2 (Jun 22, 2005)

That would be cool, never done it. Hear they get some monsters though. Good Fishin..


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## livtofsh (May 13, 2004)

Anyone cat any large blues in the las couple yrs


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## pawcat (Oct 24, 2011)

livtofsh said:


> Anyone cat any large blues in the las couple yrs


 oh yes.........shhhhh.


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## fishdealer04 (Aug 27, 2006)

I was out last Thursday for about 4 hours near Cincinnati. Managed 18 fish (2 channels and 16 blues) No size to them though. Biggest two were a 15 pounder and a 10 pounder. Rest were in the 4-6 pound range.


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## cali2ohio01 (Mar 11, 2018)

dropthetailgate said:


> I know thanks. Have made 10 walleye trips and 23 limits. There’s still just something special about floating the river you can’t explain.


I agree.... Floating the river is the best feeling, nothing better!!

Sent from my XT1650 using Tapatalk


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## livtofsh (May 13, 2004)

fishdealer04 said:


> I was out last Thursday for about 4 hours near Cincinnati. Managed 18 fish (2 channels and 16 blues) No size to them though. Biggest two were a 15 pounder and a 10 pounder. Rest were in the 4-6 pound range.


I catch thrm just not any big ones like i use to


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## dropthetailgate (Apr 6, 2012)

We need to get a petition together to send to the odnr and voice our displeasure.


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## Pooka (Jan 30, 2012)

dropthetailgate said:


> We need to get a petition together to send to the odnr and voice our displeasure.


I hate to be debbie downer but this issue has been around for a while and I just don't think we have the numbers to get the commercial taking of Catfish restricted. 

You may have noticed that I am not opposed to, "direct action" shall we say, but perhaps the best tack to take would be advocating for limits such as only 2 fish over X inches. --with no exceptions for commercial harvest. 

Side note: Election season is upon us again, think how how much fun it will be to publicly ask a candidate, any candidate, every candidate, about this issue. -- An issue they have likely never given a passing thought, and watch them squirm trying to come up with an answer. LOL


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## dropthetailgate (Apr 6, 2012)

Certainly. We would present a compromise. I don’t oppose commercial fishing. I support capitalism. I just think there’s evidence of under regulated commercial over fishing.


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## dropthetailgate (Apr 6, 2012)

I placed a call to cabelas king cat tournament director to see if we can get annual catch data to submit as evidence of population and size changes on the ohio river. Will let you know if I get a reply.


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## fishdealer04 (Aug 27, 2006)

The problem is it is not Ohio. Ohio does not allow commercial fishing of catfish. It is Kentucky. If you go and fish the Ohio River up by WV and Ohio the fishing is awesome because both states do not allow commercial fishing of catfish. This has been going on for years. ODNR does a catfish summit every year where we all go voice our opinions. Many petitions have been signed. The commercial fisherman are restricted to the same size limits that we are but when you are out every day that still adds up to a lot of fish over 35" taken. There is a big meeting I believe in September or October in KY so we will see how that goes. Last time there was some fighting so we will see.


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## Pooka (Jan 30, 2012)

dropthetailgate said:


> I placed a call to cabelas king cat tournament director to see if we can get annual catch data to submit as evidence of population and size changes on the ohio river. Will let you know if I get a reply.



I would be interested to hear what they have to say. 

I do not generally fish the parts of the Mighty O that have a problem with this so all I know about it is from posts on various fishing boards and a couple first hand accounts. 

However, all the accounts I have read and heard agree and indicate that there is, and has been, a problem.


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## Pooka (Jan 30, 2012)

fishdealer04 said:


> The problem is it is not Ohio. Ohio does not allow commercial fishing of catfish. It is Kentucky. If you go and fish the Ohio River up by WV and Ohio the fishing is awesome because both states do not allow commercial fishing of catfish. This has been going on for years. ODNR does a catfish summit every year where we all go voice our opinions. Many petitions have been signed. The commercial fisherman are restricted to the same size limits that we are but when you are out every day that still adds up to a lot of fish over 35" taken. There is a big meeting I believe in September or October in KY so we will see how that goes. Last time there was some fighting so we will see.


Leaning toward off topic but,, WV "owns" the Mighty O between the two states, it is not legally shared. WV and Ohio do have a reciprocal fishing agreement for Residents of Ohio ONLY, Non residents must purchase a WV license to fish the Mighty O legally. 

*Reciprocal Fishing 
Ohio River Anglers with a valid Ohio resident or West Virginia resident fishing license may fish on the Ohio River, its embayments or from either bank. 

The embayment and tributary reciprocal boundaries for each state are listed in the Waterfowl Hunting and Fishing on the Ohio River brochure available from West Virginia DNR offices, and online at www.wvdnr.gov. Ohio and West Virginia anglers may travel and fish embayments and tributaries to the landmark locations listed in the brochure. These locations are also defined by distance from the mouth of the tributary and GPS coordinates for convenience. 

Current West Virginia fishing laws shall apply while fishing on the Ohio River proper or from West Virginia banks or in West Virginia embayments. The tributaries of the Ohio River above embayments, in both states, are not included as part of this agreement. 

Ohio fishing laws and Ohio River fishing regulations for the Eastern Unit, which cover the West Virginia/Ohio border, must be followed while fishing from Ohio banks or on embayments or tributaries that are within the boundaries of Ohio.*


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## livtofsh (May 13, 2004)

Your lucky to even catch a catfish from greenup dam to medal dam its the dead sea ive seen 100 of thousands of dead fish the commercial guys kill in there nets and thats no exaggeration if yu ever see it youll want to puke


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## BuckeyeFishinNut (Feb 8, 2005)

The reciprocal agreement between Ohio and WV is goofy too. You would think that they could come to some better compromises on some things. The most glaring one is on walleyes. WV is 2 over 18", Ohio throws them in with sauger and saugeye with a 10 aggregate limit. This leads to a lot of WV anglers fishing from the Ohio bank for walleye. 

It really is sad what KY allows to happen to Ohio River catfish due to commercial fishing. Sadly, I don't think the people who have the ability to change these practices care. They just care about the money generated from commercial fishing licenses.


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## dropthetailgate (Apr 6, 2012)

Good points. We will start with seeing if we can collect hard data. There are always ways to change attitudes. I’m a chemical engineer a minor in math emphasized in stats with 30+yrs applied experience presenting data. Children’s hospital for instance had to present the names of the children in meetings with board members before infant mortality rates were given increased serious consideration to improve health care quality. Before that they were simply #’s as well.


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## Pooka (Jan 30, 2012)

BuckeyeFishinNut said:


> The reciprocal agreement between Ohio and WV is goofy too. You would think that they could come to some better compromises on some things. The most glaring one is on walleyes. WV is 2 over 18", Ohio throws them in with sauger and saugeye with a 10 aggregate limit. This leads to a lot of WV anglers fishing from the Ohio bank for walleye.
> 
> It really is sad what KY allows to happen to Ohio River catfish due to commercial fishing. Sadly, I don't think the people who have the ability to change these practices care. They just care about the money generated from commercial fishing licenses.



Yes, and the solution seems simple to me, special, coordinated, regs for the Mighty O. -- One and done, simple and clean. 

It has not been a problem yet but I enjoy bank fishing and sometimes use the boat to reach the Ohio side for an all-nighter,, Good luck explaining to a WV fish cop that the limit you just unloaded from your boat at the WV ramp was legally caught on the Ohio bank. LOL


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## G3guy (Feb 21, 2013)

BuckeyeFishinNut said:


> The reciprocal agreement between Ohio and WV is goofy too. You would think that they could come to some better compromises on some things. The most glaring one is on walleyes. WV is 2 over 18", Ohio throws them in with sauger and saugeye with a 10 aggregate limit. This leads to a lot of WV anglers fishing from the Ohio bank for walleye.
> 
> 
> 
> ...


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## Fisherman 3234 (Sep 8, 2008)

The solution to our problems is tied to the Asian Carp onslaught. Commercial Fishermen will never commit to targeting Asian Carp fully as long as the cost for trophy catfish is greater. It's simple economics. The only way the KDFW will get the commercial fishermen to do what they want is by making catfish off limits. If the KDFW is serious about preventing the spread of Asian Carp, they will make transportation of live wild caught fish across state lines illegal as well. What is funny is that I have seen several Big Head Asian Carp end up mysteriously in different Big Cat Paylakes around Kentucky and Ohio... How do you think they got there???


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## BuckeyeFishinNut (Feb 8, 2005)

G3Guy,

No doubt, thats why I said its a goofy regulation. You would think the 2 states would be able to find a little more common ground on a regulation like that.

I live close to Pike Island dam but I could be at Hannibal or New Cumberland dams in about 45 mins in either direction. If the regulations were flipped and I kept fish more regularly, I would travel to fish those dams where fishing access is on the WV side.

I don't have an issue with the WV reg of only 2 fish 18"+ but it seems counter productive when I could fish from the Ohio bank and keep 10 fish at less than 18" if I wanted.


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## fishdealer04 (Aug 27, 2006)

The regulations meeting is August 17th, 2018. I thought it was later in the year but was wrong. It is in Frankfort, KY. You can find some more info: http://www.exposingpaylakes.com/


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## livtofsh (May 13, 2004)

Well no replied to my question..has anyone caught any big blue in the last few yrs. So i assume thats a no


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## fishdealer04 (Aug 27, 2006)

livtofsh said:


> Well no replied to my question..has anyone caught any big blue in the last few yrs. So i assume thats a no


Depends what your definition of a big blue is? 69 pounder got caught yesterday by Maysville, during the Rising Sun Tournament last September I know 6 fish between 40-60 pounds caught (blues). I know of multiple 50+ pounders caught in Cincinnati area last year. No big fish today at the tournament. We took big fish with a 23.5 pounder.

But as you know the fishing is no where near what it used to be around here. It used to be nothing to go out and catch at least a 40 pounder almost every trip out. Now they are few and far between. The flathead fishing seems to have really improved this year. Lots of 40's and 50's caught through the Cincinnati area this year.


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## dropthetailgate (Apr 6, 2012)

What club are you associated with and can you find out if they would supply some annual catch data to analyze for tournaments with as much detail as possible such as locations and dates and sizes and numbers and catfish species.


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## fishdealer04 (Aug 27, 2006)

dropthetailgate said:


> What club are you associated with and can you find out if they would supply some annual catch data to analyze for tournaments with as much detail as possible such as locations and dates and sizes and numbers and catfish species.


That was the Southwest Ohio Catfish Club tournament. I am sure they have some data and I can see if I can get it. I know over the past few years we have had the KFWD come to some of our tournaments and gather data. They would measure and record each and every fish caught. They were at the Rising Sun Tournament last year where there were over 150 boats fishing it and they were measuring and recording all fish brought in over the 2 day tournament. They have been at the Tristate Shootout the last 3 years as well so they have a decent amount of data as well.


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