# Cowan Lake



## Chucknbob (Jan 14, 2012)

So I'm heading to Cowan lake this weekend, but I've never fished there. Can anyone let me know what's in there? 

Also, any tips on what to catch them on or where would be greatly appreciated. 


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## Tom 513 (Nov 26, 2012)

I too am interested in whats working this time of year, I have a 3 day vaca planned the last week of the month there and plan on bringing the boat. Ive only fished there once a few weeks ago, used minnows on bobbers, caught small crappies and wife caught a saugeye in shallow waters. I liked fishing the big cove across from the marina but did good across from the beach too


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## WhiskeynFishin (Jun 23, 2008)

I'm in WCH and took a trip there round Memorial day. I'm landlocked and I stumbled on that dock thing out there a little past the boat ramp. Now keep in mind I HATE SNAKES so I kept getting distracted when they kept swimming underneath the dock. 
Anyway they (the fish) were hitting good on spinners. I didnt land one but kept getting some good hits. The damn snakes were too distracting to where I could really concentrate. 

Use spinners, you'll do good. White and blue


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## BruceT (Jun 14, 2013)

My first year at Cowan, and I am taking some kids out tomorrow--which ramp?



WhiskeynFishin said:


> I'm in WCH and took a trip there round Memorial day. I'm landlocked and I stumbled on that dock thing out there a little past the boat ramp. Now keep in mind I HATE SNAKES so I kept getting distracted when they kept swimming underneath the dock.
> Anyway they (the fish) were hitting good on spinners. I didnt land one but kept getting some good hits. The damn snakes were too distracting to where I could really concentrate.
> 
> Use spinners, you'll do good. White and blue


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## BruceT (Jun 14, 2013)

Went out for a few hours starting at 10:30.

Caught a 12 in channel cat--just right for the skillet. 4 crappie, biggest 9 in, kept him. 1 striped bass 12 in (my first!).

Two in the freezer, and a great day. Heading out Sat morning with a walleye fisherman, maybe I'll get my first saugeye.


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## outdoorrich7 (Mar 8, 2013)

was there today with the kids caught twenty crappie in a couple hours kept 7, largest being 13 & 14


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## 9Left (Jun 23, 2012)

Cowan is ,IMO, a good lake to fish with lots of species...the catfishing is always decent( they may not be all monster cats..but plenty of skillet sized 1-3 pounders),buy ANY stinkbait or smelly dough type bait and fish the campground boatdock/or campground cove... saugeye and bass can usually be caught on a minnow under a bobber from the shore. Good luck


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## Ant (Mar 27, 2013)

Was on the water at six this morning and fished till about 19.not a bite one.Was targeting Bass.


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## Kennyjames (May 13, 2012)

Hey outdoorrich. I will need to see some pics of those crappie cause I have caught thousands of them out of that lake and never have seen one much over 12". Sounds like a fishing story to me. Haha


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## outdoorrich7 (Mar 8, 2013)

You already have pics kenny and i cant get mine to upload. I will deal with you Saturday.


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## Kennyjames (May 13, 2012)

Haha


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## Kennyjames (May 13, 2012)

Those where some nice ones. 


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## BruceT (Jun 14, 2013)

Out at 8 this morning, it was tough, on 12" largemouth, one 6" perch, one 8" crappie. Using worms and lures exclusively, still after my first saugeye.

Vacation week, kid fishing tomorrow, after the saugeye again Monday.

This (lack of fish) aggression will not stand, man! - "The Dude" Lebowski


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## crappiedude (Mar 12, 2006)

BruceT said:


> Out at 8 this morning, it was tough, on 12" largemouth, *one 6" perch*, one 8" crappie. Using worms and lures exclusively, still after my first saugeye.


Perch??????????? I've fished Cowan for almost 40 years, I've never seen a perch. Has anyone else ever caught a perch out of Cowan?
Just curious.


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## Kennyjames (May 13, 2012)

I have saw a dead one before on shore and it was a big one. Someone fishing there said there are some in there. I have never caught one. I have also seen in the past in the ohio outdoor news where it has talked about how people are catching crappie and picking up a few perch here and there. Maybe they just don't do very well in there cause all the Muskie. 


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## BruceT (Jun 14, 2013)

crappiedude said:


> Perch??????????? I've fished Cowan for almost 40 years, I've never seen a perch. Has anyone else ever caught a perch out of Cowan?
> Just curious.


My buddy caught it at the front of the boat. Sorry, didn't do a DNA analysis. Don't know why that upset you.


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## misterbreeze (Dec 19, 2011)

Did the survey pass that you can use more than a 10hp motor at idle speed on Cowan?


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## Kennyjames (May 13, 2012)

I heard it did. I would call the park office just to make sure. 


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## crappiedude (Mar 12, 2006)

BruceT said:


> My buddy caught it at the front of the boat. Sorry, didn't do a DNA analysis. Don't know why that upset you.


I'm not upset, not at all. Like I posted *"just curious"*. I have no reason to doubt you and no reason for you to be on the defensive. I was hoping someone (or YOU) would say, yeah we catch perch off and on. It would give me a new something to look for if there were a decent population.
Since your buddy caught it, do you know what he was using? Lure or live bait? Again just curious.
I see from Kennyjames, you aren't the only ones to have caught perch.

About 10 or 15 years ago, I caught a smallmouth bass at Cowan. In all the time I fished that lake it's the 1st and only smallie I've ever caught and I've never talked to another person who has caught one. It was odd but it did happen. Are there more smallies in there, who knows? With just 1 fish in almost 40 years I haven't spent much time looking.


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## Rob (Mar 31, 2005)

Yes, there are perch in Cowan


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## crappiedude (Mar 12, 2006)

Rob said:


> Yes, there are perch in Cowan


That's cool. It'd be nice to be able to catch a few locally, especially in winter.
I know the are in CC and I've caught a few but nothing very big.


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## jeepguyjames (Sep 24, 2008)

crappiedude said:


> That's cool. It'd be nice to be able to catch a few locally, especially in winter.
> I know the are in CC and I've caught a few but nothing very big.


Go to Erie if you wanna really get into perch........your boat could handle it on average conditions esp perch-ing.......... Going up soon for our week long Erie trip


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## crappiedude (Mar 12, 2006)

jeepguyjames said:


> Go to Erie if you wanna really get into perch........your boat could handle it on average conditions esp perch-ing.......... Going up soon for our week long Erie trip


I've been trying to get my hunting partner to go but he's out of commision for awhile with shoulder surgery. I've had my boat up there plenty of times and around the islands it does fine. I would like to change from that 40 hp motor to a 60 hp motor one day. That's a big body of water.
I was fascinated by perch in Cowan or any of the southern Ohio inland lakes. I've caught a few in Ky Lake but never much size nor enough to figure a pattern on.
Good luck on the Erie trip...it sounds fun


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## BruceT (Jun 14, 2013)

YOU CANNOT use more than 10 hp in Cowan--sorry for the all caps, but it seems like necessary info.


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## Kennyjames (May 13, 2012)

Going out this evening for some eyes. Hopefully we can dodge the rain and I will have a good report. 


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## jeepguyjames (Sep 24, 2008)

BruceT said:


> YOU CANNOT use more than 10 hp in Cowan--sorry for the all caps, but it seems like necessary info.


You CAN use more than 10hp...........long as you dont get caught


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## jeepguyjames (Sep 24, 2008)

crappiedude said:


> I've been trying to get my hunting partner to go but he's out of commision for awhile with shoulder surgery. I've had my boat up there plenty of times and around the islands it does fine. I would like to change from that 40 hp motor to a 60 hp motor one day. That's a big body of water.
> I was fascinated by perch in Cowan or any of the southern Ohio inland lakes. I've caught a few in Ky Lake but never much size nor enough to figure a pattern on.
> Good luck on the Erie trip...it sounds fun


Only perch ive caught outside of erie was at Indian lake last year........it was a little guy.......got him out of the pads while crappie fishing.......... I wonder if theres a local lake with a big enough population to bother targeting them....... Ive not heard of one honestly


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## Kennyjames (May 13, 2012)

They say buckeye lake and cj brown have them. I also think they have walleye. I know cj does. I heard lakes that have walleye will generally have perch in them also. Idk how true that is. I know Armco park actually has walleye in there. I wonder if it has any perch


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## BruceT (Jun 14, 2013)

lol, I stand corrected!


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## crappiedude (Mar 12, 2006)

jeepguyjames said:


> You CAN use more than 10hp...........long as you dont get caught


Shhhh....that's clarified info


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## Rob (Mar 31, 2005)

It's just a matter of time now.... I think the speed limits gonna be 8 mph


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## jeepguyjames (Sep 24, 2008)

BruceT said:


> lol, I stand corrected!





crappiedude said:


> Shhhh....that's clarified info



......... I did fish hueston woods (action) saturday and noticed a female officer in a lund with binoculars watching people who was moving.......never seen em do that at cowan, from a boat any how


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## Bostonwhaler10 (Apr 30, 2012)

Or at least let us idle the big motors. So dumb we can't do that.


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## BruceT (Jun 14, 2013)

Unfortunately, as usual, the good guys pay for the sins of the bad guys. Hey, I just bought a 9.9 for this lake, so "itallgood".


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## 9Left (Jun 23, 2012)

crappie dude...i can agree with your shocked response about a perch in cowan lake..ive been fishing it since i was a kid and have still not seen or caught a perch. I HAVE heard of them being caught but just never saw one..i thought it was kinda suprising to read that too.


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## Chucknbob (Jan 14, 2012)

Rob said:


> It's just a matter of time now.... I think the speed limits gonna be 8 mph


That's alright, I don't paddle that fast in the 'yak


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## Rob (Mar 31, 2005)

I have a 9.9 on my boat. I personally don't want the up restriction to be lifted off Cowan- it's too small for all the extra pressure, but I don't like the sail boats either. Bet they don't take kindly to all the extra boats! But, it is what it is


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## Kennyjames (May 13, 2012)

Couldn't get into the eyes yesterday. I thinks the lake was just too calm and hardly any wind. Did manage 7 lm, 2 crappie, and 2 channel cats. If you are going out there targeting cats then just throw some hot n tots lol. They must be spawning to be that aggressive. 


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## Kennyjames (May 13, 2012)

Oh we did manage 1 saugeye that was about 14 inches


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## BruceT (Jun 14, 2013)

Went out this morning, still no saugeye, but kept 6 decent crappie.


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## big basser man (Apr 7, 2012)

I hope both lakes stay 10hp I have seen first hand when I lived in Illinois what happens with idle only limits . The lake was in bad shape after 3 years. so they changes it back to 10hp


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## ssmarina (Oct 18, 2008)

Just wanted to let everyone know that the 10 HP limit on Cowan has not yet been lifted. The State has not made a ruling on this issue.


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## BruceT (Jun 14, 2013)

At last--fishing with my wife and we caught two saugeye! Even better, the bigger one was hers! 18 for her 14 1/2 for mine. (When you get beat that bad, you don't forego that 1/2 inch, lol) But happy wife, happy life, right? Thanks for the tips, especially thanks to kennyjames. Filleted hers and it was plenty for dinner. To paraphrase the movie "Jaws", I'm gonna have to get a bigger skillet!


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## outdoorrich7 (Mar 8, 2013)

Nice job Bruce. Kenny knows his stuff when it comes to fishing, I just hope this doesn't go to his head.

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## Kennyjames (May 13, 2012)

That's usually how it goes. When I take a buddy or my wife or kids they always catch bigger ones than me lol. It is just as exciting as me catching the fish though. We need to get back out rich. 


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## bigdino81 (Mar 26, 2009)

I have caught perch in cc and a lot at rocky fork


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## jeepguyjames (Sep 24, 2008)

big basser man said:


> I hope both lakes stay 10hp I have seen first hand when I lived in Illinois what happens with idle only limits . The lake was in bad shape after 3 years. so they changes it back to 10hp


what lakes in Illinois?????


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## big basser man (Apr 7, 2012)

Dawson lake


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## crappiedude (Mar 12, 2006)

bigdino81 said:


> I have caught perch in cc and a lot at rocky fork


were any decent size?


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## Kennyjames (May 13, 2012)

I guess Eastwood has Perch


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## Kennyjames (May 13, 2012)

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## Kennyjames (May 13, 2012)

I can't get it to upload a good pick of the website. It says it has yellow perch though


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## Kennyjames (May 13, 2012)

I can't find anything about any good perch fishing in our area besides kiser lake. I guess Isabella used to stock them. The only place I have ever caught perch besides erie was lake lockengren. I had a buddy whose parents lived there so I could fish. It is a private lake. We would catch a bunch of good sized ones there


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## 9Left (Jun 23, 2012)

There are some perch in Eastwood..they are by no means monster perch but i was out yesterday and actually caught a decent one(9 inches) on a white twister grub.


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## Just Fishin' (Nov 27, 2012)

Yes, Eastwood has perch. Not a ton, but I have caught some there. Caught a decent one while bass fishing just a few weeks ago there.

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## crappiedude (Mar 12, 2006)

Kennyjames said:


> The only place I have ever caught perch besides erie was *lake lockengren*. I had a buddy whose parents lived there so I could fish.
> 
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I used to ice fish there back in the 80's. A friend of mine had a lot there and we would get some monster gills and some guys would get some huge perch.
He wanted to give me the lot but I was broke and couldn't afford the taxes. I wish I had that lot now.


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