# AEP fishing



## muraco.3

Heading down to AEP crim Cleveland in a few weeks. I haven't seen many reports on it here. Anyone been there lately? If so how's the bass, gills, and catfishing been lately? I love that place and can't wait to get back there


----------



## BuckeyeFishin07

Was down there a couple Sundays ago, caught some nice bass. Every pond we hit we caught a few out of! My buddies and I between the three of us caught a six pounder, a couple three pounders and a bunch around a pound! The early morning bite was good, slowed as the sun got hotter! Didn't get to stay long enough to see what the evening bite was like though! Hope this helps you some!


----------



## autogyroenthusiast

Was there last week for the first time. Havoc Pit Boss, Zoom Flukes, and buzzbaits caught all our bass. First morning gill bite was strong and we ate 13, after that it was all catch and release bass. Most were caught on weed edges that dropped into deeper water or under overhanging bushes. Have fun!


----------



## BuckeyeFishin07

autogyroenthusiast said:


> Was there last week for the first time. Havoc Pit Boss, Zoom Flukes, and buzzbaits caught all our bass. First morning gill bite was strong and we ate 13, after that it was all catch and release bass. Most were caught on weed edges that dropped into deeper water or under overhanging bushes. Have fun!


First time huh? How did you like it? Love it down there, caught some really nice fish down there in the few times I have been there!


----------



## homepiece

Good to hear that some people are catching bigger ones. Numbers for me have been pretty high, but I have not gotten anything over 3lbs yet this year. Prior years by this point I have had several over 5.


----------



## autogyroenthusiast

BuckeyeFishin07 said:


> First time huh? How did you like it? Love it down there, caught some really nice fish down there in the few times I have been there!


Loved it. After a hot shower at home we were ready to go back. hopefully we can make it again next year.


----------



## BuckeyeFishin07

autogyroenthusiast said:


> Loved it. After a hot shower at home we were ready to go back. hopefully we can make it again next year.


Yeah that is how we are when we come home from down there! Last year we went for a week in October the nights were pretty chilly but the fishing was awesome! We were killing them on buzzbaits, I don't know if there is a more fun way to catch bass than topwater! The one pond we fished we caught probably 20 between the two of us all on buzzbaits!


----------



## bcraley76

Hi Guys - Headed down to AEP with our kayaks for the first time week of June 25th. Going to camp for one evening so we get to fish one evening and one morning. Couple of questions:
1. Does the rain effect water clarity down there... make it unfishable?
2. Knowing we are first timers fishing from kayaks, what campground is best 
3. Is anyone willing to tell me which couple of ponds to start on?


----------



## General

bcraley76 said:


> Hi Guys - Headed down to AEP with our kayaks for the first time week of June 25th. Going to camp for one evening so we get to fish one evening and one morning. Couple of questions:
> 1. Does the rain effect water clarity down there... make it unfishable?
> 2. Knowing we are first timers fishing from kayaks, what campground is best
> 3. Is anyone willing to tell me which couple of ponds to start on?



1. Rain shouldn't effect anything
2. I doubt you will be fishing from your campsite, but if that is you plan I recommend K camp on Lincoln HW, there is a large pond in the campground and also a driveway off to the right before the gate at K camp has a decent sized pond there
3. C camp has some decent ponds, I have never fished it because of the size but in between Windy Hill and D camp there is a drive that goes back towards rural dale with a huge lake and boat ramp, I would suggest just driving around and looking for ponds with depth and dropping in there


----------



## BuckeyeFishin07

I haven't noticed rain affecting the clarity of the ponds! Some are just naturally stained, but most are clear as gin! We always stay at campground k.


----------



## muraco.3

Buckeye, I'm going camping for the first time there last week of June. What makes you choose K over all others? I'm not sure which site to pick yet. I'll be camping there for 4 days and fishing the whole time as well. Do I need a fire pit for a fire there or can I just clear space on the ground for a fire?


----------



## BuckeyeFishin07

We chose K because it seemed to be one of the quieter ones, could have just been the times of the year we have been there, plus it is closer to the ponds we tend to fish. No you don't need a fire pit there are already areas at the sites for fires! We always try to get one of the sites right next to the pond! Also make sure you take plenty of bug spray and take any measure you can to keep the ticks off of you. The ticks aren't bad at the campgrounds just when you are hiking to ponds.


----------



## squid_1

Tics are terrible this year. I could barely pick them off fast enough a couple weeks ago.


----------



## muraco.3

Thanks buckeye. I'll be camping Monday through Thursday so I'll probably be the only one there for at least the first few days lol. Yea I'm planning on setting up camp right on the edge of the pond and having a line in at all times when at camp. I'm going to over pack big spray with deet and bring 1 can per day there. The last time I fished there a few years ago I had to pick out ticks as I didn't have bug spray. Is the fishing any good at the pond right at K?


----------



## everyday

Treat your boots and clothes with Permethrin before you leave....much much better for ticks than deet, but it needs to be done in time for it to dry. I'm an avid backpacker and the stuff is the best


----------



## muraco.3

Thanks! Is permethrin safe to spray on skin too?


----------



## Just 1 More

Pretty sure Permathrin only works on clothing/fabric, I do not believe it works on skin... although I have sprayed it all over me once I felt & saw the first tick.. lol

The sawyers permathrin is the good stuff. You can get it at Walmart


----------



## muraco.3

Will do! Thanks again guys.


----------



## BuckeyeFishin07

muraco.3 said:


> Thanks buckeye. I'll be camping Monday through Thursday so I'll probably be the only one there for at least the first few days lol. Yea I'm planning on setting up camp right on the edge of the pond and having a line in at all times when at camp. I'm going to over pack big spray with deet and bring 1 can per day there. The last time I fished there a few years ago I had to pick out ticks as I didn't have bug spray. Is the fishing any good at the pond right at K?


You know the funny thing is I don't know that we have actually fished the pond there much! Haha. The old caretaker said that he had caught quite a few big bass out of the pond there over the years! We always drive around and look for new ponds and fish our favorites also! Hiking back to remote ponds is the better fishing.


----------



## muraco.3

Yea I'll definitely be hiking to other ponds. I'm mainly going to fish the campground pond while setting up the tent, cooking dinner, before bed, etc. I figure that I'm going to try to have at least 1 line in the water at all times while there lol


----------



## laynhardwood

If you want to catch the big girls, you are going to need to put on your hiking boots and find some ponds off of the beaten path. You can catch fish in ponds with a ramp but those do get hammered.


----------



## BuckeyeFishin07

Anybody got any fishing info for down there from recently! Me and a couple buddies are headed down the last weekend of September to fish for the weekend. Just wondering if the fish are biting?


----------



## homepiece

Was there a couple of weekends ago. had my best ohio day of the year. fished two ponds, caught a total of 28 bass from 2:30pm to dark and missed quite a few more. Biggest was a 23 incher that weighed 6lb3oz, with a couple of others over 4lbs. I have had great luck with numbers this year, but size has not been there. Was catching them on whopper ploppers, Black and blue dingers wacky rigged, and bass candy joshys. It's getting to just about be spinner bait season out there. If you are going this month, be sure to pack a couple of willow leaf war eagle spinnerbaits with silver and gold blades. 

Normally if you want to get some with size, you will need to get off the beaten path.


----------



## BuckeyeFishin07

homepiece said:


> Was there a couple of weekends ago. had my best ohio day of the year. fished two ponds, caught a total of 28 bass from 2:30pm to dark and missed quite a few more. Biggest was a 23 incher that weighed 6lb3oz, with a couple of others over 4lbs. I have had great luck with numbers this year, but size has not been there. Was catching them on whopper ploppers, Black and blue dingers wacky rigged, and bass candy joshys. It's getting to just about be spinner bait season out there. If you are going this month, be sure to pack a couple of willow leaf war eagle spinnerbaits with silver and gold blades.
> 
> Normally if you want to get some with size, you will need to get off the beaten path.


Thank you for the response! Yeah we have been there a few times in the last few years, and we hike quite a bit! I have never had good luck with a spinner bait but will definitely throw one while there! I caught one over 6 pounds two years ago and my buddy caught one right at 6 pounds this summer earlier in the year! I always catch fish just wanted to see if somebody was catching them here lately! Once again thank you very much for your response!


----------



## CHOPIQ

Sorry for hijacking your thread, but has the state made any changes yet?


----------



## BuckeyeFishin07

I haven't been down there since July and we stayed up on the northern end of the recreation lands so I can't help you! We were only there for the day so didn't drive down to what the state now owns! I don't think they will change much of anything but that is just my opinion.


----------



## BuckeyeFishin07

A buddy and I are headed down first thing in the morning for the weekend! Hoping for the big girls to be moving and feeding with the cooler temps!


----------



## FishThis

BuckeyeFishin07 said:


> A buddy and I are headed down first thing in the morning for the weekend! Hoping for the big girls to be moving and feeding with the cooler temps!


Let us know how you do


----------



## BuckeyeFishin07

FishThis said:


> Let us know how you do


Had beautiful weather, and a great time. The fishing wasn't that great, caught some fish but nothing memorable! Threw everything I had at them but they didn't want to cooperate!


----------



## ARNfishin

I went down last weekend too. Caught a ton of fish but no size.


----------



## autogyroenthusiast

Mon/Tues report - 2 of us caught a good number of bass over 2 days. Definitely not in fall pattern yet with the warm temps. When we scheduled this we were thinking it would be cooler for hiking and hauling yaks, let's just say the sweat was flowing...all fish were caught on t-rigged flukes, t-rigged Pit Boss, Ribbit Frogs, and buzzbait. Most consistent method was casting flukes and pit bosses shallow then letting them fall down the drop offs on a semi-tight line, some fish were caught shallow but majority were a bit deeper, say 5-10 ft, hitting on the drop. Tons of 12-15, one 17, one 18.75, and biggest was 21.75 (Ribbit). My son lost a big girl on timber, got a good look at her before she spit it, it was a tough one to lose. Very few 10 and under bass though I did have a bluegill (a small one) "crush" the rear treble on my Whopper Plopper, lol. It was bluebird skies and the bite definitely picked up when the wind blew. Night bite was non-existent with the stuff we threw, dusk was good but once it got dark, everything just quit. But the nearly moonless sky made for some quality star gazing with some nice meteor action.


----------



## Lewzer

> Sorry for hijacking your thread, but has the state made any changes yet?


Was down there last week. No changes really. Campgrounds are there but still free. Just sign in when you arrive. Looks like the signs have been updated but not much more. Spoke to a few bowhunters that were camping. The state had a few 4 wheel drive roads behinds the gates where they cut the brush down on either side of the road but still only a one way road and hardly any place to pull over to let any traffic coming the other way pass you.
I'll be back in the spring with the kayaks to hit some of those back woods ponds. I'm definitely going to bring some pH paper to check some of those ponds before spending time fishing them to see whether they are worth the time.


----------

