# Safe/edible fishing spots



## jwilson (9 mo ago)

I live in Cleves and am trying to get into bank fishing for food. Where can I safely take fish home to eat? I've heard nothing but bad news about the waters near me, with the possible exception of the lake at Miami Whitewater.

I'm fine with driving a bit and I'm not picky about species. I could possibly get an Indiana or Kentucky license since I'm close to both borders but would prefer to stick to Ohio at the moment.


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## Millcreek matt (9 mo ago)

The Millcreek has a water testing program that takes place every second Saturday of the month I believe. Not sure exactly what it means but the way I understood the lady, the Millcreek is about at a 89 percent clean. There of course will be about 20 people on here that will have something opposite to say. I've pulled fish out of other bodies of water and instantly thought, what is wrong with this water.... I've pulled 15 species of fish out of one hole on the Millcreek over the past year. I've not seen one fish that wasn't damn near perfect. Considering the amount of money that has been spent on it's restoration and the numerous organizations that are actively working with, on, in, and for this waterway, it's a hidden treasure. Try it for yourself before you believe what the dinosaurs will try to tell you about it. That was a lifetime ago and none of them have been to see it with their own eyes.


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## Ol' Whiskers (Aug 11, 2004)

I'm not knocking any body of water. However, if you compare water quality to sediment content, some are more likely to present higher concentrations of harmful things such ad metals and organics. Consider that the big fish you eat generally eat the littler fish that eat the smallest fish that browse in the bottom, where all the old dinosaur stuff is concentrated. You might want to look at ODNR recommendations for consumption of certain species from certain bodies of water. Will one fish hurt you today, not likely. Can the stuff accumulate in your system, yes.


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## G-Patt (Sep 3, 2013)

It really depends on how often you plan to eat the fish. I'll eat small catfish under 5lb from the Little Miami on occasion, and would have no qualms eating the bluegills, crappie or white bass on a relatively frequent basis during the summer. I've even eaten gar from the LMR and all of it tastes great. I won't eat the large fish or carp, etc. I will eat the occasional white bass or crappie from the Ohio River. I've seen people eat 2 to 3 lb blue cats (nothing larger) from the OHR too, but none of the channel cats or flatheads. I regularly eat fish from the reservoirs in southwest Ohio during spring through summer. Point being is there is some risk associated with it, but if you are smart and not eat something that lives in the sediment or some large fish that has a build up of mercury or PCBs, avoid the belly meat and don't eat the organs of the fish, you'll be okay. The ODNR recommendations are very conservative and contemplate people with compromised immunity and pregnant women. Also, moderation is key. Note that I frequently use the word "occasional." Good luck!


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## oncorhynchusmykiss (Jun 9, 2017)

All the information you could want on eating your catch can be found here on the Ohio Department of Health website. Ohio Sportfish Consumption Advisory


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## Tree_Beard (Jan 13, 2021)

I eat fish from most waters around here. I don't keep every fish I catch, but a few for dinner now and then. As most everyone here says, moderation is key. Choose smaller, younger fish, trim off fat, and consider grilling or broiling to let the juices drain away as it cooks. I do eat an occasional carp, but I brine and smoke it into jerky. 
Our waters are a lot cleaner than they used to be, at least as far as chemicals go. The environmental regulations that everyone likes to poopoo as liberal horsehockey has done a lot of good. Raw sewage continues to be a big problem, bit that tends to be limited to high water events.


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## PT-63 (Oct 10, 2011)

jwilson said:


> I live in Cleves and am trying to get into bank fishing for food. Where can I safely take fish home to eat? I've heard nothing but bad news about the waters near me, with the possible exception of the lake at Miami Whitewater.
> 
> I'm fine with driving a bit and I'm not picky about species. I could possibly get an Indiana or Kentucky license since I'm close to both borders but would prefer to stick to Ohio at the moment.


Well, non resident fishing license will cost $50 or more in either state. Gas @$4 +/gal makes it a minimun of $12 per trip. Bait starts ,around $3 per tub or dozen.
If you're gonna fish for meat. You're better off goin to a grocery store. Aldi's has the best salmon,trout and tilapia. Plus it's already cleaned and ya know its "safe".
I'm a lifelong Hamilton county resident. Been fishing since 1965. I haven't kept a local fish since I tasted fish from clean waters back in 1978. I play with the fish round here , import the fish I eat.
The lakes at county parks are stocked regularly, their kinda clean, for the first month or so.


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## G-Patt (Sep 3, 2013)

I second montagc's comments. If you want to buy the same fish that are caught in our lakes and rivers, Jungle Jim sells live hybrid bass (not just filets- the entire fish) for 10.99/ lb and Kroger catfish filets are 9.49/lb. I can easily get $40 to $50 worth of catfish and hybrid bass filets from a clean and protected river with less than a 1/2 tank of gas. My 1/4" cast net never fails catching free high-quality bait for said fish, which I find to be very tasty. This way, I know where the fish came from and my risk of eating it vs. who knows where Kroger gets their fish. Might be from a legit source but I really don't know for sure.


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## night vision (Apr 26, 2016)

Do a little research on Tilapia and you probably won't want to eat it. I'll stick to the freshwater fish I catch locally.


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## PT-63 (Oct 10, 2011)

Sorry guys but all the water in the Ohio river watershed and its tributaries are polluted. All the water from here to College station PA. is tainted by big AGRA (fertilizers, pesticides, and poop).And the petro/chemical industry of West Virginia, Pennsylvania,Kentucky,and Ohio. Not to mention our waste water disposal operations.
As Onochrynchusmm ykiss has eluded to .The official " Ohio sportfish consumption advisory" website. And soon we'll hear from Ohio dept of health with their Tainted water bodiy advisories.
There is precious little unspoiled fishable/edible water within 100 miles of Cincinnati.


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## troutmcallister (Jan 3, 2022)

Tilapia are probably one of the nastiest fish there are


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## G-Patt (Sep 3, 2013)

Sometimes you have to just find out for yourself how safe the water is, test it yourself and take the advisories as advisories. What you might be suggesting (not saying you are) is all of the federal and state clean-water regulations that have been in play for decades are not working or they are not being enforced. All of the fish are tainted with pollutants. Regulators are turning a blind eye to Big Agra and Petro pollution and not holding them accountable? I mean, that wouldn't be unheard of but I personally haven't seen evidence of that happening. 

On the same line of speculation, one might suggest that the regulators promulgate these advisories to save their jobs. What if the regulations have been working and the water is actually clean? What if they are creating their advisories from the most polluted areas and not giving a full picture of the same watershed? What if they are making general conclusions from an inadequate sample? How are these tests and methods peer reviewed, and who does them? Are there any conflicts of interests or undisclosed motives involved in the peer-review process? Again, I have no evidence to support those suggestions. Just mere speculation.

I'm not poo pooing the reports or the advisories, but saying all of the edible-fishy water within 100 miles of Cincinnati is not entirely honest. All of the advisories I've read are saying you can eat certain fish from certain bodies of water but know there is some risks associated with that. There are other bodies of water and certain other fish that carry a much higher health risk. I think that's a fair and reasonable way to look at this issue. I'm cool with that, and I'm willing to take risks.


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## Ol' Whiskers (Aug 11, 2004)

https://pubs.usgs.gov/circ/2004/1229/pdf/circular1229.pdf



You cannot see or smell or taste PCBs or mercury or hexavalent chrome-6 or heptanes or trichloroethane or organics at that level. It doesn't mean they won't accumulate in your system.

I fished the GMR from Miamitown to Middletown as a kid. I am 66 years old. We saw weird colors, foams, slicks, turds, papers, feminine hygiene products, carcasses, and maybe more in those first forty years. Old guys tell about industry from Trenton to Dayton dumping all sorts of waste way before I started on the river. 

Now, the water runs crystal clear after a dry period. Not so back then. The problem is not the clear water, it's the sediment that's stirred and settled continuously that holds the artifactual contamination. Bottom-feeding forage ingest this and then pass it thru and up the food chain and nobody feels it. A fathead minnow's life expectancy in the wild is less than three seasons, so they are not a good indicator. The smallmouth and saugeye and channel cats and carp that live for five years or better become the concentrators of these contaminants. That's the reason for the advisory.

I worked fourteen years in industry that dumped EVERYTHING in the Mill and Dick's and Gregory creeks, and another twentyseven in industries that dumped solvents above the aquifer, in the Seventies and Eighties. Love catching fish from all. Would not intentionally ingest one though.


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## PT-63 (Oct 10, 2011)

OK 2 points A) nephew works for Hamilton county Metro sewer dist. Currently the industrial div. There are daily tanker deliveries from as far away as Chicago , contents industrial waste/chemicals. Kasich rewrote regs for the Fracking industry. Just bring your waste water to an OHIO sewer treatment facility ,pay the fee, and every thing gets washed away down stream. Too bad Madison,Louisville , Owenton. B) my boat is aluminum ,haven't put it in the OHIO since I couldn't get the "scum line" off at the spray away carwash . IT WAS ETCHED, had to use scrubby pads to get it off.


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