# Deer Creek Update



## whitebass (Apr 18, 2004)

Just got back from Deer Creek. Got 2 quillbacks and a small channel catfish, they all hit the jig and were not snagged. I think they are tired of this cold weather too, so they were hitting my small jigs under a bobber. I did see a few small saugeye caught off the wall, 8-12 " at best. It was still pretty crowded when I left around 11am. Might go back through the week. I did talk to a few that said the same as everywhere else" Started catching them good b-4 the last cold spell". It has too warm up soon, spring is about a week away.
Bryan


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## twistertail (Apr 10, 2004)

Those quillbacks give you a nice fight dont they? Kinda fun after you have caught a few small saugeyes.


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## whitebass (Apr 18, 2004)

That's what I caught first. At first I thought I had a big whitebass. But It was still a good fight.
Bryan


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## twistertail (Apr 10, 2004)

You just never know what you will get below the spillway. I have caught smallies, large mouth, saugeye, white bass, crappie, sunfish, catfish, carp, suckers, rockbass and even saw a guy with a spoonbill once. Good place to fish if its not too crowded. You fish there much?


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## whitebass (Apr 18, 2004)

I go down there all the time. I ilve in grove city, so it's omly a 30 minute ride. I seem to do pretty good down there when a lot of spots are dead. I just have certain spots below that are better than others for me. Sometimes I go down below, fish a couple of spots within an hour or so, and then leave if nothing is going on. I'm off thursday, so I'll probably be down below there somewhere.
Bryan


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## PoleSnatcher (Apr 6, 2004)

you guys are getting me itchin' to go!!!!


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## oufisherman (Apr 10, 2004)

Hey Dave, I would also be willing to give Deer Creek a try for some eyes during the week of spring break. Probably be the one of the few species active during break. I should be open any time during that week.


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## esoxhunter (Apr 7, 2004)

>even saw a guy with a spoonbill once.

Yesterday I saw a picture of a spoonbill caught there. VERY large fish!


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## twistertail (Apr 10, 2004)

Yes the spoonbills can get huge! I have never caught one myself but hear of several being caught there every year. I dont think you can keep them but I have seen pictures of them at a few bait shops around the lake that were taken at the bait shop. I'll check the regs and see what its says about them.


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## twistertail (Apr 10, 2004)

I checked the regs on the DNR site and couldnt find any special regs for paddlefish so I guess if you catch you can keep it if you want.


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## Lundy (Apr 5, 2004)

Paddlefish are protected and may NOT be kept.

We have snagged a couple over the years at Deer Creek. They are really neat looking fish and very big and strong.


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## twistertail (Apr 10, 2004)

That is what I thought but there was nothing I could find in the regs about it. I guess there are people that dont know that cause I've seen the pictures at the bait shop. You would think the people that own the bait shop would know and spread the word.


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## Lundy (Apr 5, 2004)

If you are talking about Mary's, all of the pictures you see will show them down by the damn and the fish were released. They know that they are protected.

I believe they fish for and keep them in KY, but I don't know the details


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## twistertail (Apr 10, 2004)

Not talking about Marys, one of the other ones down there. Seen several pictures of fish that were taken outside the bait shop. Can you even take them out of the water? I heard that you could not even touch them.


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## Lundy (Apr 5, 2004)

I'm just not sure anymore. I know that there used to be signs at Deercreek saying that the paddlefish was protected, but I don't see anything anywhere on the ODNR site that discusses the possesion of paddlefish.

Looks like we need to call the ODNR


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## twistertail (Apr 10, 2004)

I know?? I thought they were protected too but cant find anything about them. 
Here is the endangered species list and i dont see them on there. 
http://www.dnr.ohio.gov/wildlife/Resources/mgtplans/endangered.htm


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## twistertail (Apr 10, 2004)

What ever the laws may be they are amazing fish. I would love to catch one so I could take an up close look at one. I bet they put up a heck of a fight.


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## twistertail (Apr 10, 2004)

I sent an email to the DNR asking if they were protected or not. I'll post when I hear back from them.


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## Lundy (Apr 5, 2004)

If you ever get to see one up close I think you'll like it, I sure did. Thier gill covers are awesome


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## twistertail (Apr 10, 2004)

Are they every caught at any other dams in central Ohio? I hear of them being caught at Deer Creek and in the Ohio River but not any place else. I would think they would be in any creek that drains into the Scioto.


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## beatsworkin (Apr 12, 2004)

Pretty sure that the are endangered and must be released. I've seen the pics at mary's and others around the lake.


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## UFM82 (Apr 6, 2004)

Went up with a buddy on the last weekend of February- was fishing for saugeye when this specimen snagged himself in my line. 10lb Stren and a #6 hook brought this beast to the shore. 

The signs all over the place below the dam said "it is unlawful to harvest, possess or harrass any paddlefish within 1,000 feet of the dam". ( Yes, it even said "harass".) $500 fine was in big black letters. I had my buddy snap a picture of the fish before we released it- the ranger that came over and spoke to me afterwards was kind enough to NOT give me the ticket. It was the biggest paddlefish he had ever seen caught there. Over 48" long and around 40 lbs. 

UFM82

Oh, keep in mind that I am 6' 4" tall and weigh about 245 in that picture.


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## twistertail (Apr 10, 2004)

Man I bet that was a fight. 
Awsome picture, thanks.


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## Lundy (Apr 5, 2004)

Neat fish!

The one my buddy caught as at night in the early spring. It was snagged right on the end of it's paddle. We didn't know what he had, he fought it forever. He finally gets it up near shore and I get the net and the other guy with us brings the lantern closer. The water is high and there is a foot or two of foam right along the banks. His line is now going down through the foam when suddenly up through the foam comes what looks like a 2x4 with his jig stuck in it, but then 4' away a great big tail comes up through the foam. The guy with the lantern freaked out and ran up the bank with the light.

Anyway a quick catch, a picture and released. It was the first up close experience for any of us with a paddlefish. This happened somewhere around 1980 at Deer Creek


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## UFM82 (Apr 6, 2004)

I was up on the concrete wall when the fish got my line. It must have swam into it and it got hooked in the belly right between the pectoral fins. My buddy I was fishing with was standing next to me when my rod began to bow over and when I jerked the rod, the fish came out of the water. He looks at me and says, " dude, you hooked a dolphin or something". LOL I was up toward to dam and had to go through about 10 rigs to get to clear water. I was cutting lines and tangling up stuff the whole way. Guys were yelling at me to cut my line but I was determined to land the largest freshwater fish I had ever seen/hooked/fought. LOL 

Took me 20 minutes. I finally grabbed the fish by the bill and freaked when it was soft and smooth- I thought it would make a great handle, but it was so smooth it was slick. I had to belly land the fish. She was as thick as she was tall- all muscle. Very cool fish and she swam away about 30 seconds after my buddy snapped this picture. 

UFM82


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## Lundy (Apr 5, 2004)

Priceless!

" dude, you hooked a dolphin or something".


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## fishingredhawk (Apr 14, 2004)

Sweet picture


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## Reel Thing (Apr 5, 2004)

Had a eye problem today----- couldnt see staying at work so I
Hit Deer Creek 
Nice day fishing not that great only ended up with 1 quillback
seen very few fish caught but 1 was a spoon bill off the dam it looked to be about 4 ft long 
a guy had a couple of decent channels and the rest were small eyes(real small) coming off the dam and a couple of better eyes (just larger than a cigar) off the end of the wall
water is pretty low but there was a little flow color was good
spring is hopefully just around the corner 
Geowol
george


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## twistertail (Apr 10, 2004)

Hey George that would have been worth the trip just to see that thing caught. At least you had something pulling on your line.


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## beatsworkin (Apr 12, 2004)

Pretty cool fish. I saw one caught several years ago down there, I hope that they are still proctected. I believe in waters where they are more numerous, the roe is highly regarded for caviar. I think I remember reading that has lead to the demise of the species in many areas, along with the construction of dams. I think that ODW netted a few fish and put them into the lake to try to get the paddlefish into the creek above the lake. At any rate, it is nice to know that such an ancient and big species of fish has found a home in a place like Deer Creek.


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## twistertail (Apr 10, 2004)

Yes I hope they are protected also. 
I saw on a site the other day when I was looking up info that the caviar was about 40 bucks for 2oz!


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## whitebass (Apr 18, 2004)

I know the pic that you guys are talking about. I was told by another fisherman that once the ranger seen the pics he found out who the guys were, and went to their house and talked to the guys about the fish in question. They just had the fish laying their on the ground dead, and didn't even do anything with the fish or the meat. I was told that they were given a stiff fine, and rightly so. I think it would really neat to have one mounted and hanging on the wall, but can't b/c they are protected. I hooked one a few years back almost 5 feet long including the bill. You can only imagine the fight they put up. After 25 minutes he finally broke my 6lb test, but it still was a good fight. He went down to the bottom a few times and seem to just sit there and find more energy for another run. Some guys were saying cut your line and so on, but I didn't listen b/c it was just fun. I seen themon the discovery channel once and the way they feed is just crazy.
Bryan


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## crankmaster (Mar 19, 2005)

They are a protected fish in Ohio, if you snag one, let it go as soon as possible, so it will survive.

Many years ago, they were plentiful in all of our rivers, my Dad used to bring some of them home to clean & eat when I was young, they were delicious.

The damns cut off the spawning runs, and it's a privilege to see one now. They are still pretty prolific in the Ohio River, at times you can see big schools of them at night, but they need to be protected here.


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## PoleSnatcher (Apr 6, 2004)

I've seen a few of them caught at deer creek over the years


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## H2O Mellon (Apr 5, 2004)

I was running through some guide services, I think it was an Alabama web site, but there was a guy that guided for them.


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## captain ahab (May 2, 2004)

If you catch a paddlefish it is purely because it was snagged. They take food in through their gills, they do not chase lures. They fish for them in Kansas. I saw a show on it once, saddest display of "fishing" I've seen. It was more like trolling to snag them. They can't be kept in Ohio or most states.


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## EE (Apr 13, 2004)

about 7-8 years ago my son and I were walking along the scioto river, a few miles below O'Shay. There was a large dead paddlefish on the shoreline, was a neat looking fish and my son was sad to see it laying there dead. someone had likely snagged it and had left it up on shore. again that was about 7-8 years ago, hopefully they are still in the Scioto.

I've seen reference several times here to "quillback" out of Deer Creek......someone enlighten me on what a quillback is. thanks!

eek


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## twistertail (Apr 10, 2004)

Quillback are either a type of sucker or carp, dont remember which.


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## PoleSnatcher (Apr 6, 2004)

captain ahab said:


> If you catch a paddlefish it is purely because it was snagged. They take food in through their gills,



I seen one caught with a hook in it's mouth, guy was using dough ball fishing for carp. Is that a freak accident then?


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## catking (Apr 5, 2004)

They have a snagging season on them down in Kentucky on the Ohio river. I've seen them 60 pounds and larger. .I always thought they were protected only within 1000 yards of a dam in Ohio  CATKING


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## captain ahab (May 2, 2004)

Yes, it would be an accidental snagging. The fish swim in order to take in plankton-with their mouths open so the fish must have swam into the bait and his open mouth. 

These are very long lived fish and it is a shame to hear anyone would throw one on shore but I've seen worse, of course.
Here's some more info:

This fishs long, paddle-shaped snout accounts for about one-third of its total body length. The snout helps to stabilize the fish as it swims, and it also contains specialized cells that assist in detecting the plankton swarms upon which this species feeds.


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## tvfisherman (Apr 16, 2004)

They got one in the tank at the Bass Pro Shop in Cinci. We were there during feeding time. Pretty cool the way they just open their mouths and filter for food. The guy feeding them was tossing in some kind of brown cube that I thought he said was high in protein for him. He just wasn't getting to them before the big strippers got at them.


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