# Deer Creek Dam



## Saugernut (Apr 22, 2013)

Hey guys anybody having any luck in the spillway? I wanted to get out this weekend just wondering if it was worth the drive. The weather is supposed to be nice this weekend and I'm trying to break the cabin fever.


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## glasseyes (Jan 28, 2012)

Been doing pretty good there,caught three this morning and seen a few others caught.


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## Saugernut (Apr 22, 2013)

Hey thanks for the info. I may just give it a try, but I dont have any susp. Jerk baits. Hopefully they will bite twister tails


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## Dovans (Nov 15, 2011)

Bait shop just up the road that might sell them... Think it is called Frosties.


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## glasseyes (Jan 28, 2012)

Went Saturday morning took a limit home, biggest two were 22" and 19.5". Smallest one I kept was 16". Another great day on the stik bait


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## fishdealer04 (Aug 27, 2006)

Great catch glassseyes! Glad someone is getting into them good!


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## Troy Dave (Jan 26, 2007)

I finally decided to make the drive down there yesterday. Had to stop at work in the morning so it was a little after 9 before I got there. Fished until 12:30 without so much as a tick. I must have been fishing next to Glasseyes because 5 of those fish look real familiar. I figured I missed the morning bite. I came back about 5 and fished until 7:30 and caught 5 and missed 4. All around 16-17". My biggest problem was getting my baits to suspend. Had them all tuned for Indian lake back in December but yesterday they all slowly sunk. I guess the water is a lot colder now. I was pulling off weight strips and cutting one shank off the hooks to get them to suspend right. But it was fun, although my wife did not think it was worth two 130 mile round trips. She may have a point.


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## Jrfish37 (Dec 19, 2011)

Can I get some advice on how you guys are fishing stick baits I'm trying to bounce off the bottom and suspend within 1 ft of the bottom am I on the rite track and what are some pointers to achieve this any advice is very much appreciated thanks


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## lake hopper (Jan 18, 2014)

The best way i know is using a rubber core sinker it can be adjusted up and down your line to keep your stick baits down and maintain the depth you want works great in rivers current is current so judgment on weight size to use is an on sight call only use rubber core sinkers with floating sticks my favorite double jointed sticks glasseyes you da man good work


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## Troy Dave (Jan 26, 2007)

I've only been fishing suspending stick baits a couple of seasons and most of what I learned came from some Alum creek and Indian lake threads. The number one thing is to get the bait to suspend level. I spent a lot of time at the sink adjusting them with suspend dots, changing hook or split ring sizes. When I start fishing I may remove some weight or add some lead wire. Saturday night I ended up casting out about 1 oclock down stream so the current wouldn't put a belly in the line. Then make a short rod sweep to get the bait under. After that I just gave it a couple of small twitches, reeling in the slack every 30 to 40 seconds. Probably should have waited longer than that but I couldn't stand to wait. I didn't worry about getting the bait real low in the water because it still had a real slow sink and anyway I think the saugeyes will come up a bit more at night. My bites Sat. nite were real light, only a little tic where they had the bait in their mouth. Only had a couple seconds to set the hook and only had one fish come back for a second try.


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## smith07 (Feb 28, 2009)

I went there tonight from 5-7 and caught a dink on a twister. guy next to me did better, but no real size to them


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## Doboy (Oct 13, 2008)

Troy Dave said:


> I've only been fishing suspending stick baits a couple of seasons and most of what I learned came from some Alum creek and Indian lake threads. The number one thing is to get the bait to suspend level. I spent a lot of time at the sink adjusting them with suspend dots, changing hook or split ring sizes. When I start fishing I may remove some weight or add some lead wire. Saturday night I ended up casting out about 1 oclock down stream so the current wouldn't put a belly in the line. Then make a short rod sweep to get the bait under. After that I just gave it a couple of small twitches, reeling in the slack every 30 to 40 seconds. Probably should have waited longer than that but I couldn't stand to wait. I didn't worry about getting the bait real low in the water because it still had a real slow sink and anyway I think the saugeyes will come up a bit more at night. My bites Sat. nite were real light, only a little tic where they had the bait in their mouth. Only had a couple seconds to set the hook and only had one fish come back for a second try.



Now THAT'S what we needed!
Very informative,,,,
Thanks


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## jiggerman (Nov 2, 2009)

Doboy search rainy night bite jerks limit.


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## Dovans (Nov 15, 2011)

People up on the wall were hauling them in this afternoon. couldnt really tell the size. They sure were not hitting on the banks. I was there for mebbe three hours, and caught one 17 incher. Surprised by the amount of folks there too. Usually not that many during the week.


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## Doboy (Oct 13, 2008)

jiggerman said:


> Doboy search rainy night bite jerks limit.



I will THANKS much.
WE (NE guys) have MANY low-head types of dams on the feeders, and all of the ORiver locks & dams that are between Pike and Pymi,,,,, and I've never seen anyone score by using floaters,,,, and I have some awesome spots to try that are over 'the line'.

I can catch a few eyes by floating large fatheads or dragging twisters,,, but the GOOD days are far between the bad. Here's a pic of some eyes that I caught below a low-head dam on the Mahoning River,,, Like 2 years ago. I haven't hit 'em again since!
This old dog gotta learn some new tricks,,, I gotta improve those odds! 
*
lol,,, ANY CHANCE OF POSTING SOME PICS OF THE GUYS FISHING BELOW DEER CREEK DAM? Like Fish pics,,, lure pics,,,, WATER PICS,,,
LIKE the way the guys down Greenup Dam post?
*
When I read that Troy Dave waits 30-40 seconds, BETWEEN Twitches! OM!
Our lures would be 200yds downstream!
That's why I gotta see that water??? 
Thanks


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## Smallmouth Crazy (Apr 4, 2006)

What colors are working?? Thanks


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## glasseyes (Jan 28, 2012)

Troy Dave said:


> I've only been fishing suspending stick baits a couple of seasons and most of what I learned came from some Alum creek and Indian lake threads. The number one thing is to get the bait to suspend level. I spent a lot of time at the sink adjusting them with suspend dots, changing hook or split ring sizes. When I start fishing I may remove some weight or add some lead wire. Saturday night I ended up casting out about 1 oclock down stream so the current wouldn't put a belly in the line. Then make a short rod sweep to get the bait under. After that I just gave it a couple of small twitches, reeling in the slack every 30 to 40 seconds. Probably should have waited longer than that but I couldn't stand to wait. I didn't worry about getting the bait real low in the water because it still had a real slow sink and anyway I think the saugeyes will come up a bit more at night. My bites Sat. nite were real light, only a little tic where they had the bait in their mouth. Only had a couple seconds to set the hook and only had one fish come back for a second try.



Great information thanks, this really has me thinking now. I fish with these baits straight out of the box and I just started fishing them in different ways until I started getting more hits. I know just about all of my baits slowly drift back up as soon as I stop and I have found that most of the time the fish are hitting mine when they start drifting up, but before daylight they seem to hit it after the drift and when I give it a short twitch, or when floating and just give it a little jerk. I've only been doing this for a couple of winters so I'm soaking up all the info I can about this bait. 
On another note a friend went with me for a couple of hours after dark one evening and he caught 4 and I caught 3. He was using the big Joshy bait in a smoke shad color just moving it slowly on the bottom , so I guess when they are hitting maybe it doesn't matter.


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## Hoover 4 Me (Jul 30, 2013)

I will be heading down tomorrow afternoon to give it a shot. Got a baby shower going on at my house (not mine lol) so I gotta find something to do and in that case fishing is always the answer. I plan on trying jigs and jerk baits. I'll post my results, good or bad. Hopefully I can get a few eyes for dinner. If anyone else is out I'll be in full camo hunting gear trying to act like I know what to do lol, so feel free to let me know what I am doing wrong if you're out there. I haven't fished the dam there in about 10+ years so I am excited to give it a shot. I always had good luck back in the day, I just stopped hitting in the winter for no really good reason. Maybe I got a little soft through the years or something.


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## Cajunsaugeye (Apr 9, 2013)

It froze over in front of my eyes tonight in about 1/2hr.No current and no wind.When I left at 7,there was skim ice solid from above bridge to riffle.I'd imagine if nothing changes,it'll be mostly froze over by tomorrow.Wall area should be open,but probably not past it.

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## Hoover 4 Me (Jul 30, 2013)

Cajunsaugeye said:


> It froze over in front of my eyes tonight in about 1/2hr.No current and no wind.When I left at 7,there was skim ice solid from above bridge to riffle.I'd imagine if nothing changes,it'll be mostly froze over by tomorrow.Wall area should be open,but probably not past it.
> 
> Sent from my VS870 4G using Ohub Campfire mobile app


That sucks. Thanks for the info


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## Hoover 4 Me (Jul 30, 2013)

So I went this afternoon and the water was open. It was a long trip because the first time I got there I realized I grabbed the wrong bag of lures and all that so I drove 40 minutes back home to get the right stuff. If I didn't have a house full of 30-40 people for a baby shower I would have stayed home, but I got my stuff and went back. After about an hour of watching the buttholes next to me fill their buckets up with 8-10 inch eyes and losing 4 jigs on 4 consecutive casts I decided to just leave. There were 5 of them and one of me so I figured telling them what I thought of their tactics would get me tossed over the fence so I just hit the road. I think I'll just stick to hitting hit throughout the week. I normally try to mind my own business but if the guys I saw today are on this board you really need to learn a thing or two about conservation and keeping a healthy population of fish. Seriously...


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## glasseyes (Jan 28, 2012)

I never fish off the wall , it's just bad. I went sat. Morning got there at 4:45 am, fished in rocks down below wall. Caught three one was a dink other two were 17" and 18". Guy had a big carp and asked me if I would unhook it for him, I said I would this once but that would be it. I hate fishing in that corner when there is a bunch up there, they think that you are just down there to land anything for them that's to big to pull up the wall. Oh the reason I was fishing there was that when I got there the creek was froze over for a good distance , didn't break up till later.
Anyway I went back tonight fished 5:30 to 8:30 and fo two hours they were biting decent I missed several and had a couple nice ones get off, caught three, 15" , 16" And 18".















All in all a pretty good day, all caught on stik bait


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## Troy Dave (Jan 26, 2007)

I give you guys credit, your tougher than me. I am outside a lot in my work so I'm used to the cold but if it gets much at all below 30 I am through fishing. Too much standing in one place and I hate dealing with frozen guides. I'm hoping for warmer temps. next weekend.


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## glasseyes (Jan 28, 2012)

I can put up with the weather and the ice in guides, it's all part of the experience


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## Hillbilly910 (Jan 6, 2009)

Hoover 4 Me said:


> After about an hour of watching the buttholes next to me fill their buckets up with 8-10 inch eyes and losing 4 jigs on 4 consecutive casts I decided to just leave. There were 5 of them and one of me so I figured telling them what I thought of their tactics would get me tossed over the fence so I just hit the road....


if only there was somebody you could call, who could enforce the law...hmmm


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## Hoover 4 Me (Jul 30, 2013)

Hillbilly910 said:


> if only there was somebody you could call, who could enforce the law...hmmm


Not an option...no size restriction on saugeye at deer creek. But thanks for the comment.


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## jaws01 (Sep 30, 2013)

Anyone head to the dam tonight 

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## glasseyes (Jan 28, 2012)

Was down there afternoon today for two hours while snowing and blowing, only caught one 15" . Any body else seeing this duck down there,been hanging around for good while now. I looked it up and it's called an Oldsquaw. In winter plumage it normally winters on the coasts.







Picture off line a little better than one I took







I wondered if it was rare for around here, I've seen quite a few people with big zoom lense cameras on tripods following this duck taking pictures, evidently he must be special, is kind of pretty, got a real long tail


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## Saugeyefisher (Jul 19, 2010)

Cool looking duck. Ive never seen one. me and a buddy painting my house kept wanting to quit an head that way,had to finish though...


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## jaws01 (Sep 30, 2013)

We have seen it the last few times we have been there it was with a green head friday they both took off the it came back by itself cool looking duck we were wondering what it was 

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## bstew (May 2, 2005)

Hi everyone, I'd like to add my two cents, probably only worth one, but here goes.

I began fishing the wall this year, only because I can catch a bunch of fish. I'm not looking to keep any, I just want to get out of the house and catch fish. I do not throw them back from the wall however, I will put them in a bucket of water, when I get six I walk down, dump them, and go again. So please if you see a guy dumping fish and walking back up, don't think he's a jerk, he's just doing what he feels is right. I use 6lb line with an ultra light rod, no different to me than bluegill fishing.

Keeping little fish although aggravating to most people, having spoken with different wardens over the past ten plus years, makes no difference to the population. The fish are stocked into the lake, when they hit the spillway they are in limbo, they either go downstream, or just hang out. I agree that catch and release would allow for some bigger fish to be caught, however there are so many of the small "cigars" they cannot all be caught.

Law breakers drive me nuts, if you cannot catch a limit of 10" fish without snagging them, then you need to practice your technique. As I mentioned before I just like to catch fish, but if you see these people and do not want to approach them, simply get a description of their vehicle and the tag number. Next time you see the warden, give him the information and then they will know who to look for. It's private, and you don't have to worry about someone shooting you, or throwing you over the railing.


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## Dovans (Nov 15, 2011)

Yea, I always get a kick outta seeing a fish come up the wall sideways.


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## Saugernut (Apr 22, 2013)

I did provide info. to Mr. GW one time there because I witnessed a lady catch and keep way, way, way over her limit. She knew what she was doing and would watch for a while before dumping the fish she had just caught in a bucket. She clearly knew what she was doing was wrong and it was disgusting to watch. But I can tell you that it was not as "private" reporting this as some people might think. I did not want my name involved and expressed that, but was "encouraged" to get involved and give a statement.


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## bstew (May 2, 2005)

I guess I didn't put that as well as I could have, I have no problem providing a statement, what I meant was that you do not have to approach the offender. This is why I suggest reporting the vehicle. You can be gone when the offenders are approached, or the offenders may be gone and the warden will have an idea of who to look for.


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## Saugernut (Apr 22, 2013)

bstew, I understand what you mean and I would encourage everyone to do the right thing to protect our fish and wildlife, I just wish the TIP program was as confidential as it's advertised, and I'm speaking from personal experience.


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## Hoover 4 Me (Jul 30, 2013)

I've been fishing Hoover and Alum Creek for over 25 years, obviously Hoover more as my screen name would suggest and the fact that my boat has a 9.9 motor and that limits my time on Alum to the early spring before the big boats come out to play. Anyway, before Hoover put size limits in place on crappie I could always go to Alum and catch way more quality crappie than I could ever hope for at Hoover so I firmly believe size limits have a huge impact. I've seen the difference first hand at Hoover. I wish they'd but a size limit on the eyes there too because if size limits didn't matter they wouldn't exist for any specie on any lake. I'd think that since the state pays to stock saugeye they'd be a little more conscious about the populations but maybe that's just me. But I digress...the only thing the guys I saw could do illegally was keep over the limit and I doubt they had 30 eyes between the 5 of them. It's more of an ethical thing for me so I guess it's my problem and not theirs since they didn't break any laws doing what they did. I just don't see the point. You'd get more meat off a 10" crappie. There really isn't a lot of meat on a 10" saugeye so I see it as wasting a perfectly good fish that had already survived enormous odds and would actually be a quality keeper in another couple years. Whatever floats their boat though I guess. I was just venting a bit about an overall frustrating day. I'll be back out there tomorrow afternoon/evening and probably Friday evening and again Sunday morning. I'll be sticking to the rocks from here on out though. Good luck if anyone else gets out!


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## bstew (May 2, 2005)

I agree 100%, I wouldn't keep one of those small fish either. There are some that grow there, last year I caught a 5 and a 4.75, so they are in there. My opinion is that DNR stocks the "lake", and no size limit keeps people coming back. They have to monitor it since there is a size limit on crappie below the dam, I have to assume that if all of those little fish are taken that there is no real damage to the population or they would put a limit on them. Of course this is all assumption.

Now the most important question, has anyone been braving the below zero temperatures to fish? I'm thinking of going down in the morning, but I know it's going to be below zero again.


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## bstew (May 2, 2005)

Hoover4me, 
I've been fishing Hoover since it was 5.5!!!!!!!!! anyway, if you are intersted send me a PM and I can give you a few spots to crappie fish at alum in the "no wake" area that my father and I have been fishing for years. You don't have to worry about the "party barges" flying by and sending you rockin' and rollin'.


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## Lundy (Apr 5, 2004)

glasseyes said:


> Was down there afternoon today for two hours while snowing and blowing, only caught one 15" . Any body else seeing this duck down there,been hanging around for good while now. I looked it up and it's called an Oldsquaw. In winter plumage it normally winters on the coasts.
> View attachment 90507
> 
> Picture off line a little better than one I took
> ...


Yes, I drove through there Saturday morning around 11 am and saw 4 people on the wall, and 2 at the end of the pool.

I also saw the duck. I had never seen one like that before.


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## Big Joshy (Apr 26, 2004)

I have heard this idea from a lot of people that the saugeye caught below the spillway at deer creek are fish that are just now coming out of the dam and that its either keep them now or they will be washed away and gone forever. To me It makes zero sense. Saugeye love to migrate, that is why they come through the dam in the first place. So its not a big deal at all for saugeye to migrate right back up to the dam when they choose too since there are no other dams that I am aware of between Deer Creek Dam and the Scioto. That is why they snag paddlefish there. Did the paddle fish just come through the dam too? No of course not. They easily migrate up deer creek and are stopped by the dam.
The same as the saugeye, that is why the fish are there. The creek is a two way road.


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## BrookdaleBrothersOutdoors (Jun 10, 2012)

Was down at the dam tonight, nice day to get out and fish. I wish the fish would have have showed up also. Deer Creek is not one of my favorite places to fish for eyes but there are some decent fish in there. I just have failed to catch any there this year. The least I can say is that it has been extremely SLOW even for the dinks!


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## eyecon (Jul 6, 2013)

Anyone been the past couple days?


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## glasseyes (Jan 28, 2012)

Heading down in morning, this is my kind of weather to catch the eyes, snowing and blowing, hope they cooperate.


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## glasseyes (Jan 28, 2012)

Big skunk, no one there except a lady taking pictures of ducks. Fish weren't there either


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## TheTrueFisherman (Feb 15, 2014)

Heading out there this afternoon...have only been out several times this year and no luck on the saugeyes, but i hooked into a nice carp every outing...biggest one was around 20lbs...good fighters but hopefully a decent saugeye will decide to chew this time.


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## Hoover 4 Me (Jul 30, 2013)

I fished 1pm-3pm today and caught a small buffalo and a 17" eye. Tough day to be out there with the gusting wind and blowing snow but a saugeye sandwich for dinner will make it worth it. 

I saw plenty of dinks go up the wall, most of them snagged. Game warden showed up and walked down with 3 guys. Don't know if they were kicked out or just leaving on their own.


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## boostedtrex (May 4, 2013)

Think I'm going to try it tomorrow late afternoon till dark hope to get my February eye since I didn't bring one threw the ice yet lol how is the night bite there?

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## Troy Dave (Jan 26, 2007)

Went out last evening with no luck and did not see any caught. Spoke to a game officer who said very few have been caught lately except for dinks at the dam. Flow was posted at 105 in the afternoon and I see this morning it is up to 334. Maybe the stock will get replenished after they flush out all the water the lake will get in the next couple of days. Get some larger fish commong up stream.


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## glasseyes (Jan 28, 2012)

that's good news as far as the increased flow. But with the weather we have coming next few days and the thaw we could see a lot more than wanted. Hope it doesn't turn out to be a flood.


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## glasseyes (Jan 28, 2012)

The outflow right now is 1570 .


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## Hoover 4 Me (Jul 30, 2013)

What would be considered unfishable flow rates down there? I am planning on going down there Saturday morning and I figured it might be kind of dicey with all this snow melting and the rain we're supposed to get tonight. I'm just not too familiar with what conditions are good/bad down there. 

Thanks...


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## Dovans (Nov 15, 2011)

300-500cfm is where I like it.


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## Hoover 4 Me (Jul 30, 2013)

Well, I have some lures a guy I work with made and he asked me to see how the act in the water so I think I'll be going down no matter what to do that for him. If anyone else is down there and sees a guy throwing a bunch of top water prop baits and filming it with a phone don't think I'm crazy hoping to catch something on them haha...this is only a test.


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## glasseyes (Jan 28, 2012)

Hard to tell about what the water will be like Saturday, if we get much rain they may shut the flow down considerably, if there is flooding on down. I've seen it go both ways, although for me , my luck has always been better a few days after they shut the flow down after it's been running hard for a week or more but if it's fish able I will probably go anyway just to get out for awhile.


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## Hoover 4 Me (Jul 30, 2013)

Yeah, I'm heading down there no matter what. If it is fishable I'll fish it. If not I at least need to check these lures out. I'll be down there around 9am either way.


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## StumpHawg (May 17, 2011)

Hoover 4 Me said:


> What would be considered unfishable flow rates down there? I am planning on going down there Saturday morning and I figured it might be kind of dicey with all this snow melting and the rain we're supposed to get tonight. I'm just not too familiar with what conditions are good/bad down there.
> 
> Thanks...


Anything over 900 is tough to fish...


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## StumpHawg (May 17, 2011)

glasseyes said:


> Hard to tell about what the water will be like Saturday, if we get much rain they may shut the flow down considerably, if there is flooding on down. I've seen it go both ways, although for me , my luck has always been better a few days after they shut the flow down after it's been running hard for a week or more but if it's fish able I will probably go anyway just to get out for awhile.


I bet they shut it down this weekend... The Ohio river is corps main concern and will rise quick from our flow up north...


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## dustydog (Apr 4, 2012)

I just checked the flow and it seems they shut it down to 8.48


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## StumpHawg (May 17, 2011)

dustydog said:


> I just checked the flow and it seems they shut it down to 8.48


you are wrong its 8.03


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## Hoover 4 Me (Jul 30, 2013)

Thanks everyone. As I stated previously, I'm not too familiar with flow rates and all that and was wondering what site people used. I just looked at one site, waterdata.usgs.gov, and it said the cfs rate at 1530hrs was at 5050 in Mt. Sterling. I just want to make sure I'm looking at the right stuff.


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## Cajunsaugeye (Apr 9, 2013)

Hoover,go to Huntington district overview page.

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## Hoover 4 Me (Jul 30, 2013)

Thank you sir...


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## Hoover 4 Me (Jul 30, 2013)

Fished with my dad for about 4-5 hours late morning/early afternoon. Tried several techniques and got squat. Water was barely moving for a while and then they opened it up. It was moving pretty good for about the last hour we where there. Saw some dinks go up the wall, snagged, a big ass gizzard shad snagged and one guy next to us got a decent white bass on a stick bait. Didn't seem like much was happening while we were there unless we missed something. I'll be heading back down mid-week to give it a shot.


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## Cajunsaugeye (Apr 9, 2013)

1617 cfs.Yeah,it must have been moving a bit!

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## Saugeyefisher (Jul 19, 2010)

Hoover 4 Me said:


> Fished with my dad for about 4-5 hours late morning/early afternoon. Tried several techniques and got squat. Water was barely moving for a while and then they opened it up. It was moving pretty good for about the last hour we where there. Saw some dinks go up the wall, snagged, a big ass gizzard shad snagged and one guy next to us got a decent white bass on a stick bait. Didn't seem like much was happening while we were there unless we missed something. I'll be heading back down mid-week to give it a shot.


Didnt miss much. Lol watched a couple guys/kid(idk) fish the oppisite side of a run off stream and must not of heard the horns,they had to wet-wade back(only just below knees) althoug it was fun for all us on the other side to watch,i kept wondering if they noticed the water riseing lol.... i didnt get a hit but the sun felt nice. Was supposed to get back out tonight(not dc),but other things came up...


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## Hoover 4 Me (Jul 30, 2013)

We were there to see them too lol. I don't know if they didn't expect it or didn't care but we were wondering if they realized they were on limited time. The water was coming up pretty fast. I might go back tomorrow evening but for sure later this week.


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