# Need Advice on AEP fishing please



## liveblue23 (Jun 8, 2010)

well i keep hearing about everybody fishing AEP grounds and ive been checkin into it. I noticed there are tons and tons of places to fish and im def willin to put the work in one weekend and head up there with some buddies and camp and fish. the prob is there are like what a 100 ponds/lakes and im clueless which area i should go and fish and therefore which area to camp. im not just looking to go and catch 1lbers all day although id deal with it lol. id like to fish some of the places that may hold some bigger fish. i may be taking a john boat and our kayaks. any help would be great. thanks guys.


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## TheCream (Mar 19, 2009)

I'm basically an AEP rookie, this is the first year I have ever gone up there and I have made 3 trips so far this year, all half-dayers. I had zero guidance on where to go, so I broke it down like I do a WV fishing trip for trout: blindly picked a section. When I see a huge number of options, I'll focus in on one small area with several options and plan to hop around that small area to find good fishing. I think it gets too overwhelming if you look at the entire place, big picture. I'll also say that all the ponds I have fished, they all had a good number of fish. I have not caught any giants up there yet, but I can tell you in some of the easiest to access ponds, right by the roads, I have seen some GIANT bass. I agree generally that the more secluded ponds probably have better fishing due to less pressure, but don't think for a second that the easy ponds to reach don't have big fish!

I'll also add that the Google Earth free program download is a great little tool for researching the area. The overhead aerial photos give you a better idea of what the land is like around the ponds you see on a map. It helps me fill in some gaps with more detailed information I can't get from a map.


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## liveblue23 (Jun 8, 2010)

Hey cream, thanks for the info. Yea I live in Adams co so I suppose I could just get up early and make a day trip out of it. That's a great idea or just taking a section of ponds and fishing those.I was just uncertain on how much pressure the easier accessed ponds see. Yea I love me some Google earth. Use it all day for hunting. 

_OutdoorHub Mobile, the information engine of the outdoors_


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## TheCream (Mar 19, 2009)

liveblue23 said:


> Hey cream, thanks for the info. Yea I live in Adams co so I suppose I could just get up early and make a day trip out of it. That's a great idea or just taking a section of ponds and fishing those.I was just uncertain on how much pressure the easier accessed ponds see. Yea I love me some Google earth. Use it all day for hunting.
> 
> _OutdoorHub Mobile, the information engine of the outdoors_


The ponds by the roads I have fished, I know they get fished but it has to be only by people with boats of some kind. There is virtually no shore access. I fished some areas roughly in the vicinity of Campsites C and G, there's plenty of easy access ponds around there. I have taken my kayak up there and it's great to fish those ponds/lakes with. I think belly boaters have some advantages to getting farther off the beaten path easier than you can with a kayak or canoe, but it can be done. I have even looked a ponds/lakes in close proximity to each other, so there might be a string of 2-3 very close and you can fish one, portage to the next, etc...


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## dre (Aug 14, 2009)

One of my favorite things to do down at AEP is to find a pond, any pond, see how many paths you can see off the pond, get out and explore each path and 90% of the time you'll find a connector pond within 100 yards. Then I'll do the same thing at the next pond and so on. Only done this a few times because it does cut down alot on your actual fishing time, but exploring and finding new ponds after ponds is a blast. Plus those maps I find are not all that accurate so I kind of started making my own map. I don't get many hogs down there, but have seen them in almost every pond for sure!!


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## gray0630 (Aug 5, 2007)

i have read a lot of forums from 5-10 years ago saying how great the fishing is on AEP lands; but a lot of that seems to have died out. 

One post said all the ponds have been fished out, no more large bluegill even. 

Thinking about pulling the pop-up out there and giving it a go this weekend (4th of July...). Wonder how packed the place will be?

Im not necessarily looking for trophy fish, just a lot of activity. I dont mind the walking. 

Im hoping there will be at least a few big bluegill left to make a good lunch one day, though. 

Which is true? Still good, or dead ponds?


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## liveblue23 (Jun 8, 2010)

ive yet to go up there and try it out but i want to head up one weekend and camp and fish. i find it hard to believe with that many bodies of water that it cant be good fishing. a lot of guys on here say some of the easiest ponds to access are great to fish in. i know from experience that a lot of guys fish the same places i do and they give up on fishing a spot if they dont catch 20 fish in an outting. sometimes you just dont catch fish no matter how good the fishing.

if anybody has more advice or opinions please post.thanks guys


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## pastorchris (Mar 19, 2007)

The best advice I have is to get on Google Earth and do your research before you go. I type in Bristol, Morgan Co. Ohio (the Big Muskie Bucket) and "drive" the roads till I find somthing that catches my interest. Some of my favorite "secret" ponds I've found that way. But then again some of my favorite ponds are easily seen from a major road, so ya just never know..... another thing is to keep in mind that in pretty much every pond (no matter how secluded they seem) the fish get pressured, so I always try to fish something that I hope they haven't seen before. Just one more thought--I've had some of my best success and caught some of my biggest fish on 4" berkely power worms.....
Hope this helps 
Oh yeah, make sure you get your permit from AEP website before you go

Blessings!!!


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## crackedup (Apr 14, 2011)

thecream,dre,and pastorchris are right on with their advise. gray, there are plenty of huge bluegill in the ponds, i catch them all the time when i am out fishing the AEP ponds.


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## BigLunkerSOB (Jan 10, 2006)

There are some great ponds down there that produce consistently. The place is so massive it's challenging to zone in on one area, but that's the fun of it. I've been down there 5 times or so and have always caught nice quality fish. I've never caught any over 4lbs though, but I've seen some Lunkers swimming around. I still feel like I have only explored only part of the lakes. A 4x4 truck or SUV is a necessity for finding ponds off the beaten path, the access roads down there have huge ruts in them and will destroy your suspension, not to mention if you get stuck you are in a world of hurt in BFE.


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## liveblue23 (Jun 8, 2010)

i really do appreciate any advice i can get. i think my first go around up there im going to want to work on areas i can drive my truck to or the more accessable areas. i me and my buddies will have yaks as well. as far as those types of pond/lakes go what area you guys think i should hit up and which campsite would be best. thanks 

liveblue23


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## smokein (Jan 23, 2009)

went last weekend had a good time caught 1 about 3lbs rest where small but we had a good time just looking for diff. ponds to fish we hit at least 20. I think if you enjoy the fishing part its worth going you have to work for them that not going to jump in your boat.


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