# Ohio River bank fishing 6/12



## youngunner (Jun 21, 2009)

I may be a little biased because I was raised fishing the Ohio and it’s tributaries but few things are as rewarding as when I get a chance to head south from Columbus and fish the big river. I had really low expectations for the trip assuming the river would still be high and stained but to my surprise the water clarity and flow was nothing short of perfect. My favorite time to fish any moving body of water is 2-3 days before it returns to its normal pool level and water clarity after an extended period of high, muddy water. My feeling towards that is most game fish (beside catfish) aren’t feeding much if at all during high water conditions so as soon as the water begins to clear slightly they seem to feed aggressively. I had that feeling today when I hit the Ohio and after struggling to find a pattern for an hour or so I had one of the most memorable fishing trips in quite sometime. After it was all said and done in 3 hours of fishing I caught 14 fish. Most were white bass between 14”-16”, 3 hybrids the only one I measured went 18” may well have been just a large white bass. I struggle with identifying differences between hybrids and white bass larger that 16”. I caught and lipped one hybrid I believed to be a good bit larger but when i held him out of the water I got a treble in my finger and he got away along with my most effective lure. Last and finally I caught my first flathead ever. He may not have even weighed a pound but as I said my childhood was spent learning out to fish the Ohio river system and even after approximately 25 trips targeting flathead prior I was never able to actually land my own flathead so this was really exciting to finally check off that box. Sometimes the Ohio river forum on OGF can be slow so I just wanted to share my experience today with river foks that have been itching for the big river to be fishable again and for folks that want to learn more about the Ohio. Keep learning, keep working and take advantage of our truly world class fishery. Hope you enjoy the photos attached. (Just to provide a little scale for you all I’m 6’7”, weigh 280 pounds and have one big ass head )

Youngunner


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## Daveo76 (Apr 14, 2004)

The high ,stained water can be a blessing at times. Bait fish will move in close,hence the predators also. Fish in close if you can. I got tired of fishing the deck at Greenup and moved to the lower walkway and coffer dam and caught a few. Nothing over about 4 lbs but I was satisfied after a 2 yr absence. I don't fish for cats very often but a couple of regulars said they were probably spawning. I did catch a small channel cat and a sauger on soft plastics. So don't be discouraged. you were raised on the river and me too. She can be a fickle river. I was just happy to fish 4 times last week. You know the whites and hybrids; all or nothing. I did ok with the water and caught about 25 Whites and Wipers a trip. So, be patient. Maybe some of the catfish gents ( and I respect them all) can give you a few better pointers. I'm just saying the fish can be caught in high water. They should be used to it by now!!


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