# ASHTABULA RIVER



## TommyToTall

I was wondering if anyone would be interested in sharing any info on the Ashtabula River. Just anything really. The river is discussed so few often. To start.... how do you feel the number off steelhead has been over the last few years. My Son and I only caught one and hooked only three this morning.


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## idfish247

You won't get much info... it's not a stocked river (unmentionable). Most willing to talk about the usual Chagrin, Grand, Rocky, Conneaut, Vermilion


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## Flatty01

1\3 isn't a bad day, been wanting to try this river as well since it's closer to home.


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## SelfTaught

I've heard good things about this river. Any watershed connected to Lake Erie pretty much can get steelhead. There are a lot of creeks, and unstocked tribs that get a nice run of fish but as tommytotall stated, most are pretty tight lipped about them because they are generally less pressured


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## fritoking

Google is your friend...the odnr has maps....it's not a tough river to learn. Download a map and give it a shot. I don't fly fish, but most streams we do well on spinners and minnow mimicking plugs....or emerald shiners if you can get them.


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## westbranchbob

Watch out for posted signs...a lot of the upstream sections are private.


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## ironfish

I get a Meth vibe whenever im on that river,several car break ins every year,dont leave stuff in sight.I leave my truck unlocked with a small note saying that.Hell last spring some fly fisherman posted he rounded the bend and seen some deplorable's taking there weekly bath.If timed up right can produce decent #'s.


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## fritoking

westbranchbob said:


> Watch out for posted signs...a lot of the upstream sections are private.


Hell, half the river is park land


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## rickerd

OK I've got to add froth to this post. This river is haunted!
I've caught a half a dozen over 3 trips there. mostly Spring. My last trip there I wandered upstream and got the feeling I was being watched the whole time. Caught a fish and left after a couple hours. Did some research on the area I was in and found out there was a horrible train wreck in the early 1900's right there. Gives me the "willies" now but it is a beautiful stream.

Yes there are some characters around at times so fish with a friend or two. It is a smaller river though for Ohio, and will not take as much pressure as others. It seems to clear out quick compared to Conny and Grand. Then gets low flow so the windows of opportunity are shorter.
Rickerd


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## racetech

My shop overlooks this river from the top of the bank. I've fished it. There are fish. It clears very fast and so does the flow, so yea short windows. Overall I dont think there is a lot of problems along the river, but there is a homeless camp and some unsavory folks now and again lol


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## bustedrod

well maybe I can throw some help, try under the bridge at the hospital, then back up to to the bp and down the hill to the river, lots of wading room .


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## fritoking

I never fish the stretch in town...so I haven't really run into and unsavory characters.


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## TommyToTall

Thanks for all the info. Besides looking for fish I guess I better keep my eye open for the ghosts. LOL


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## TopCat

ODNR has plans to start managing it for steelhead. If all goes as planned it'll get its first stocking next spring.


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## fritoking

TopCat said:


> ODNR has plans to start managing it for steelhead. If all goes as planned it'll get its first stocking next spring.


That's great news...it should be stocked. I've never fished it and not caught and seen fish. More access and more fish is akways good in my book


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## Hookin-eyes

plenty of fish in that river, put your time in and learn it, that river has been stock more than once before...


TopCat said:


> ODNR has plans to start managing it for steelhead. If all goes as planned it'll get its first stocking next spring.


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## GobyOneGnoby

Tread lightly above the covered bridge or don't tread at all as it is all posted private property. There's one land owner who takes his property line VERY seriously. Be careful wading it in the winter because it's notorious for anchor ice. Can't tell you how many close calls we've had because of it.


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## Lundfish

This river is my favorite because the guy with the shotgun and 4 wheeler makes me like it. No joke, guy on 4 wheeler and shotgun.

Next to no holes in the river. Shale bottom and shallow everywhere. Did I mention shallow? That's because water will be chocolate milk one day and gone to nothing the next.

Worthless waste of time IMO.


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## racetech

Lundfish said:


> This river is my favorite because the guy with the shotgun and 4 wheeler makes me like it. No joke, guy on 4 wheeler and shotgun.
> 
> Next to no holes in the river. Shale bottom and shallow everywhere. Did I mention shallow? That's because water will be chocolate milk one day and gone to nothing the next.
> 
> Worthless waste of time IMO.




Was the guy on private property? It doesnt suprise me either way lol


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## Hookin-eyes

Lundfish, either your trying to persuade guys to stay off this river, or you dont know when to fish the Ash, it is a river that gets many fish, just need to put your time in and learn it.



Lungfish said:


> This river is my favorite because the guy with the shotgun and 4 wheeler makes me like it. No joke, guy on 4 wheeler and shotgun.
> 
> Next to no holes in the river. Shale bottom and shallow everywhere. Did I mention shallow? That's because water will be chocolate milk one day and gone to nothing the next.
> 
> Worthless waste of time IMO.


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## TopCat

I'm not surprised it gets a good run of strays. It's probably getting Ohio fish, as well as some from Pennsylvania and even New York. ODNR plans to place 50,000 steelhead smolts in the Ashtabula this spring. So, that should eventually make the numbers even better. I've never fished the Ashtabula before so I'm going to have to put some time in to learn it.


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## fritoking

TopCat said:


> I'm not surprised it gets a good run of strays. It's probably getting Ohio fish, as well as some from Pennsylvania and even New York. ODNR plans to place 50,000 steelhead smolts in the Ashtabula this spring. So, that should eventually make the numbers even better. I've never fished the Ashtabula before so I'm going to have to put some time in to learn it.


It's not a hard river to learn. There aren't many " holes" in the area I fish , but if it's 2 ft or more it'll usually hold fish. Just have to walk it and hit the " fishy looking" water. I don't fish in town and being 100% truthful I have never fished it and not caught fish.


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## kingbaiter13

Well i would like to know what rivers your fishing. Ashtabula River is a really good fishery. Me and a buddy have a personal best day with over 15 fish. And that was before noon in only two holes. It can get crowded at times though. The deepest hole is around 10ish ft. deep. 
Next to no holes in the river. Shale bottom and shallow everywhere. Did I mention shallow? That's because water will be chocolate milk one day and gone to nothing the next.

Worthless waste of time IMO.[/QUOTE]


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## flyphisherman

Shotgun toting, ATV riding, meth ghosts keep me far from that region.


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## kingbaiter13

Fished there many times over the last 10 plus years and never had a problem....


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## Phazed

anyone catching any this year in this river ?


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## bustedrod

and ya gotta love the signs warning DONT EAT ANY FISH FROM RIVER. but really there are fish there on a good day . try floating spawn sacks under bobber, or a minnow, or black jig w magg, or 3 - 4 inch twister tails. they ( the steel) can and do hide in a cut 8 inches deep.


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## Flatty01

Need rain now more than anything.


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## hailtothethief

They are in the mouth. Not too many. People been catching on egg sacs twisty tails and night crawlers. Spoons and minnows werent very effective this week.


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## Phazed

thanks for the info ....hoping to be able to head out fishing in a few days


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## kingbaiter13

bustedrod said:


> and ya gotta love the signs warning DONT EAT ANY FISH FROM RIVER. but really there are fish there on a good day . try floating spawn sacks under bobber, or a minnow, or black jig w magg, or 3 - 4 inch twister tails. they ( the steel) can and do hide in a cut 8 inches deep.


I would like to know where these signs are? Ive never seen a sign anywhere on that river that says not to eat the fish.


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## hailtothethief

There’s a sign on the tannery hill bridge that says. Sewage drains in river during high rains. Beware of fish.


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## SelfTaught

hailtothethief said:


> There’s a sign on the tannery hill bridge that says. Sewage drains in river during high rains. Beware of fish.


That's the case for any river..... almost all have wastewater treatment plants on them. Says same thing on the vermilion. Rocky has a treatment plant right on it...


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## Fuzzygrub

As bad as sewage is, I would be more concerned with other things that have entered the Ashtabula River over the years. I am sure it is much cleaner now, but my grandfather used to work at the tannery. My father told me that you could tell what color they were dyeing the leather, by the color of the river. Not to mention what the Middle Road chemical plants dumped into Fields Brook pre- 90's. I wouldn't eat any resident fish out of that river, though I wouldn't think steelhead would be that bad, only migrating into the river for a short time.


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## c. j. stone

Phil Hillman(RIP), who put all the steelies in the Ohio tribs in recent history, once told me this river was his favorite to fish(and Win many!) c&r tourneys! Take that for what it's worth!!


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## bustedrod

good ole phil Hillman, he was a good guy and I use too bug him all the time where and how to fish trout in ohio. he would always take time and show me the way but his thing was go find your own fish, walk the rivers , try this and that, and he was right. back when they started trout stocking ya had to work for them. salmon at the time was the thing. now adays trout is like bluegill fishin lol ow did I say that ? oh there used to be a sign in the parking lot across from the hospital.


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## hailtothethief

You can still pull leather out of the banks on the tannery. Dunno if leather is bad for the river but under the tannery hill bridge is gobs of leather in the bank.


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## fishinbula

Just an FYI it has been stocked and is a stocked river now. As far as info metro park area otherwise it is a lot of private property thanks to some people. That's why you won't get much info on it.


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## snag

fishinbula said:


> Just an FYI it has been stocked and is a stocked river now. As far as info metro park area otherwise it is a lot of private property thanks to some people. That's why you won't get much info on it.


Yeah we were fishing the river 15 years ago or more . Not many people used to go way upriver and no problems then the locals started four wheeling in the area and tore it up, even had some kids in a small 4/4 truck come up stream in the river bouncing all over the runs , after that the signs started going up, really don't blame the property owners.


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## webothfish

is the harbor area any good to troll? is there a ramp, and how far up the river can you get?

i really like the river since its the closest easiest for me to get to up Rt 11, and lots of wading access near town, i dont mind fishing in town. we usually troll Conneaut a couple of times but never have tried the Ash. is it worth a shot trolling? saturday and sunday look like it will be nice weather.


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## fishinbula

You can launch at a couple different places on the river. There is ARU which is just up from the hospital and you can troll from there all the way to the mouth. You can also launch at Kisters Marina which is just around the corner on Lake Avenue. Not sure when they pull the docks on the ramps though. There also is Lakeshore park you can launch from there and then troll from the mouth all the way down river to the last marina it gets shallow by last few docks and bottoms out under the road by the hospital.


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## hailtothethief

People been catching on rapalas and powerbait in the mouth today.


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## c. j. stone

Absolutely. There isn't a stocked river within 5 miles of downtown Cleveland yet literally hundreds of steelhead have bee n caught in the near shore sreas in the last month! Why wouldn't they be in the harbor of a stocked trib like Astabula?


webothfish said:


> is the harbor area any good to troll? is there a ramp, and how far up the river can you get?
> 
> i really like the river since its the closest easiest for me to get to up Rt 11, and lots of wading access near town, i dont mind fishing in town. we usually troll Conneaut a couple of times but never have tried the Ash. is it worth a shot trolling? saturday and sunday look like it will be nice weather.


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## hailtothethief

Supposed to rain soon. Got a fresh fish today.


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## TommyToTall

My son was taking a walk along the river up stream from hospital and said he saw a few moving about. He said he saw five. Rain! Rain! Rain!


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## chromechaser

Maybe this has been posted but I grew up in kingsville and have fished both conneaut and ashtabula. The ford was my most favorite of all hell skipped a few days of school to go on a day to have it all by myself but seeing what the landowners have done rightfully so is tough. All fenced off and looks like a prison lol. Both sides have got what they ways wanted bit i.know people disrespected the right to fish there in the past as well.
Has there been any discussions as to installing some sort of tube/trout run to allow the steelhead farther upstream? Just a damn shame all the way around


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## TommyToTall

I had been trout fishing at the Ford for over 22 years. I taught my sons how to fly fish at the Ford. Some of the best fishing and most fish caught by day had been at the Ford. I swam there with my parents and brother and sisters over 35 years ago. Even my boys played in the water holes in the summer. I even removed logs from on top of the Ford with my children for fire wood. Chromehunter I feel your pain. It sucks. I understand why the new bridge went in. I can appreciate the home owners been tired of being burned by slob fishermen. It really hurts because 99 percent of sportsman and fisherman are responsible. I just wish we knew if we could still park somewhere and legally still fish the Ford from the shore or on top of the Ford. It truly is a prime place to steelhead fish.


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## TommyToTall

I talked to the ODNR last spring and they said the plan is to leave the Ford as is... Because it hampers the sea lamprey from moving farther upstream. But, I can't believe that they will maintain the Ford now that the bridge is up. It's a catch 22. If the Ford breaks apart the steelhead can run farther up. But so can the lamprey. Also in the last few years I had noticed the (top) road part of the Ford has been cracking and was hallow under it for like a foot. Especially on the north side. I know the Ford has been there for a very long time... But those hard freeze winter's worked it over a few year ago. We will see!


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## chromechaser

True that I was under the ford as it has been eaten away, I did not know about the lamprays I'll have to research. I'd love to see the ford wash away but they built those things to last lol. Damn shame my son won't enjoy what I got to for sure


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## TommyToTall

Well.... I'm sure most of you have guessed this. The Ford is closed to fishing. Today I had a conversation with our game warden here in Ashtabula county. Originally the old road on the south side of the Ford was going to be fishing access and considered a park. However, the township has awarded that property to one of the home owners that gave up land for the bridge. But, the township is still aloud to use the old road to maintain the Ford. Also, the ODNR and U.S. Fish and Wildlife are not going to let the Ford just break apart. Their concern is the sea lamprey problems. The Ford stops the advance of lamprey upstream. But, the game warden did say the ODNR is trying to work out a solution to have fishing access to the Ford. We will see. He said if you are on the Ford or in the water you are now trespassing. Sorry for no immediate good news. Maybe some day.


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## chromechaser

TommyToTall said:


> Well.... I'm sure most of you have guessed this. The Ford is closed to fishing. Today I had a conversation with our game warden here in Ashtabula county.  Originally the old road on the south side of the Ford was going to be fishing access and considered a park. However, the township has awarded that property to one of the home owners that gave up land for the bridge. But, the township is still aloud to use the old road to maintain the Ford. Also, the ODNR and U.S. Fish and Wildlife are not going to let the Ford just break apart. Their concern is the sea lamprey problems. The Ford stops the advance of lamprey upstream. But, the game warden did say the ODNR is trying to work out a solution to have fishing access to the Ford. We will see. He said if you are on the Ford or in the water you are now trespassing. Sorry for no immediate good news. Maybe some day.


Appreciate the follow up, such a shame and to be honest that ford use to bring people from all over the closer states. It will be interesting to see how this gets resolved.


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## hailtothethief

One of the new bridges concrete pillars was put in one of the fishing holes. They also put concrete in one of the holes where water flowed down the ford. Fishing was not as good anyway after the new bridge was put in.


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## SteelStreamer

Has anyone heard of the ghost trail or tannery hole on the Ash.? I'm in the area often and have only fished by the smolen bridge area which was pretty shallow. I heard there are some spots in the cedarquist park area by the hospital and the train disaster bridge, just wondering if anyone can help me out on how to access the area good place to park and start fishing?


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## chromechaser

SteelStreamer said:


> Has anyone heard of the ghost trail or tannery hole on the Ash.? I'm in the area often and have only fished by the smolen bridge area which was pretty shallow. I heard there are some spots in the cedarquist park area by the hospital and the train disaster bridge, just wondering if anyone can help me out on how to access the area good place to park and start fishing?


I always parked at the tannery bridge or the ball field and walked a lot of nice honey holes along the way. If you fish the bridge there are some nice drifts that hold a lot of fish.


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## hailtothethief

The biggest holes in ashtabula are by the smolen gulf bridge. But they are privately owned by an angry old man that is tired of fisherman. You cant fish them anymore.

Pretty much the whole stretch from the aru down to route 20 bridge is good. Very rocky after the hospital bridge. Expect to lose your lures until you get a feel for the area.


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## c. j. stone

rickerd said:


> OK I've got to add froth to this post. This river is haunted!
> I've caught a half a dozen over 3 trips there. mostly Spring. My last trip there I wandered upstream and got the feeling I was being watched the whole time. Caught a fish and left after a couple hours. Did some research on the area I was in and found out there was a horrible train wreck in the early 1900's right there. Gives me the "willies" now but it is a beautiful stream.
> 
> Yes there are some characters around at times so fish with a friend or two. It is a smaller river though for Ohio, and will not take as much pressure as others. It seems to clear out quick compared to Conny and Grand. Then gets low flow so the windows of opportunity are shorter.
> Rickerd


You were being watched!(By the old man on the four wheeler with his shotgun, back n the woods!


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## Flatty01

Combat fished the ford at the new bridge, was crazy..


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## rpalusak15

Flatty01 said:


> Combat fished the ford at the new bridge, was crazy..


Flatty01,
I thought that no one was allowed to fish at the Ford? Did anyone tell you to get out or call the police?


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## TommyToTall

There are fences and no parking signs on all sides of the new bridge. I was told the homeowners had the fences installed to deter fisherman and just about everyone. I was told by the ODNR that they would write tickets if someone called the game warden and reported trespassing. So.... If fishing is worth a ticket, I guess have at it. I myself have not fished since the fences went up. I absolutely loved fishing the fast water with my fly rod. But won't be there until they give fishing access.


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