# AEP Beds?



## FishJunky (May 20, 2004)

Are the bass on there beds down at AEP yet? If so how long do they usally stay on there beds? I'll be down there 16th, 17th and 18th and I hope there off there beds and hungry.


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## JDBassSlayer (Apr 8, 2008)

We just made our spring trip this past weekend and didn't do well at all with the Bass. I'd like to think that it was because they were on the beds but we fished in some spots that were probably fished pretty heavily. Our first trip with float tubes was successful and an enjoyable way to get around the ponds. Your timing should be good in a couple of weeks. Ticks are plentiful, load up on Deet. Good Luck!!


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## BBANKS (Mar 31, 2008)

JD--------Wish we were going back in 2weeks. I guess that even if we didnt catch many fish we still had a good time. If we can hit it in June or July before the fall run that will be a bonus. sgofish--------Hope your groups trip is a good time let us know about the fall.


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## squeek (Apr 1, 2008)

same here , didnt catch many fish this past weekend (saw some monsters) for my first camping trip to aep. The canoes worked great. we met up with jason (from here on the forum) and had a few cold ones and ate a pile of mushrooms. 

and if anyone stumbles accross a couple of spinning rod /reels ,some how they didnt get pack either at our last pond on sunday or when we were leaving monday, they have squeek written on the handles. i dont plan on ever seeing those again. anyway,thanks for all the good info from the board that helped me out on my first trip.


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## gf319804 (Mar 6, 2007)

Hate to hear you lost some gear squeek. I know how that feels. I plan on making the trip up there this weekend into next week, as I have 7 days off starting friday. Hopefully the fishing will be good, but just being out on the water will be great. I look forward to every trip I make to AEP.


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## BBANKS (Mar 31, 2008)

GF-----You are correct on the AEP thing. Any time spent there is always a good time. Squeek----Sorry about your gear. If the right person would find it you would have it back. We were going to meet up with JR but his work schedule and our camping schedule just didnt work out. glad you guys had a good time.


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## mbanks (Apr 4, 2008)

nice pics jd and bb! wish i had one of those


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## sgofish (Apr 12, 2004)

Sounds like this weekend should be the right time to be camping here. Campsite D, across from the covered bridge will be home from Monday to Sunday. A little rain, who cares, fish not biting, who cares, run out of beverage, big problem. 
Anyone down there for any length of time is welcome.


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## squid_1 (Jun 2, 2005)

Sgo...Shrooms are on fire down there right now, found so many we didn't have time to fish. Watch where you walk.


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## BBANKS (Mar 31, 2008)

SGOFISH-------It was a first good run through with the tubes. We will be ready for some serious fishing this summer and fall. Dont run out of beverage that alone would be enough to push anyone over the edge. Hope your trip is good. Sorry we will miss it. Dont forget about the fall!!!!!!!!!!


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## FishThis (Sep 2, 2005)

I was down the last week of April. I caught over 20 largemouth a day. Bass were on the beds and attacking anything in site. Most bass were around the 2lb range with a handful being over 3lbs. Caught a mess of crappie and fryed those over the fire at night with a few beverages. I caught more bass this trip than any other trip I've taken. Not sure if the bass are still on there beds.


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## gf319804 (Mar 6, 2007)

I'm going down there saturday for the day. I'll let you all know what my observations were that evening...


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## JDBassSlayer (Apr 8, 2008)

Hey FishThis--
Glad to hear you were sucessful with the bass on the beds. Crappie makes for a tasty pan of fish if ya get enough of em. Iv'e been fishing Ohio Power off and on for about 40 years and have never caught any there. I'm not asking for secret spots but was the pond that you caught the crappie in anywhere near any of the campsites? 

Hey SGoFish--
Their is STILL enough wood at the QuickExcange for the Taj Mahal and I sent word to the Budweiser folks to put another shift on for ya' all. Good Luck. 

Hey BB--
I'm more than ready to go back...wish I would have taken a picture of the fish heads at "H".


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## BBANKS (Mar 31, 2008)

Fishthis---

I am with JD, anything to help us out would be good. It seems like we have all the right equipment for down there but we are missing something. Either we doing something wrong or just dont have any luck. We are fishing out of Float tubes now and are able to get to most lakes. What kind of bait do you recommend? Normally we use the rubber worms kellys peir boy and we tried the berkley power bait but that seem to get us know where.

JD---

let me know on some possilbe dates for the next trip. We should make at least 1 more trip before fall. It will be hard to break away from the cement pond but i will sacrifice it to go there.
bb


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## gf319804 (Mar 6, 2007)

JDBassSlayer said:


> I'm not asking for secret spots but was the pond that you caught the crappie in anywhere near any of the campsites?
> QUOTE]
> 
> Both of the larger ponds across the road going from campsite a to campsite c have crappie in them. If you are coming from A to C, the ponds are on your right, and they are both big bodies of water. There's lots of stick-ups in the water and that's where you'll find the Crappie. Never caught any monsters in there, but a couple around 13" or so. I'm at work right now, and can't access PDF files, or I would pull up the map and give you pond #'s. I can get those to you later on if you would like.


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## JignPig Guide (Aug 3, 2007)

I spent yesterday afternoon at AEP prior to the storm hitting. I pond hopped with my canoe into about 5-spots and slayed them on whatever I was throwing. It didn't matter. They were hitting spinners, JignPig, medium running cranks, and soft plastic worms. 
The only problem I had was committing to a pond and then finding out it's a dud. Some of them look good until you actually get into them and check them out. Some are shallow and overgrown and don't seem have many bass in them and you've lost a good hour or so of fishing time. But then there are those that you hit the jackpot on and catch and see monsters!
I didn't see any bass frylings yet. So I don't think they're done spawning. And maybe some of them haven't started.


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## BBANKS (Mar 31, 2008)

J&P---

Thanks for the info. I think sometimes JD and Myself spend to much time in one spot. We did fish some shallow lakes when we were there. It would be nice to meet up with some people that has been going and share some places and storys of fishing. Back years ago we could get back on some of the haul roads and go places no one else could go. It was easy to do cause we camped with a guy who worked for ohio power. Since his passing it is hard to get to some real good lakes. Maybe someday we will be able to meet up. Thanks Again.

bb


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## JDBassSlayer (Apr 8, 2008)

Hey GF--
Thanks for the info on the crappie. Those lakes are 40, 41, & 42...I think. We were in #40 last weekend for a couple hours in the rain looking for bass. BB caught one nice one and that was it. It is DEEP. I never knew there was crappie in there! We were rigged only for bass, but I guess around all of those trees would be a good place for crappie too. 

Hey BB--
I'll look at the summer schedule tonight and see if I can find a hole...Did you check out this website yet? Very cool...I'd like to join up with these guys! www.aepclassic.com


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## gf319804 (Mar 6, 2007)

Speaking of the AEP Classic...Do any of you remember several years back when there use to be a Tournament held each month by the Quick Exchange? I always looked forward to going up and fishing in those, but for some reason, they stopped doing it. I think it might have been due to a legal issue.


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## shroomhunter (Aug 6, 2004)

It wasn't a legal issue, the guy running just doesn't have time anymore as he works construction.


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## shroomhunter (Aug 6, 2004)

Those 3 lakes are very deep, I had my depthfinder on camp C lake and the large one by it and found 40 FOW.


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## gf319804 (Mar 6, 2007)

mushroomman said:


> It wasn't a legal issue, the guy running just doesn't have time anymore as he works construction.


I see...I was told that someone got caught in on a haul road or some place they shouldn't be, and the tournament got shut down...I wish someone would take that over and get that back up and running. Gave me something to look forward to every month...

There's also some nice cats in those ponds going across to campsite c. And I believe it was campsite K that had fresh water jelly fish in it at one time...Anyone ever seen those? I thought I was seeing things the first time I saw one, then a couple weeks later, they had an article in the paper about them...


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## shroomhunter (Aug 6, 2004)

I don't think he has any plans to in the near future, it just got to be too time consuming. I know there are some guys that have their own tournaments down there every year. Might even be someone from this site but I'm not sure of that.


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## BBANKS (Mar 31, 2008)

GF--

Maybe we will all have to get together sometime and meet up down there and put one of our own on. That would give us something to look forward to.

JD--

I did check the site out. Alot of the lakes in the pictures look like they might be some of the lakes off Rual dale rd. The one lake also look like the one that had the dam in the middle of the 2 lakes ole tic lake. Thats where its blocked off now. Sure would be nice to have a quad down there. I wish i knew how people are getting away with it.


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## gf319804 (Mar 6, 2007)

BBANKS said:


> GF--
> 
> Maybe we will all have to get together sometime and meet up down there and put one of our own on. That would give us something to look forward to.
> 
> ...


Man, that would be awesome to put together a few OGF tournaments at AEP each year. I know I would enjoy it.

I don't personally know of people who take atv's to AEP, but have wondered the same thing. The nice thing about them not being allowed down there, is there are still ponds with excellent fishing b/c so many people are too lazy to walk...


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## FishThis (Sep 2, 2005)

We didn't catch the crappie anywhere around campsite C or any ponds on that same road. The pond is litterally about a 1/2 mile walk from any road. We caught them on jigs, small spinners, crappie nipples. You have to "slow" down and fish for them. I'll try to post a picture later for you.


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## BBANKS (Mar 31, 2008)

GF-----

You said it best. To lazy to walk! Idont mind walking if i know the fishing will be at least remotely good. The exersize will not hurt me in the least bit. It could just promote a bigger thirst problem later though. I will keep in touch with you and keep you posted of the next trip. Hopefully JD and I can get a good date set and go from there.


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## BBANKS (Mar 31, 2008)

FISH THIS----

were you guys fishing out out float tubes or canoes? I like walking back in to the good lakes but need some help in finding them. Since when did they make lake 52 of limits anyone know?


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## FishThis (Sep 2, 2005)

Here are a few pics from our trip the end of april. One Bass a a bunch of Crappie.


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## maggot (Apr 12, 2008)

ATV's are prohibited on AEP land. If you are caught on one there,you will get a nice hefty fine. They don't even want to see one on a trailer in the camp grounds.
As for fishing the lakes off Rural Dale rd. the land west of st. rt. 83 on Rural Dale rd. is closed to all activity....no fishin no huntin no hikin no nuttin. Some sections are posted others are not. If you enter this area it is at your own risk. I know of 3 people already this year that have been caught in this area and have been ticketed and givin court dates to appear...one gent I know was fined $250.00. Don't know about the other 2. These are the ones that I know about...there maybe many more .


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## BBANKS (Mar 31, 2008)

maggot--

I have been campming for many years down at camp H and the weekend we went down there which was the first weekend in May. We seen more atv's down there than i ever have. I realize that if i was to take mine down i would loose my permit and probably never be aloud to come back. Therefore i dont ever see myself doing it. I respect the priviledges enough not to do it. I just wish everyone else did too. 

Fishthis---

Great pics the Bass and Crappie look excellent. Great job!! hopefully we can meet up some time and trade some spot and story's. JD and MB have provided me with enough story's and laughter from previous years of camping to last a life time.


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## maggot (Apr 12, 2008)

B Banks

Do you know Tom Taylor? He is the officer that patrols the AEP campsites. He actually is a McConnelsville deputy sheriff and normally drives around in a green p/u truck. I would think that when he saw all the atv's down at campsite H the weekend your talking about that he started asking a whole bunch of questions. Were any of the atvs off of their trailers or off the beds of the p/u trucks? I guess I mean on the ground? It could of been guys down at AEP camping and taking the atv's somewhere else to ride. I would have to say that old Tom made it very clear that they were not to be riding on AEP land.

Maggot


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## BBANKS (Mar 31, 2008)

Maggot---

I did see a gentelmen drive thru the camp area that weekend in a green truck. I used to know the officer that patroled the area when we where camping with the ole school people. Back then you didnt have to worry about anything. If you got stopped by anybody and mentioned the name Tom Hannon you were pretty much good to go. I dont know if you know him or not but he was a well respected ohio power coal mine worker that we camped with. Next time we are down i will stop him and introduce myself to him. I guess things are different now than they used to be as a kid growing up with the old school guys. I still have that respect for the place and i wish other had the same. I was never there to cause problems just there to ejoy growing up with my grand parents learning the outdoors.


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## FishJunky (May 20, 2004)

I fish in the AEP Classic. My friend runs it. It's just a bunch of friends that get together for weekend of fishing and fun. We will be down there next weekend. Wish me luck. Your going down this year jeffgummy.:B


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## jeffgummy (Dec 13, 2004)

we'll see soon enough!!


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## shroomhunter (Aug 6, 2004)

One could only hope the high price of gas will cut down on the ATV riders coming in. Why can't people follow the rules? Must be the same people that toss trash out the window, cuss and swear in front of children, whiz all over the toilet seat and basically have no regard whatsoever for the rest of mankind. I'm still amazed by the piles of beercans I come accross in the woods underneath trees.


maggot said:


> ATV's are prohibited on AEP land. If you are caught on one there,you will get a nice hefty fine. They don't even want to see one on a trailer in the camp grounds.
> As for fishing the lakes off Rural Dale rd. the land west of st. rt. 83 on Rural Dale rd. is closed to all activity....no fishin no huntin no hikin no nuttin. Some sections are posted others are not. If you enter this area it is at your own risk. I know of 3 people already this year that have been caught in this area and have been ticketed and givin court dates to appear...one gent I know was fined $250.00. Don't know about the other 2. These are the ones that I know about...there maybe many more .


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## squid_1 (Jun 2, 2005)

Last weekend I saw some guys that used a atv with a hitch to take a boat back to a remote pond. Saw another guy come riding back where we were hunting mushrooms. Thank god the amish don't ride them...there would be atvs everywhere.


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## BBANKS (Mar 31, 2008)

You are right and no one could say anything to them either!


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