# Kayak Fishing in the Ohio River



## Jake_Blues (Mar 16, 2009)

I am looking for some input. I have an opportunity to fish in the Ohio River by Coney Island in a Kayak fishing tournament. I have never fished in the Ohio River before and I am wondering if this is something that I want to try or not. I am concerned about a few things.

1) Safety on the river
2) Is it feasible to even try and cross the river to fish some of the streams that flow into the Ohio
3) Will I be able to paddle upstream or is the current pretty strong.
4) Where to even fish by Coney. I would be fishing for Bass or Stripers from 4PM -8PM

My spider sense is tingling but I can not figure out if it from nerves about never fishing the Ohio in a Kayak or it is just a plan bad idea.
Thanks for the input


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## bnt55 (Nov 15, 2009)

Wow, a kayak fishing tourny?? on the Ohio???!! I should look into that, I thought I was the only one around here with an Ocean Kayak....
As far as the river goes I wouldnt try it, it is completely muddy and running at around 31 ft. and relatively swift current. Even if the edges were productive for fishing the muddy water would make it very difficult. What is the name of the fishing club?

Bill


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## Jake_Blues (Mar 16, 2009)

It is part of the Paddle Fest at the end of the month. One of their events is a fishing tournament. The cost is $15.00 at the door. Since I will be there already I am thinking about getting in the tournament. The only item that I am trying to solve is a LiveWell for a kayak that is cheap and easy to use. A stringer may be the route.

So have you fished the Ohio in a Kayak ? 

http://www.ohioriverway.org/paddlefest/


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## bnt55 (Nov 15, 2009)

Nope, just cant see myself paddling across the river with all the barge and boat traffic in the summer, even though my kayak is yellow. I would fish the edges out towards the middle on the same side I put in at. I was thinking about trying to catch a blue cat while drifting in my kayak talk about a sleigh ride! the only obstacle is getting the brute off the hook while balancing the rod, paddle and fish lipper. I was thinking about using my fishing boat as a tow boat to get the kayak up to the area I want to fish in, then anchor up and put the kayak in.


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## MeldahlPhil (Jun 10, 2010)

I have fished the river from a canoe. I think an anchor is a crucial item to allow me to fish where I want to, but a canoe catches the wind a lot more than a kayak does. You might think about getting away from the Cincinnati area a few miles. I have fished along the Kentucky side both upstream and downstream from the Meldahl Dam. There is a boat landing at Foster, but access to the river is a lot easier with a canoe on kayak than it is if you need a concrete launch ramp. You can also go places on the river that bigger boats can't.

You will find that the river can be a very interesting and uncrowded place to fish. The river is a resource we need to enjoy and protect. I think the folks who fish the river believe that. If you catch a hybrid striper you'll want the resource protected. What a fish !


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## Ken G (Apr 9, 2004)

If the river is at normal pool in the summer it is pretty much like kayaking in a lake. Paddling upstream is easy and there is just enough current to keep the boat pointing up or down stream if you anchor. 

I've fished the area around the public landing downtown a couple of times and it was no big deal. Granted, the river was in good shape and I was fishing during the week in the early afternoon. The traffic around Coney Island on a Friday evening may be a different story. I would surely rig up a flag or two on the kayak so the drunken power boaters can see you.

Two years ago I believe Orsanco had a display tank filled with fish they had shocked out of the river directly in front of Coney Island. There were some nice largemouth and some huge crappies in the tank.

You can get mesh laundry bags at Walmart to hold fish but they would hinder your paddling if you tried to drag them around.


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## fishdealer04 (Aug 27, 2006)

When the river is at summer pool you will be fine it is just like a big lake...your going to have to watch the gauges and see what the river level will be. You are going to want something in the 28 range or lower. You could go out higher, but you are going to get a lot of current. I usually wont fish the river out of my boat if it is higher than 37 as the current is just rediculous.

Crossing the river is going to be very tricky...it is do-able but I would not recommend it one bit in a kayak.

I am a catfish guy, but I have caught my fair share of bass and hybrids while fishing cut shad. There is a lot of wood that gets stacked up on the banks, front of barges, etc... I would hit those. Also any rocky bank you find should hold some fish. Another place to look are barges tied up along the bank. A lot of minnows hold on the edge of them as current breaks and therefore the bass follow them and you can usually see them busting the minnows.

As Ken said a laundry bag would do you just find or you can buy one of those floating cages.

Hope that helps and good luck!


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## bsmith (Mar 26, 2010)

I've fished the Ohio near coney island in a kayak. The river is a little higher now than it was when I did it though. You'll have to be careful but it's certainly doable.

I wouldn't worry too much about the boat and barge traffic. I'm 99% sure they quiesce commercial traffic and declare a no wake zone from coney to the public landing during both days of paddlefest. After all, on the second day of paddlefest, thousands of canoes and kayak do the 8 mile stretch from coney to the public landing. If I remember correctly they even have some coast guard boats out there to make sure that no one violates the no wake. It would be pretty dangerous if there were powerboats zipping around within such close proximity to that many small vessels.

I will be doing the 8 mile paddle on Saturday by the way, not entering the fishing tourney though. I don't have depth finder on my boat so it's somewhat difficult for me to find the types of structure that hold fish in that river. I don't mind fishing it for pleasure but I'm not going to waste $15 on a tourney for which I'll be under-equipped.


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## Cheesehead Cory (May 16, 2004)

Crossing the river in a yak is no big deal, done it quite a few times. Barge traffic is way too slow to be a threat to a yakker on the move. If there's a barge coming, just wait, similar to crossing the street. Bass boats and pleasure boats are more of a concern, but if you can see far enough up and downriver, they shouldn't be a problem either. Fish close to shore or tight to bridge supports, barge cells etc, to keep from getting mowed down by drunks. They're usually good fish attractors anyway.

I don't know about river levels in that area, but I would say that as long as the current is less than 1.5 mph (see NOAA hydro data forecast), go for it. 

A CPR tourney might be fun, but I see a lot of dead or damaged fish being weighed if you have to bring them to a weigh in. I remember dragging a stringer of walleye back in with me after fishing on Erie, and the surprise at how much resistance they added to the paddle back.

Here's OGF's very own Cheezemm2 doing some yak fishing on the big OH.
http://www.ohiogamefishing.com/photopost/showphoto.php/photo/27947/ppuser/1345


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## longhaulpointer (Mar 12, 2009)

cincy's a whole different animal when it comes to boat traffic, drunks are everywhere. As for the no wake zone, people fly between the bridges in pleasure boats all the time, and they are supposed to be no wake zones.
As for fishing, if the water is muddy i would try going up in the Lmr, Its not far from coney and you could even fish the marina in there or go up a way in the lmr and have success. Just be careful, when i fishing the river i see kayaks out a lot, there just usually out there in low traffic times, ie dusk, dawn. 
PS the biggest large mouth i've seen come out of the river (maybe 3.5 lbs) was taken off the rift raft rocks in front of the the montgomery inn boat house. good luck


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## BMagill (May 5, 2004)

I was going to enter the same tournament, but something else came up and I won't be able to make it. I've fished the kayak a few times out of Cincy and found a few productive methods. If the current is right, you can paddle upstream and drift back downstream suspending baits below the Yak. Helps to have depthfinder and linecounter reels so you can match the depth fish are holding. Also, I have done OK trolling crankbaits (clown jointed shad raps) downstream on hybrids and stripers. Couple years ago I caught a nice striper during paddlefest using this tactic, not far from Coney Island.


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## bnt55 (Nov 15, 2009)

I dont think paddles will be needed on the river today, it's running hard at 32 ft. Bad time of the year for this type of stuff. Good luck to those who go!


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