# Snowden, Fox & Dow general discussion



## ciarlill (Mar 31, 2016)

Moved to Athens and have just started getting out for the first times this year. I am trying to gather as much info on these lakes as I can since they will be my primary spots. Snowden and Fox are less than 5 minutes from me which makes it to get out after work for an hour or two in the evenings. When I went to school here I fished the hocking a couple times and got skunked at Dow once, but back then I was mostly just tagging along with others. Now that I am back in the area I want to isolate some places where I can go and relax and at least know I have a shot at catching one or two. If I am not catching anything I want to at least know *I* am the problem and that I am not wasting my time in a terrible location.

I have gone back and searched the forums for info but a lot of it is sort of old and scattered about in different threads. I thought maybe I could get some consolidated information on these lakes in one spot. Also, I should mention I am primarily interested in largemouth, channel cats and occasionally crappie. Most of my experience is in fishing for bass from a row boat, usually on spinner baits or top water poppers. This year I am trying more stick baits (texas rigged and wacky), jignpig, and lipless cranks. Also playing around with the carolina rig for channels. 

Right now I am limited to fishing from the shore, but with girlfriend approval I will be buying a kayak in the next few weeks.

*Fox Lake*

So far at Fox lake I have tried hiking up the trail from the dam to the first small cove and casting off the point. Got a few small blue gill there and not a hint of anything bigger. Went back last night and fished all along the dam and off the spillway and got nothing. In the cove area I tried crankbaits, spinners and some poppers in the late evening. From the dam I tried a few different jig'n'pig combos and some 4" Senkos. Stick bait and jig'n'pig are both something I am trying for the first time this year so my presentation may be part of the issue but I tried lots of variations. I have never tried fishing the lower end of the lake as I have heard there is not much access. I might try a few casts off the dock out there tomorrow night though.

*Lake Snowden
*
Tried a couple hours here along the bank near the boat dock. Senkos, spinners and some crankbaits. Got a couple decent strikes but lacked the skill to set them, and landed one dinky bass. I know this is supposed to be hard to fish from the shore due to the weeds once it gets into summer.

*Dow Lake*

I feel like this lake likely gets the most pressure as it most well-known to the college kids. I went out on it one time a few years ago with my buddy, then his boats engine died and we had to use the trolling motor to get all the way back across the lake. More cussing than fishing was done that day.


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## 1MoreKast (Mar 15, 2008)

Sent you a PM


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## slimdaddy45 (Aug 27, 2007)

All 3 has good fish in them its just a matter of catching them and dont forget about Lake Hope there is some nice channels in it I know of a 17 lb come from there and some big bluegills also .Ive caught 5 lb bass from Snowden & Dow havent fished Fox much but seen some nice bass caught there


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## Be Like Water (Oct 12, 2014)

I haven't had luck at Fox and have tried there a few times. My best days at Snowden have come from trolling crankbaits from my kayak along the length of the dam. The weeds definitely become a problem by the time summer rolls around. Strouds, I only go there to catch trout in the spring but have heard of some monster bass coming from there.

Hands down my favorite place to fish in Athens is the Hocking at Whites Mill. I go there with livebait and set up shop for 5-6 hours.. sometimes it's great, sometimes it's slow, but you never know what you're going to catch and there are some monster catfish in there. On old threads on this forum, guys have talked about catching pike and even brown trout there (with picture proof). Last year something cut my line clean off, probably a muskie. I usually catch sauger, bass, crappie, cats, and gar when I fish livebait there.. also some drum (they fight like hell). I trap my livebait in local streams, keeping chubs and small bluegills and releasing anything else (since some stream fish are protected). There are a lot of snags there unfortunately, but it's still worth it. 

Another place you may want to try is Lake Rupert, it's about 40 mins from Athens and has some good saugeye and catfishing. I caught a 36" flathead there last year, and had good action the whole day with smaller cats. Have also caught some decent saugeye there and have heard of other guys catching Fish Ohio saugeye there. It's a fun lake to fish esp. from a kayak. The drive out there is very picturesque also. I usually paddle from the boat ramp to the other side of the lake and fish from shore for a few hours, while trolling on the way there and back. It can get bad with weeds there too though.


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## Flathead76 (May 2, 2010)

"Girlfriend approval"?!?!?!?!?!? For once I don't even know what to say.


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## ciarlill (Mar 31, 2016)

Haha. We have been together a while and have combined our finances... so big purchases do need to go through a vetting process


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## I Fish (Sep 24, 2008)

Flathead76 said:


> "Girlfriend approval"?!?!?!?!?!? For once I don't even know what to say.


I do. It's time to start the official process of Man Card revocation!!


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## striperfreak (Apr 30, 2004)

Lived there for years, whites mill, Dow lake, that's where I would spend my time


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## ciarlill (Mar 31, 2016)

Thanks. I am going to start getting out to Dow more now that I got a kayak and probably some lakes closer to central ohio as well. I was out at Snowden yesterday hitting the bank after work - started at the boat ramp and worked up the bank towards the highway. Got 3 LM, two were about 2lbs, one was a super tiny male. Got them all on a mojo rigged 6" senko in green pumpkin. Tried some top water frogs and had a few bites but had to head out before the golden hour.


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## Snyd (May 5, 2004)

I have fished all of these lakes pretty hard when I was a kid growing up. They all have some good bass in them. Snowden used to be really good until hocking college started making it there play ground. Fox is good and gets very little pressure. I think they even cleaned it up some a few years ago. Dow has some monsters if you can find them. I was fishing in a trout tournament several years ago when I saw a guy pull in a bass that went just over 10LBS.
Since moving to central Ohio I have not fished them much but my father n law does all the time.


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## Saugeye Tom (Oct 6, 2010)

Flathead76 said:


> "Girlfriend approval"?!?!?!?!?!? For once I don't even know what to say.


I did NOT ask my wife's approval for a 1200 dollar yak.....WIFE.... not gf


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## Flathead76 (May 2, 2010)

Saugeye Tom said:


> I did NOT ask my wife's approval for a 1200 dollar yak.....WIFE.... not gf


I always say they will get over it or used to it.


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## Saugeye Tom (Oct 6, 2010)

Flathead76 said:


> I always say they will get over it or used to it.


Both acually


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## greatmiami (Feb 4, 2014)

My wife and I bought a pair of the 8' sun dolphins from Dunham's


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## greatmiami (Feb 4, 2014)

True story! Lol I posted that before I was finished, any how we have had hours and hours of fun on them and they didn't really hurt the bank to much. I have since bought a set on top that I like a lot better for fishing though. Not sure what make it is off top of my head


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## Saugeye Tom (Oct 6, 2010)

greatmiami said:


> My wife and I bought a pair of the 8' sun dolphins from Dunham's


Mine wants NOTHING to do with ouside of our house


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## Certified106 (Mar 17, 2014)

Just got back from kayak fishing at Snowden and the fishing was less than stellar. Two of us Fished from 4:30-9:30, caught three and lost one at the side of the boat.

We fished Texas rigged plastics, spinners, and some cranks with very little success. The fish seemed to be in a weird funk with the blue Gill all hanging out in warm sunny pockets with bass just drifting though but not really interested in feeding. I saw plenty of bass and sight cast all kids of different presentations but they were having none of it.


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## greatmiami (Feb 4, 2014)

Saugeye Tom said:


> Mine wants NOTHING to do with ouside of our house


Back when we were dating I made the mistake of completely spoiling mine fishing strip pits, catching bass after bass, one over 5, fast and furious action on crappie and bluegill, of course all of this with the scenic back drop of out in the middle of nowhere. Some time after were married I take her to Indian lake during the black and cavernous dark ages of my saugeye learning curve, cold, snowing, windy and dark, she hated every bit of it lol. Since then she more or less lost her patience for fishing. So anyhow, when we kayak a stretch of river she is pretty much all about sight seeing and likes to keep moving, a real pain when all you want to do is fish! The only way I can fish and go at the speed she likes is to troll a freaking buzz bait 40 or so feet behind me lol! This technique actually works on occasion but nothing like anchoring up and probing an area out. So, all this to say, sometimes, just sometimes, your better off fishing alone lol!


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## ciarlill (Mar 31, 2016)

For the record... maybe girlfriend "approval" wasn't the right phrase, more like her blessing. I'm all about domestic tranquility  Anyway, I got the yak so it's all a moot point now anyway.

Only been out twice with all this rain but hoping the weather starts turning around soon.

I noticed the bass being very weird as well. I think its all the crazy weather. Figured the cold would push them deeper but my success has recently been in spots ~6 ft deep. I think the males are still guarding/eating the fry. I had all my fish on a mojo rigged senko and most likely pissed them off by dragging it straight through their beds. Most luck has been fishing the edges of the shade from trees when it is very sunny (not much recently). 










See you guys out there.


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## ciarlill (Mar 31, 2016)

Bank fished Snowden again yesterday. Setup about 50 yards down the bank from the boat dock. Caught 4 in the 12" range in about 2 hours. Guessing it is still the males guarding the beds. All 4 caught on texas rigged baby brush hog, black with blue flake. Un-pegged weight. Also tossed a weightless senko and a zoom horny toad for a while, no action on either. Had a few bites on a mojo rigged senko, green pumpkin magic i think.

Hoping the weather stabilizes a bit here soon.


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## ciarlill (Mar 31, 2016)

Hit Fox last night 4:30-6PM. Fished off the top of the spillway. Got 2 keepers and a dink, the 2 biggest ones were on a KVD 1.5 in Bluegill. Dink was on a wacky rigged senko. I could see them patrolling the riprap looking for straggler bluegill to come off the shore. They were about 20 feet off the bank sitting in maybe 10ft of water. 

This is the biggest I have caught this season. Still waiting on my scale (ordered on during Tackle Warehouse memorial day sale) but if I had to guess I would say 2.5lb. Shitty picture because he was double hooked and I was in a hurry to get him back in. Had my shirt off trying to get rid of my farmers tan. Sorry if my pale chest is too much for anyone


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## 1MoreKast (Mar 15, 2008)

Nice! I'm blind but nice fish! lol


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## Yakphisher (Jul 9, 2013)

Nice bass! The lake lake loaded with submerged timber on the side off spillway.


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## Certified106 (Mar 17, 2014)

I fished out at Snowden last night and caught 6 in two hours. All of them were caught on a Texas rigged Senko. I didn't realize there was a bass tournament out there on Wednesday nights. There were bass boats everywhere.


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## Be Like Water (Oct 12, 2014)

Caught a decent perch at Snowden the other night.. got a channel and a crappie also. Going back out tomorrow.

FYI, I also got a tent, table, and tarp stolen from Snowden this week. If you're camping, pack up your stuff if you leave the campsite there for more than a few hours. The people in the spot next to me said it was two younger guys in a car that took all my stuff.. they thought it belonged to the guys that stole it so they didn't try to stop them apparently.
So watch out for lowlife thieves at Snowden campgrounds. At least I got a nice perch, not many places to catch them in this part of Ohio. Second one I've caught there.


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## ciarlill (Mar 31, 2016)

Hit Snowden on Saturday from the kayak. Got two bites but both spit hook. I was using a weedless wacky hook (with a wacky rigged senko) which I think was the problem. I don't really like throwing exposed hooks at Snowden though because of all the grass. Was out there from 4-8PM and that was it for me. It was hot as well so I also tried dragging a carolina rig around deep off the point across from the dam. Even with a bullet weight I still picked up a ton of grass and no fish. Tossed a spinner bait as well but I think they see a lot of those there. Next time out I think I will try running a lipless crank around and on top of the grass.

Tonight I went to Fox and caught my PB! On my rapala mechanical grip/scale it was hovering between 5 and 6. I'm calling it 5lb to leave room for improvement  Think I want a digital scale now too. Caught on a KVD 10XD, neon bliuegill pattern, sitting in 15ft of water and casting parallel to the dam but slightly closer into about 13ft. 

I left my measuring board at home for this quick evening outing so no real idea on the length. Threw it next to the paddle just for some scale.



















I am also proud of the fact that I lipped him at the boat because I was freaking out too much to remember the net. I was feeling so confident after this I turned down the brakes on my baitcaster to get some more distance and got the biggest blow up ever. First one that I had to cut out. By the time i got it re-spooled they had moved up and the moment was gone. Still paddled back with a huge smile on my face. Threw a baby brush hog on a shaky head and got another 2 on the way back to the dock just tossing it into 10ft or so of water and dragging it with the momentum of the kayak. Both tiny, under 1lb. 

Overall great night. Would be even better if the Cavs win!


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## Flathead76 (May 2, 2010)

Be Like Water said:


> Caught a decent perch at Snowden the other night.. got a channel and a crappie also. Going back out tomorrow.
> 
> FYI, I also got a tent, table, and tarp stolen from Snowden this week. If you're camping, pack up your stuff if you leave the campsite there for more than a few hours. The people in the spot next to me said it was two younger guys in a car that took all my stuff.. they thought it belonged to the guys that stole it so they didn't try to stop them apparently.
> So watch out for lowlife thieves at Snowden campgrounds. At least I got a nice perch, not many places to catch them in this part of Ohio. Second one I've caught there.


They have cameras at Snowden. If you know the approximate time I would check to see if they got them on camera entering or leaving.


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## ciarlill (Mar 31, 2016)

Been real slow out at both Fox and Snowden. Think it has just been too hot. I've been looking deep, dragging carolina rigs and cranking around 15ft but have only landed 2 dinks in the past week. I am getting more comfortable with my electronics though and think I have found the thermocline at Snowden around around 17ft but that was almost a week ago. Also checked out the submerged timber off on the side of the spillway at fox (on the right facing the dam). It goes a pretty good way up that bank and I can see laydowns sitting in water as deep as 20ft. Looks ideal but have yet to hookup with one in there.

Going to try and get out earlier than usual this weekend and get on a morning bite. Hope you guys are having better luck than me.


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## ruffhunter (Dec 10, 2005)

Anyone catch saugeye at Snowden and or specifically go after them at Snowden? Makes me want to get a yak even more after reading. Good mom and pop eats on the south side of 32 in Albany, Rays Harvest House.


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## I Fish (Sep 24, 2008)

ruffhunter said:


> Good mom and pop eats on the south side of 32 in Albany, Rays Harvest House.


Yea, it is pretty good, but, I'm probably kinda partial. That's my cousin's restaurant, lol. Might be fun to mess with them a little. Just tell Rachael or Sarah that I Fish from OGF sent you. They'll have absolutely no idea what you are talking about, lol.


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## ciarlill (Mar 31, 2016)

Was talking to a guy at Snowden the other day who caught 2 Saugeye. Not sure if he was targeting them or not. He had a bobber tied on and that was all I could see. We were on the bank a few hundred yards to the left of the boat ramp. I have never fished for Saugeye myself.


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## ruffhunter (Dec 10, 2005)

Thanks ciarlill.

I Fish, we've had a young brown hair waitress both times in a year that we picked up. chicken is good


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## I Fish (Sep 24, 2008)

ruffhunter said:


> Thanks ciarlill.
> 
> I Fish, we've had a young brown hair waitress both times in a year that we picked up. chicken is good


How do you define young? It doesn't matter really. I don't get out there often enough to know their waitresses. Unless things have changed, they are supposed to be putting in a BBQ, too.


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## ruffhunter (Dec 10, 2005)

I fish, just re-read my post and was shocked..............lol picked up should be picked on. Note to self, dont post when sleepy!


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## ciarlill (Mar 31, 2016)

Hooked into what had to be a 20lb carp on Saturday morning at Fox Lake. Same spot I caught the 5lber so I was very excited until I saw it launch out of the water. I didn't know what I was gonna do with it once landed, but I gave it a shot anyway. Got it to the side of the boat but as soon as I reached for the net it dove and almost took my rod in. Dropped the net, grabbed the rod, but he was off. All I landed was this scale on the rear treble.










Would have liked the picture, but kinda happy he popped off so I didn't have to deal with him in the yak flailing around with trebles. Not even sure he would fit in my net. Definitely the best fight I've had in years. Caught him on a 7' Medium/Moderate cranking rod with 12lb floro, running a 5XD along in 13' FOW. Thought he would snap the rod at one point.

Sadly, no bass. Still can't really pin them down anywhere besides off the dam. I see lots of boats beating the banks but not coming up with much either. I'm still learning to read my graph. I can get over fish, just can't tell if they are bass or crappie. I've had the best luck just looking for bait fish and running different depth cranks through and around the schools. Next time out I want to focus on flukes and jigs though, getting sick of cranking.


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