# Help I have never fished the ohio river



## astrocats (Jan 27, 2008)

Hello I am a new member and would like to interduce myself my name is Bruce me and my son Jason have been reading up on how great the fishing on the river is and plan to go about every other weekend this spring/summer we love to catch bass and catfish we hope that makeing the 100 mile trip is worth it 
but we have lots of questions from where the good ramps are to witch pools are best and how to locate and catch skip jack hopefuly joining this site will help and we will have a great fishing season


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## Eriesteamer (Mar 9, 2007)

I can teach you and go with you.if your able to drive us there. plus we can go Erie if you care to.any lakes ok here. just how olds your son.can he swim.soon if you can get to Youngstown Ohio I teach you two how get 30 trout a day.keep me in mind. I fish 6 days a week.so you will not need worry.the 7 th day I sleep.all day ZZZZZZZZZZZZzz


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## EyeCatchN (Jan 3, 2008)

Welcome to OGF Bruce and Jason.Lots of good sources hear!!!


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## Jignpig (Jul 2, 2007)

Welcome to OGF. I live here in Marietta and fish the pools from St.Marys to Gallopolis. I don't know where exactly yall are shootin for but I'd be glad to help. Tightlines.


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## WB185Ranger (May 18, 2006)

Welcome guys!  WB


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## Raines1208 (Jan 6, 2008)

Welcome astrocats. That river does something strange to some people myself included. Before you know it it's all you think about. I would love to spread any info to get you guys started down there. Job permiting i'll be down in the new cumberland pool every weekend. If thats in your range p.m. me and i'll put you on fish. Without getting in too deep you should read old posts about safety on the river very very important.In 7 years my partner and I cheated death at least once a year.


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## truck (Apr 12, 2004)

Astro what part of the big O do u all plan on fishing ?


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## snake69 (Sep 26, 2005)

Welcome aboard! I can't help ya much on cats, but if ya ever decide to go after walleye and sauger, give me a shout. I spend a considerable amount of time at the New Cumberland stretch and that's all I target. Get a mixed bag though alot of the time, whiteys, smallies, stripers and occasional crappie and cats! Good luck and you've found the best place for info!!


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## miyot (Feb 16, 2008)

astrocats, to be honest, a 100 mile trip to the Ohio river is hardly worth it. You must know the conditions of the water before you leave. This is difficult to impossible. In 2006 it took an average of 7.11 hrs of effort to catch a keeper bass, (Ohio Division of Wildlife river report.) Things are not as good now.

What you read and reality are 2 different things. If you must travel so far, concentrate your efforts just below the dams. With fuel at 3+ per gallon I would really search for a place closer to home. Most reservoirs average better fishing, and it is easier to learn on your home ground.

Artificial is fun but live bait gets it done. And catching your own is the way to go. This is a much fun as fishing. If your going to fish the river, stick with minnows, stone rollers being the best. That tip is worth a hundred bucks. Now you must learn what a stone roller is and how and where to catch them.

Some hard craws as well, at least some big drum are a possibility. Don't get fancy, a carolina rig is the way to go 3/4 ounce. Some 3/8 ounce jigs tipped with a stoneroller is another good rig. Now I have given some secrets away.

Remember, fishing a long way from home for a single day is a long shot.


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## farmboy (Oct 12, 2005)

miyot are you always so negative the fishing on the big O is no where as bad as you are stating! If you have trouble catching fish may be it's not the rivers fault.


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## ClickerCrazy (Feb 4, 2006)

welcome to the forums! Glad to have you and your son. Don't let miyot get ya down. He's probably one of those die hard bass fisherman, like my Dad. 

If your looking to catch a lot of different fish, I think, like mentioned in another post, that you should concentrate on the dam areas. You can clean up on the cats, white bass, drum, and sauger at or around most of them. Not saying that a weekend trip can't turn out bad, but then again, that is fishing.

Get yourself a casting net, 3.5 ft is big enough, and easier to handle till you get it down. Go to one of the damns and start throwing. If your someplace near where the Muskingum river is, go to one of the many dams and you will most likely end up with more than you need.

I fish mostly in the Bellville poole down near Blennerhasset Island, so if you will be down that way, let me know. Got a nice spot on the little hocking river, and a pontoon. Love to let kids have fun realing them in. 

Go back and read some of the old posts on the Big O, as suggested, it will definately help, but dont be afraid to ask questions on here. Trust me we are not shy.

Dave


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## BuckeyeFishinNut (Feb 8, 2005)

I agree with Farmboy, dont let Miyot try to stear you from hitting the river. My buddy used to drive down from Columbus to fish Pike Island with me 2 times a month from spring til late fall. Its like any body of water, some days are great, others good, and others bad. I dont know what pool you plan to fish but sticking to the dams is definately a good idea. You will find alot more diverse fishing below a dam on the Ohio River than any lake or res. I have fished all the Muskingum watershed lakes and the Ohio River cant be beat. I also dont fish for saugeye or LM so maybe thats why I dont like them. Bait is always a plus. Minnows, shiners, chubs, shad, etc all work well. I always like baits that look like minnows also. I frequently use, husky jerks, x-raps, storm swim shad, in-line spinners w/ a silver blade, small spoons, and all different varieties of jigheads and twister tails. 

This link will come in handy.

http://newweb.erh.noaa.gov/ahps2/index.php?wfo=pbz

It will allow you to see the water height at the dams and certain other areas on the Ohio River. Good tool to check before you decided to pack up and go. If the river is blown out its probably a waste of your time.


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## miyot (Feb 16, 2008)

farmboy, perhaps your fishing down south is better than ours up here. Aristocats said he wanted to catch Bass and Cats, my advice is dead honest.
At least I offered the best advice I could for my area. Several other posters disagreed with me. They didn't attack my fishing ability. I also offered the best advice I could, use Stonerollers and fish at the dams. 

I have friends who would kill me for letting the Stoneroller fact out. The best bait for Smallies and Sauger by far are Stonerollers. Walleye like them to. I have used Shiners, Silverjaw minnows, Emeralds, Spotfin, Suckermouth, you name it. Stonerollers are the best. And now I've helped you.

And the river sucks.


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## H2O Mellon (Apr 5, 2004)

miyot said:


> And the river sucks.


Just a question..... Why do you fish the river then?


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## miyot (Feb 16, 2008)

H2O Mellon said:


> Just a question..... Why do you fish the river then?


It costs a lot of money to travel to other, more healthy fisheries. Boat, lisc. fees, motels, etc. I fish all local spots available to me, and make the occasional trip when I can.

I'm not affraid to voice my opinion on the condition of the river. (perhaps it should be called a chain of lakes) That is really what it is. And the river is in trouble. Excessive sedimentation, pollution, its all been covered.

I'm a waterman, I like being on the river. When I want fish to eat, I fish elsewhere. I hope you don't feel I shouldn't fish it because I have complained about it. After all, its my river. All others just have a right of way to it. ha. ha.


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## truck (Apr 12, 2004)

Hey astrocats where r u,ask a ? ppl reply and nothing is said from U ????


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## astrocats (Jan 27, 2008)

Hey guys thanks for everyones responce to answer some of you all questions my name is jason I am 30 and my dad is 50 we have 20' bass boat with 200 hp mercury and mostly we fish bass by day and look for BIG CATS at night we live about 30 miles south east of columbus and are tired of catching small fish in the local lakes and reservoir plan to fish the BIG O Markland & Meldahl pools I am a truck driver and am not home much and my dad dont know much about making a post he hates computers sorry it took so long for a responce


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## astrocats (Jan 27, 2008)

Hey guys thanks for everyones responce to answer some of you all questions my name is jason I am 30 and my dad is 50 we have 20' bass boat with 200 hp mercury and mostly we fish bass by day and look for BIG CATS at night we live about 30 miles south east of columbus and are tired of catching small fish in the local lakes and reservoir plan to fish the BIG O Markland & Meldahl pools I am a truck driver and am not home much and my dad dont know much about making a post he hates computers sorry it took so long for a responce


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## flattiesinohio (Sep 30, 2007)

well.....sense i now know where you are not even a hour drive from you is the muskingum river thats where it is if your wanting big cats and want to drive home at night you cant go wrong.......just about any lock on the river hold hugh flatties and large channels......i use mostly blue gills for my bait but my pb was caught on a 9 inch channel cat hooked through the lip..dont be shy with your hook size i use #5/0 to #7/0 mustad hooks with a 2-3 oz slip sinker make sure you lieve atleast a 18-24 inch led between your hook and sinker....;..other ppl might argue this but i've had my best luck in 8 foot of water or deeper most say fish shollow like 3-5 feet...that you will have to figure out on your own whish one works best for you


you also have dillion lake whice holds good catfish and the spillway i fish them the same way as the muskingum but maybe some one else can give you better advice on them then me or there is always the licking river i never fished it but heard there was some bigg'uns in it so there really isnt no reason to travel to the ohio if not need be you have all the big catfish you can catch with in a hour drive


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## astrocats (Jan 27, 2008)

yes some of the biggest channels I have caught came from dillion but we had bad luck on the muskingum fished 8 hrs didnt catch anything then when we got back to the launch ramp we found that my dads truck got the windows knocked out and they took the transum prop and a book on fishing spots but left my cell phone and money we have not been back to muskingum since 
can you tell me a safe place to park and what pools are good north of I70 is where we was


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## flattiesinohio (Sep 30, 2007)

ill send you a pm with my home number give me a call i'll hook you up with a few places


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