# Blue Cats will be stocked in Alum 2023: What are your thoughts.



## Snookhunter52 (Apr 1, 2019)

I found out at the EXPO that the ODNR is planning to start stocking blue cats in Alum in 2023. What are your thoughts on this? My only concern is that the blue cats will get flushed out of there like they did in Dillon because they are both flood control reservoirs. I also attached a photo of all the other places they are planning on stocking blue cats in the next 2 years.


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## Saugeyefisher (Jul 19, 2010)

I trust in what they do. You never know until you try.
I do find it kind of odd they would choose a lake so close to an already stocked lake? But I have no clue on how they decide when and where to put them. 
Did they change something up to where they have a surplus of them now? If I'm not mistaken it wasn't long ago they skipped some hoover stockings due to something. Maybe something happening with an out of state source? I don't remember. 
I haven't looked at a map of Dillon in a while. But I think with alum set up a lot like Hoover in depth and separate basins will see a lot of them make there way north. Where there are often giant schools of shad. 
I also find it interesting they are stocking then in a couple lakes that get stocked with muskie. Including alum. But again, I trust there decision. And I trust that they will monitor the situation going forward.


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## Snookhunter52 (Apr 1, 2019)

Ya I trust them also. They are the experts. I am curious to see how they will affect the other fish stocks if at all. I know a lot of people say they're more pelagic than channel catfish but I have caught them in the willows while crappie fishing. I have also noticed the average size of crappie has also increased since they stocked them in Hoover. It would be interesting to see the odnr is using them to help weed out the stunted crappie.

I heard the reason why they stopped stocking them is because they noticed the population density was too high in Hoover. They also noticed the special regulation they implemented negatively affected their growth rates and they're now reinstating
the regular statewide regulations for blue cats at Hoover to see if that will have produce a trophy fishery.


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## night vision (Apr 26, 2016)

Snookhunter52 said:


> They also noticed the special regulation they implemented negatively affected their growth rates and they're now reinstating
> the regular statewide regulations for blue cats at Hoover to see if that will have produce a trophy fishery.


Looking at the Regulations for 2022, 2023 on page ten, the slot limit (NONE BETWEEN 18-28 inches) and the four fish daily limit (three fish 18 or less and one 28 inches or longer) is still in effect for Blues and Channels on Hoover


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## Snookhunter52 (Apr 1, 2019)

Ya I saw that too. Maybe they will implement the change in regulations next year. It's possible the result for their study came out after they approved the regulations for this year


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## night vision (Apr 26, 2016)

Saugeyefisher said:


> Did they change something up to where they have a surplus of them now? If I'm not mistaken it wasn't long ago they skipped some hoover stockings due to something. Maybe something happening with an out of state source? I don't remember


Saugeyefisher this is from HFR (Hoover Fishing Report) 10/23/19- Marty reminded me yesterday that we did not plan to stock blue catfish in Hoover this fall. We are happy with the current population of blue cats in Hoover and have pulled back the stocking to every other year. So from here on out, Hoover will be stocked with blue cats in even-numbered years (stocking in 2020, 2022, etc...). The every other year stocking approach allows us to expand the blue catfish program to other reservoirs throughout the state. We are still trying to expand this program, so switching to the every other year approach after a good population is established following 5-6 years of annual stockings gives us the flexibility to stock more total acres of water. We have been assessing the Hoover blue cat population every year for the last 4 years and there is no evidence that they are successfully reproducing in Hoover. Which is fine; we don't stock blue cats (or any fish really) to establish a self-sustaining population. That is not the goal. The goal is to diversify the catfishing opportunities and to provide some trophy-sized fish. It seems as though we are meeting that goal at Hoover


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## night vision (Apr 26, 2016)

As for the stocking of blues I'm all for it. How many fish species in Ohio have the potential to reach 40 pounds or more? I wish they would do the same with Flathead. Fishing doesn't get more exciting then when you hook a freight train in the water!


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## crittergitter (Jun 9, 2005)

I am against it! Massive fish kill of both white bass and channel catfish in 2020 that the ODNR has NO clue what happened. Also, it was reported by ODNR all saugeye stocked in Alum last two years failed to survive, yet I've caught a lot of 8 - 10" saugeye. Seems hard to believe those are 3 year old fish! 

Arbitrarily dumping a new species into a reservoir seems absurd and borderline irresponsible to me. Though, I'm just a keyboard biologist. I mean, it does already have LM bass, SM bass, white bass, yellow perch, saugeye, channel catfish and muskie! 

Plus, I heard rumblings of wipers! Please NO!! If the ODNR wants to do something productive at Alum Creek Lake they will work with the USACE to enact a barrier in front of the dam and prevent escapement of all these stocked fish and keep them in the lake!! .


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## Snookhunter52 (Apr 1, 2019)

I was initially very skeptical of blue cats in alum but once I heard that the stocked population in Hoover wasn't reproducing which means if things aren't working out with blue cats they can always stop stocking them. That in itself has given me a little peace of mind and I'm mostly in "let's wait and see" mode.

I have also heard that wipers could also be stocked in Alum and I think that Hoover would be a better candidate because it already has a very large shad population. Alum does not have have nearly as much shad as Hoover. Alum also has a good amount of silversides but their population is not nearly as robust as the gizzard shad. My main fear is that Alum doesn't have the forage base that Hoover has which may affect things in the long run. Wipers are also extremely difficult to pattern due their pelagic nature.

I also heard the saugeye did not do very well the last year. Most of the fish I caught this past year were in the 12 to 14" which I guess were the 2 year old class that is doing really well. Due to the failed stockings the last couple years there's nothing behind this 2 year old class which means the folks up at Indian might be getting a higher influx of guys that would normally fish Alum after this year.


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## winguy7 (Mar 12, 2014)

Im happy to hear thier going into Atwood. Not only is close to me but it also means in a decade or so the Tuscarawas river could have some monsters in it as well. I always get people telling me they caught a blue out of the river. When I tell them they didn't, I get angry looks. But down the road I can say, "let me see a pic" at least.


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## lacdown (Apr 25, 2007)

My personal opinion is that we got enough channel cats at alum and with hoover now a premier catfish lake it's a bit redundant. Now i'm all for the wipers because we currently don't have easy access to them that close by and due to the aforementioned white bass deaths in 2019. Last year I didn't catch one white bass and they're a nice fish to salvage a slow day on the water. 

Sent from my SM-G973U1 using Tapatalk


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## Saugeyefisher (Jul 19, 2010)

lacdown said:


> My personal opinion is that we got enough channel cats at alum and with hoover now a premier catfish lake it's a bit redundant. Now i'm all for the wipers because we currently don't have easy access to them that close by and due to the aforementioned white bass deaths in 2019. Last year I didn't catch one white bass and they're a nice fish to salvage a slow day on the water.
> 
> Sent from my SM-G973U1 using Tapatalk


I've caught more channel cats the last two years on alum why saugeye fishing then I have ever.


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## Crappie&eyes (Nov 4, 2018)

lacdown said:


> My personal opinion is that we got enough channel cats at alum and with hoover now a premier catfish lake it's a bit redundant. Now i'm all for the wipers because we currently don't have easy access to them that close by and due to the aforementioned white bass deaths in 2019. Last year I didn't catch one white bass and they're a nice fish to salvage a slow day on the water.
> 
> Sent from my SM-G973U1 using Tapatalk


Maybe it’s due to the hp limits on Hoover it will make the blue cat accessible to other fishermen?


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## night vision (Apr 26, 2016)

Crappie&eyes said:


> Maybe it’s due to the hp limits on Hoover it will make the blue cat accessible to other fishermen?


I think it has more to do with switching Hoover to being stocked every two years (even years). This allows them to expand the program to more lakes.


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## Snookhunter52 (Apr 1, 2019)

Yes, I think ODNR saw how popular the blue cats at Hoover were and stocking is now being reduced, so it probably only made sense that they expand the program to the rest of the state. I don't see myself regularly targeting them but they're fun when you catch them by accident. I use the same jigheads that I use for crappie as I do for steelhead so I don't have to worry about them mangling my hooks. I have yet to catch blue cats while saugeye fishing at Hoover. I use owner jigheads for joshies so I'm not very worried about bending those. I know they would mangle my trebles if they latched onto my jerkbaits.


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## Crappie&eyes (Nov 4, 2018)

Snookhunter52 said:


> Yes, I think ODNR saw how popular the blue cats at Hoover were and stocking is now being reduced, so it probably only made sense that they expand the program to the rest of the state. I don't see myself regularly targeting them but they're fun when you catch them by accident. I use the same jigheads that I use for crappie as I do for steelhead so I don't have to worry about them mangling my hooks. I have yet to catch blue cats while saugeye fishing at Hoover. I use owner jigheads for joshies so I'm not very worried about bending those. I know they would mangle my trebles if they latched onto my jerkbaits.


I’ve had several crankbait trebles destroyed by blues, but they are fun to catch.


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## Saugeyefisher (Jul 19, 2010)

I can say I have purposely fished Hoover more the last couple years for crappie and saugeyes because of the chance at catching a big blue cat in the process. 
Catching new to me species in my home fishing grounds(central Ohio) always interests me.


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## ironman172 (Apr 12, 2009)

Why i preferred alum for the by catch muskie..... but seeing some of the hoover blues got me wanting to fish it again more ..... seems on Polaris the car always wants to got left on Africa rd....going to have to retrain to head straight to maxtown..... the ramps and bathroom facilities at alum (except Cheshire) are way better and I'd mostly go through the week


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## Snookhunter52 (Apr 1, 2019)

If you want to try to catch blue cats while crappie fishing go to the north end of the lake in May during the crappie spawn. You can find them surprisingly deep inside the willows. I'm not sure if they're eating some of the smaller crappie or the shad mixed in with them or both. I caught all of mine on a whitish crappie tube and a white jighead.


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## jwfish (Jan 28, 2005)

I think they will do good in alum and there is alot of gizzard shad there but the only problem is they follow current and being a flood control alot will go through the dam but you might get a few monsters in the river's in a few years.


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## Buckeye_Sam (Jun 6, 2005)

Selfishly I'll be glad to see Alum take a little pressure off Hoover. I fish from a kayak and feel a lot safer crossing the main lake at Hoover than I would at Alum. Anything that will cut down on the boat traffic at Hoover gets my vote. 

My work was sporadic last year, which allowed me to put in a lot of time on the water at Hoover, learning, trying new spots, new baits, new techniques etc... Hoover has become an incredible fishery! My biggest blue last year was 35lbs, 10+ fish over 20lbs, and dozens over 15lbs. And while the blue cat population has built, the channel cat population is strong. I caught several Fish Ohio channels over 10lbs last year. I don't know of any other place in Ohio outside of the Ohio River where you can get the same numbers AND size of fish. I know there's a lot of big motor guys who don't want to mess around with putting a 9.9 on their boat just to go to Hoover. I think you'll see a lot of happy fisherman at Alum 8 years from now.


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## bman (Apr 20, 2009)

I am surprised the DNR thinks the baitfish (shad) population is large enough to sustain the bass population plus a blue catfish population. I would not characterize Alum as “completely loaded with shad.” And what happens when the white bass Re-establish their population in alum (which they will)?

I don’t know much about blue cats, but I would have thought OShay to be a better option given the huge population of shad in this reservoir.

Guess we’ll see how this all works sooner than later. 


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## Govbarney (Jan 3, 2011)

bman said:


> I am surprised the DNR thinks the baitfish (shad) population is large enough to sustain the bass population plus a blue catfish population. I would not characterize Alum as “completely loaded with shad.” And what happens when the white bass Re-establish their population in alum (which they will)?
> 
> I don’t know much about blue cats, but I would have thought OShay to be a better option given the huge population of shad in this reservoir.
> 
> ...


Id hate to upset the apple cart with O'Shay, the Saugeye Fishing and Wiper fishing is slowly starting to improve from years past in my opinion. Now Griggs , that might be a decent spot try something new and exciting like Blue Cats, and Griggs has enough shad where you can walk across it certain times of year , and not get your feet wet.


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## stonefly71 (Apr 14, 2004)

I think they should do more for Buckeye Lake also! They neglect that lake !


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