# Rayland/Pike Island July 22-24



## BuckeyeFishinNut

I am thinking about making a trip down to the Rayland/Pike Island area next weekend. I wanted to put out an invite to anyone who wanted to join me. I know some people have been wanting to hit that area and here is a good chance to give it a try. I am planning on getting to Rayland around 3pm on friday and camping there friday night. Camping is $8 a night. If the fishing is going well I plan on staying there the whole weekend. If the bite isn't on, than Saturday morning I plan on hitting below Pike Island dam. The distance between Rayland and Pike Island dam is only about 3-5 miles at the most so it is very easy to camp at Rayland and just drive to Pike Island. If for some highly unlikely reason neither Pike Island or Rayland is producing fish I have a few backup spots that we could go hit. This spring we fished Rayland twice and landed well over 100 carp each time with carp into the lower 20lb range and we hit below Pike Island last fall for carp and landed 80 in a day. I don't know how the summer pattern is but I am pretty confident that they will be in one of those 2 areas. If ya need directions to Rayland PM me and I can send them to you. Let me know if there is any interest. If no 1 is interested I will just stay in Columbus and do some smallie fishing and some evening carpin. 

Jake


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## crappielooker

jake.. i'm looking to go camping/fishing somewhere the weekend after that.. and for $8 a night plus being close to cabelas just can't be wrong..lol
i'll have to see how my cashflow goes..


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## BigChessie

Can you fish from the campsite?


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## crappielooker

yeah dood..we can..


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## BuckeyeFishinNut

The campsite is right on the water. You pull your car right up to where your camping and can literally camp 5' from the bank. Check out RiverRat's photo gallery, he has pics of the camping area and the stretch of river there. Its a really nice area that has yielded some nice results.


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## BuckeyeFishinNut

here is a pick of where the marina channel hits the river. We were fishing the point right there. It goes atleast 500-700 trds further to the left of where we are fishing.


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## BigChessie

Man looks nice. Now all I gotta do is talk the wife into going,lol


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## BuckeyeFishinNut

That big pile of junk behind us is a hugh driftwood pile for fires. There is fire pits all along the water. Who knows if all that wood is still there but it was a few months back. The big pole you see there has a street light on it and it lights up that area pretty good. Sometimes it gets kinda busy there on the weekends but alot of people leave around dark who aren't camping and most boat traffic is out by dusk. I know they have flushable toilets and running water there but I am not sure about shower houses. The town of Rayland is about a minute drive from the campsite and there is a few gas stations and a grocery store. Coming up Rt 7 to rayland you drive right past Martins Ferry which is about a 10 min drive from the campsite and they have various fastfood places, gas stations, grocery stores etc. Tiltonsville which is the next town down from Rayland where Pike Island dam is located has a few places to get food and a grocery store and the only bait place around, Ohio River Bait company. Its about a 15-20 minute drive from Rayland to Cabelas over in Wheeling. Its not as big as the one un Dundee, Mich. but it is still very nice with lots of stuff.

The way the water shapes up is there is a coal loading dock near the end of the campground(opposite the marina). About 75 yds. from the bank it is pretty deep so that the barges can pull in and out. Right off the bank is a flat that goes from a few feet deep to about 8' and then drops into that trench. The area looks like a lake this time of year. There is always a little current but the only time there is any real current is when they let barges in and out of the locks at the dam. You can easily fish this area with 1/2 oz sinker. Most of the time I just fish with the weight of my feeder. The water up there pretty much stays at the same level all year round for barge traffic. It may only change a few feet through out the year unless we get a hugh amount of rain. It is a pretty stable place to fish.

Jake


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## BuckeyeFishinNut

Here is a pick looking up river at the coal loading docks from the campground.


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## RiverRat

Figures ya want to go when im working weekends..geez!

Great place to camp and fish..this is the ONLY place i know of that you can litterally back your truck right up to the river and fish off your tail gate..and your tents next to your truck...doesnt get any better than this...well i could do with out the ********, but since i fish there with Jake(Buckeyefishingnut) hes one of them so they dont bother us...LMAO!

Im going to be taking my boys camping/fishing there with in the next week or so during the WEEK to avoid the locals..lol...i dont want to scare them just yet..lol.

Scott


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## BuckeyeFishinNut

For those of you that don't know, this is on the Ohio River. Its about 2 hr drive from columbus. You pretty much take 70 east all the way.

Jake


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## RiverRat

I thinks its 130 miles from Columbus to the exit at Bridgeport...then only 8-10 miles north on rt 7 to Rayland.

Avg. 2-2 1/4 hrs. drive but my best time is 1 hr. 35 mins. from Columbus's west side....lol.

The drive to Wheelings Cabelas is a heck of a lot better than the one in Dundee, Mich. i dont ever see me driveing to the one up there again...well that is until our salmon trip in the fall in up state Mich....we always stop and get our gear there on the way through.


Scott


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## BuckeyeFishinNut

Just to let everyone know, this isn't and event or anything. Its just a get together. Some people expressed interest in the past about fishing this area and a few others in that vacinity. 

Jake


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## RiverRat

Guess you should of picked a weekend that a cag/ogf event was'nt going on goofy....everyone else went to Clark's lake....you wont get any takers buddy.

Wait a week or 2 and i'll head out there with ya....my boys are bugging me about taking them out there to camp....i think they'll stay busy hauling fish and wont find time to get bored..lol.

Scott


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## BuckeyeFishinNut

CAG event is this weekend. Rayland is next weekend.

Jake


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## BuckeyeFishinNut

Well I have decided to put off heading down to Rayland for 2 more weeks. I am now planning on heading down the first weekend in August. It is the weekend before the CAG Fish-in at Dillon. I had a few things come up and I thought I would give some advace notice for people who wanna try to come to work out their schedule. Scott you going to be able to make this weekend with your boys? Hopefully some people wanna come down and get on some carp.

Jake


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## RiverRat

Yea im off that weekend...count me in for sure!

Scott


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## RiverRat

Yup dbl. checked my work secd. and im off that weekend. Give Dave a shout and see if he wants to go too.

I bet if we were landing 100+ carp between the 3 of us each trip there in the spring ,we can double that count for sure now....hopefully a lot more Buffalo's too.

Scott


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## BuckeyeFishinNut

This event is open to anyone. Its going to be held August 5th-7th. We are just going down there to do a little camping, a little carping, and have a little fun. Hope to see some people there.

Jake


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## BottomBouncer

I can make this one. How late can you get there? I don't get off work on fridays until 6:30 or so........say 10pm would be the latest I get there. 

What types of bait should I bring?


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## atrkyhntr

Someone post me directions from say the Cleveland area... Sounds like I can go right down 77...


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## RiverRat

Clyde...you might find a more direct route..try typing in Rayland, Ohio on yahoo maps.


BB, ANYTIME is fine...no set time limit....as for baits....corn..and maybe corn....and i'll say CORN....lol...but i sure would'nt count out anything else you normally use like dough baits, boilies, ect. This fish are not picky and love them all.
I will also say bring some light gear for many other species....the Ohio river offeres great angling for MANY species..plus the Buffalo carp fishing requires lighter tackle because them things are HARD to hook on normal carp gear.


I will post a longer reply with detailed directions on tuesday(my first day off) this week.

Scott


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## atrkyhntr

That can't be more then 2.5 hrs from me man... I'd love to hook up down there sometime...


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## BottomBouncer

So, how many are going? 

My uncle is letting me borrow a tent...so I'll be set for the night!

Should I bring some cat gear? How is the cattin' action around there.....if the carpin' is that good.......can't see fishin' for anything else.


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## BuckeyeFishinNut

I will post directions when I get home from work tonight from various areas around the state. The area has been known to give up a few cats but the carp action is way better. RiverRat is going to be temporarily unavailable from the board for the next 30 days or so. So if ya have any questions feel free to ask me, PM me or email me. I am working til non that friday and will be there around 3 pm. You can show up whenever you can get down there. Hope to see some new faces down there.

Jake


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## BuckeyeFishinNut

I am pretty slow at work today so here are some directions.

*FROM COLUMBUS* :
Take I-70 East to Wheeling (124 miles). Take exit #225 to Bridgeport and turn left at the top of the ramp. At the next light take a right and that will take you through town. At the next light make a left and follow the road under Rt. 7 to merge onto Rt 7 North. Take this for about 7-8 miles and you will exit off of the Rayland exit. Its the next exit past the Farm Lane exit. At the bottom of the exit you will make a left and then at the next stop sign you will make a right. You will see the Army Corp of Engineers sign for the Marina, make a right there. You have to pay to camp at the big house boat docked in the marina. Its $8 a night. After paying follow the road out to the big grass point on the river and pick your spot. You are allowed to park where you camp so just drive into the grass to whatever spot you want.

*FROM CLEVELAND* :
4. Take Left ramp onto I-77 SOUTH toward AKRON - go 15.8 mi 
5. Take exit #146/OH-21 onto I-80 EAST - go 51.5 mi 
6. Take exit #224A onto OH-11 SOUTH toward CANFIELD - go 30.4 mi 
7. OH-11 SOUTH becomes US-30 EAST - go 8.8 mi 
8. Take the OH-7 SOUTH/OH-39 WEST exit onto W 8TH ST[OH-7] toward WELLSVILLE - go 0.8 mi 
9. Continue to follow OH-7 NORTH - go 21.3 mi 
10. Continue on US-22 EAST - go 0.5 mi 
11. Continue on DEAN MARTIN BLVD[OH-7] - go 3.1 mi 
12. Continue to follow OH-7 SOUTH - go 12.1 mi 
Exit at the Rayland exit and at the bottom of the ramp turn right. You will drive past the backwater ponds and back underneath Rt 7. Continue on this road for about a mile til you see the sign for the Marina on your right. If you drive past the coal loading company you went to far. You have to pay to camp at the big house boat docked in the marina. Its $8 a night. After paying follow the road out to the big grass point on the river and pick your spot. You are allowed to park where you camp so just drive into the grass to whatever spot you want

The Cleveland area directions came from Yahoo Maps so if there is a faster way I would take it but atleast it gives ya an end point when ya get close to the river. If ya need directions from some other area let me know and I will post it. Hope to cya out there!

Jake


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## BuckeyeFishinNut

We're about a week anyway. Whose planning on going? Scott and I are definately going and hopefully we have weather like we are supposed to have this weekend.

Jake


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## BuckeyeFishinNut

I just wanted to see who was definately planning on coming if anyone is. Its supposed to be a nice weekend in the low to mid 80's with a 30% chance of rain on Friday. Post here or send me a PM if you plan on joining us and what days you plan on being there. Hope to see some people there. If ya need directions send me a PM.

Jake


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## BuckeyeFishinNut

Well I gettin ready to head out from work to pick up my gear and head out. I am assuming there is going to be a low turn out so I will post a report and any pics there are when I get back into town on Sunday. Hope to see some people get onto some fish this weekend. This rain and a lil cooler temps ought to help out a lil bit. Good Luck this weekend.

Jake


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## crappielooker

good luck jake.. if i could afford it, i would have gone..


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## TimJC

crappielooker said:


> good luck jake.. if i could afford it, i would have gone..


Ditto. Hopefully I'll at least get some fishing in tomorrow. Either that, or find someone who can keep up with me and break the 20 mile barrier on the Little Miami Bike Trail.


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