# St.Joe River



## Sandysdad (Jan 13, 2012)

Hi all, 
Im a new member and wanted to ask if anyone is fishing the St. Joe river and if you are what can be caught at this time of year....I live on the river west of Montpelier. If not now what can I expect to catch later? Thx.


----------



## meathelmet (Aug 4, 2008)

Sandysdad,

Welcome aboard! Good luck on the info I would be interested as well.


----------



## FishingAddict (Nov 15, 2011)

right now you can catch steelhead on the st joe. there are also a summer run strain of steelhead called skamania steelhead that occupy that river from late june untill mid august and then there is also fall salmon run on the st joe. I was looking into going fishing there this summer for the skamanias


----------



## jfan (Aug 11, 2006)

Wrong St. Joe river. The one in Montpelier begins in the farmlands of SE Michigan and flows into the Maumee near Ft. Wayne. There are no steelies in there, but there are some bass, catfish, crappie and carp. It's a slow moving muddy stream....like a mini Maumee.


----------



## Blackcat 86 (Feb 11, 2011)

The St. Joe in NW Ohio is the product of an enormous watershed rising in Michigan and draining portions of Branch and HIllsdale Counties there, along with Allen, DeKalb, Noble and Steuben Counties in Indiana, and Defiance and Williams Counties in Ohio.

It's accessible to small boating, but can be treacherous during high and fast currents with lots of deadheads and snags and/or seasonally with ice. 

Parking/Boat access link is at: http://www.dnr.state.oh.us/watercraft/streams/joseph/tabid/2429/Default.aspx

Forty three species of fish have been found in various reaches of the St. Joseph River: Pike at the top of the food chain; 'gills and rock bass at the bottom.

I fish McKarns and Barton Lakes (bass, trout, 'gills, crappie, cats, pike), and La Su Ann (bass and 'gills) when they let me. 

http://www.dnr.state.oh.us/Home/wil...keLaSuAnWildlifeArea/tabid/19776/Default.aspx

http://dnr.state.oh.us/tabid/20223/Default.aspx

http://dnr.state.oh.us/LinkClick.aspx?fileticket=x76Wnt0IqI4=&tabid=20223

http://dnr.state.oh.us/Portals/9/pdf/pub163.pdf


----------



## Harbor Hunter (Aug 19, 2007)

There's also a good number of northern pike in there as well.


----------



## mlayers (Aug 22, 2011)

You can catch all types of fish here in the St.Joe. I have never fished it this time of the year. I have caught crappie, pike, cat fish, bull head,and carp. But that is in the spring and summer. I fish more at the old rock quarrys out on J.


----------



## Sandysdad (Jan 13, 2012)

Thanks for your input guys...really appreciate it.


----------



## Ol Muskie (Sep 12, 2009)

Hi,
I started fishing the St Joe River in the early 40s when I used to follow my dad. I was born and raised in Bryan. We fished two places. Just N/O the bridge on I think it was Co. Rd J near an old community called Sodom. Another fishin hole was S/O the bridge on I think it was Co. Rd K. We used to go to Lick Crick west of Bryan and sein minnows to use as live bait. Or we caught suckers and shiners with cane poles. Some of the bait we used was 12in or so long. With the old casting rods we had at the time we couldn't even cast them. We had to coil the line on the bank and throw the minnows out in the river by hand. Then we would build a fire and wait for the clickers to go off. We caught mostly Pike but I remember (still have picture ) catching a 8lb Walleye in 1952.

I live in Sandusky now and am still an avid fisherman thanks to Dad. I fish Walleye in Lake Erie with considerable success.

Thanks for stirring some old memories, Good luck fishin the St Joe.

Mike


----------



## Sandysdad (Jan 13, 2012)

mlayers..my property line is the river.. across from quarry lakes is my property to the south. I am off of I-50..we can see the lake through the trees out the back of the house.


----------



## jhammer (Jun 13, 2011)

I fly fish the St. Joe quite frequently in the spring and summer. I catch a few pike in there at a couple "Classified" locations in the spring. However, most of the fish I've caught in there have been panfish. There's a lot of smaller rock bass in there. I've also hauled in a few smallies too. It's a nice little river and it clears up pretty good in the summer, but when the water heats up fishing slows down.


----------



## poloaman (Mar 26, 2008)

I believe they have bass tournaments on that river near ft Wayne 


Polo
Outdoor Hub mobile


----------



## Sandysdad (Jan 13, 2012)

Mike
Glad I could stir up some great memories...I have also fished and hunted ducks on Lake Erie..I am fairly new to the Montpelier area and my primary interest has been deer hunting which is great. I am missing out on the river as a resource and want to tap into it...I really enjoyed your post.
Chris


----------



## Sandysdad (Jan 13, 2012)

jhammer
It is a crazy river..."flooded" or "brown" from runoff or so shallow if there's a drought that you can barely get your feet wet walking across it (slight exaggeration) but I'm going to see what I can catch.


----------



## jhammer (Jun 13, 2011)

I agree with you. It's usually a hit or miss river. I've had days where I catch fish every cast, and I've had days where I've fished for several miles and drove all over Williams County without a single bite. I did find out that my spots are rather deep though. The water was up past my waist and I sank into mud up to my shins.


----------

