# GOOD map of Alum



## Sylvan14 (Mar 1, 2006)

I have the basic map of Alum, you know the blue and white one off the ODNR web site that shows depth. 

What I'm looking for is a *GOOD map of Alum*. I've looked around online but I have found nothing. Goota be somehting out there that shows more details of the inlet streams, sand bottom, rock, ets. You know what I mean.

Any advise!


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## buzzzbait (Mar 15, 2006)

Try Dick's Sporting goods or Gander mountain stores. I have seen maps there.


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## Net (Apr 10, 2004)

I've never seen a commercially available map with the kind of detail sylvan14 is looking for. But if I have another mediocre year like last year... I may sell the rights to my _personal_ Alum map & waypoints   .


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## Sylvan14 (Mar 1, 2006)

Buzzbait, I'll try those places, thanks.

Net, Sounds like your luck at Alum has not been good, sorry to hear that. I just LOL because I thought "keep pluging away" and I wondered if that was a fishermans saying from way back. Anyway, are you talikng about the map on your electronics or do you have a nice map you are speaking of ? I have not even seen electronic maps available?


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## Rod&Reel (Jun 4, 2005)

My GPS has some nice maps on it. I can't wait to order it next week. I aint sure what the maps look like, but I know it will help me ALOT with fishing. I can mark all my good "honey holes" on it. Plus it will make it possible to hike WAY into Wayne National Forest to find a nice sercet camp site and not get lost. I will be looking for ponds and creeks when I am there too. And it will help me not get lost at AEP also. Here is some of the maps I can get with it.


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## Net (Apr 10, 2004)

Sylvan14 said:


> Net, Sounds like your luck at Alum has not been good, sorry to hear that. I just LOL because I thought "keep pluging away" and I wondered if that was a fishermans saying from way back. Anyway, are you talikng about the map on your electronics or do you have a nice map you are speaking of ? I have not even seen electronic maps available?


 Hmmm, now you got me wondering what the origin of that saying might be... _"Keep plugging away"_. Maybe it has to do with a plug of tobacco. My websters says a plug could be _"A poor or worn-out horse"_.

Anyhoo, paper maps are quickly becoming obsolete now that electronic maps and GPS mapping software are getting more popular every year. I have a Lowrance LCX-15MT (now obsolete) combo fish finder & gps mapping system. For Alum, I use a Lowrance enhanced lake map  and it works real well for me.

It also helps to have a small network of fishing buddies who have computers and know how to use simple JPEG editting software like MS Paint. We keep passing around the same JPEG version of an old Alum topo map while adding new spots each time. I then transfer those spots to my gps.

Good luck.


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## Sylvan14 (Mar 1, 2006)

Yea, I think I understand the map/gps thing I just have not taken the plunge. I have a Garmin 250C finder, no GPS. I have a simple hand held but it's not compatable with the Garmin. This has worked fine because I have not been fishing any of the big waters like Alum. Although I plan to fish Alum a good bit this year if I can get anyone to go along. An hours drive from Newark. Just thought it would be nice to start with a nice paper map.

I fish out of a 14' Sylvan with a Mercury 4 Stroke 9.9 on which I have spent a good bit of fun time adding the little things that make it a decent boat, like hiding the trolling and start batteries under the benches. Guiding the anchor and lines and wires to keep things from under foot Mounting a couple seats, trolling motor, etc. 
Not much of a boat for big water I know but it floats! Big electronics might be next.

What electronics would you buy if you were buy today?


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## Rod&Reel (Jun 4, 2005)

For a boat...Thats easy. Get a new fish finder/gps combo or seperate. I suggest seperate because then you can take the GPS into the woods with you when you are hunting, hunting for ponds, or whatever other reasons you would be in the woods and need it so you don't get lost. I plan on doing alot of hiking myself looking for ponds and with my gps, I won't have to worry about finding my way back.


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## Sylvan14 (Mar 1, 2006)

I understand the Garmin 250C I have will support a hand held unit. This is something I need to look into. This should be an easy sell to the wife because she has mentioned wanting "one of those GPS things".

Anyone out there run this type of rig i.e. fish finder and hand held seperate? Thoughts?


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## once was (Oct 25, 2005)

The Old Dutchman and usually the Marina at Alum sell the Hotspot Maps. They used to be made out of waterproof paper don't know if they still are or not. Has some contours, roadbeds, old ponds and graveyards on it.


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## BIGDAWG (Apr 17, 2004)

feel free to hit me up sometime. I live 2 minutes from New Galena Boat Ramp. I'd gladly take you and show you around Alum. If you ask around though, that's all I'll be able to do, "Show you around"....  Thinking about going this weekend if the snow holds off,,,prolly sunday or monday...BD


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## Lewzer (Apr 5, 2004)

Looking at Alum right now on my Lowrance H2O with the free downloadable Hopmap from the Lowrance website (probably the same one Net is using). Didn't know Alum was that deep. I see Africa Cememtary at N 40 11 41.1 W 82 57 27.5. Looks like it sits on top of a hill under about 25 fow dropping to 50 fow a little to the west.

Williams Lake looks interesting too. Maybe a good springtime crappie area?

This Africa Road bays on the se part of the lake and the one ne of Cheshire (by the Pomeroy Ponds)looks like a crappie area too. 

There are a couple of little holes on the flat north of Cheshire Rd on the east side of the lake.

On the north end where Dunham Rd ends in the water looks like a nice flat from 25 fow rapidly getting shallow as you go towards the shore.

Looks like a pretty decent lake. Never been there but if I was crappie fishing there I would hit all the small bays that are all over the shoreline looking for brushpiles. This lake looks alot like West Branch from the map-skunks alot of people but for those who know where the structure and drop-offs are, it could be a awesome lake.


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## Rod&Reel (Jun 4, 2005)

Lewzer said:


> Williams Lake looks interesting too


What lake is this? I believe I have heard Hoover called that before. Is Hoover the one you call Williams lake? Hoover is the lake that is just southeast of Alum.


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## Net (Apr 10, 2004)

Williams Lake is an old submerged pond in the south end of Alum. Good musky fishing in that area. At the bottom of the map is the dam.


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## Rod&Reel (Jun 4, 2005)

I am looking on Google earth and I aint seeing a pond, lol I aint seeing a pond on the map you show above either for that matter. Your map shows no ponds at all. Unless what you are calling a pond is what everybody else calls a cove. Are you talking about the big cove on your map? If so, thats not a pond. It is a cove that is part of Alum Creek lake. So I am still lost on this Williams lake you are talking about.


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## sowbelly101 (Apr 5, 2004)

That is the copy of the map I thought you were talkin about. I have see one very similar to that but only one time before. Tried to get a copy of it but I found out that its a better kept secret then Area 51.  


The ponds were there before they flooded the lake. Now they are underwater ponds and you wont know there even there unless your paying attention to your electronics.

Sowbelly


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## Net (Apr 10, 2004)

> So I am still lost on this Williams lake you are talking about


DUDE!....  Look at the top of the map. See the words Williams Lake? See the blue outline of a pond? Well that pond was named Williams Lake before the lake was impounded. Folks still call it Williams Lake even though it's now under 30 feet of water...lol


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## Rod&Reel (Jun 4, 2005)

Ok that makes more sense to me now. I was like where is this guy getting a pond out of a map of a lake. Well now I know. Thanks


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## Rod&Reel (Jun 4, 2005)

Net said:


> DUDE!....  Look at the top of the map. See the words Williams Lake? See the blue outline of a pond? Well that pond was named Williams Lake before the lake was impounded. Folks still call it Williams Lake even though it's now under 30 feet of water...lol


I think I will stick with calling it Alum, thanks anyways. Saying williams not only confused me, but will confused alot of others if I was like lets go fish williams lake. I would take them to Alum and they would be like "I hate to break it to you R&R, but this is Alum Creek lake, not this williams you told us we was going to. And instead of explaining everything like you just did to me, I will call it Alum and have nothing to explain. lol in a way it sounds like old folks trying to hold on to a childhood memory and can't let go and call it by it's modern name (ALUM Creek Lake). But who knows.


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## Net (Apr 10, 2004)

I should've mentioned I copied that map from maptech. 

I didn't name Williams Lake but I do like to give my own names to certain structure or features that have no name. Picket Fence, The Crossover, Grassy Knoll, etc. Maybe its an old guy thing but at least the guys I fish with know what I'm talking about.


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## ying6 (Apr 21, 2004)

grassy knoll.... hhhmmm, don't know that one... sounds like somewhere in Dallas Texas.


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## LEADOFFMAN (Aug 9, 2004)

WOW!!!!!!!!!!


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## Net (Apr 10, 2004)

> sounds like somewhere in Dalas Texas.


 It's actually one of the few places on shore with a simple grass meadow. Everywhere else is either wooded or developed.


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## Rod&Reel (Jun 4, 2005)

Net said:


> I should've mentioned I copied that map from maptech.
> 
> I didn't name Williams Lake but I do like to give my own names to certain structure or features that have no name. Picket Fence, The Crossover, Grassy Knoll, etc. Maybe its an old guy thing but at least the guys I fish with know what I'm talking about.


I too name spots. Oldest person I fish with on the norm is about 35. I am 31. And I don't believe he would know either. And if it is a childhood memory thing, I can relate. I was pi$$ed when I went back to my old childhood neighborhood. Everything looks so different. I wanted to go back and remember some of the nice things I remember from then, but nooooo. The place doesn't look nothing like it did when I was a kid. And at the cost of sounding like a sissy, I was hurt by this change. I remember sitting in the wooded field for hours a day just eatting wild strawberries and catching snakes. Now the field is nothing more than a "grassy knoll" and only half as big as it was. The alley isn't a alley anymore, it is a street now. And the woods have big blacktop trails going through them now. There wasn't nothing but a few small dirt trail that us kids made when I was little. And they also cut half the trees down.


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## Sylvan14 (Mar 1, 2006)

These images you all show and talk about, are they available to get online? Do I need special software? A password from having one of the nicer electronics?


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## Fish4Fun (Apr 6, 2004)

OK what is this, i have seen it on some aerial photos of the lake when the water was way down.


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## Rod&Reel (Jun 4, 2005)

Sylvan14 said:


> These images you all show and talk about, are they available to get online? Do I need special software? A password from having one of the nicer electronics?


There is alot of maps on this site for you to download.






Fish4Fun said:


> OK what is this, i have seen it on some aerial photos of the lake when the water was way down.


That would be nothing, unless it is new. I just looked on Google Earth and there is nothing there except woods. Nothing out of the ordinary.


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## Net (Apr 10, 2004)

Sylvan14 said:


> These images you all show and talk about, are they available to get online? Do I need special software? A password from having one of the nicer electronics?


Sylvan14, click here. You should see a topo map of Alum. Use the red arrows on the edge of the map to position the map where you want it. You can also left click your cursor on any part of the map and it will bring that point to the center. Once you have what you want, right click and do a "save picture as" and save it to a JPEG file. After editing the JPEG you can re-post it in a thread by using the "Manage Attachments" button and follow the instructions.


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## George (Mar 27, 2005)

The map I have lists the point in question there being "shale reefs". The map I have also has several "fish attractors" in Alum north of 36/37. What would that be?


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## Fish4Fun (Apr 6, 2004)

I am not sure what the four blocks are that are in my pic but i can tell ya one thing they are not trees and they are under water and very defined. As for the fish attractors could be brush piles or trees, or could be some of the stuff that has been put in the lake by alum creek bassmasters for bass over the years.


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## George (Mar 27, 2005)

It looks like the top of these reefs are under just a few feet of water then drop off quickly to ~ 30 feet of water and just flatten out. The flats I would have to assume hold feeding fish at some point during the day. I'm definitely going to give it a try this summer.


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## Fish4Fun (Apr 6, 2004)

me too george i agree


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## Rod&Reel (Jun 4, 2005)

Fish4Fun said:


> I am not sure what the four blocks are that are in my pic but i can tell ya one thing they are not trees and they are under water and very defined. As for the fish attractors could be brush piles or trees, or could be some of the stuff that has been put in the lake by alum creek bassmasters for bass over the years.


I can't tell you what they are, can just tell you that on Google Earth, it shows nothing but trees there and nothing else. But Google Earths pictures are always a few years old. Maybe once it gets warm and I can take my float tube out. I will go see in person what i see there. At this point I can't tell you what it is, just that it aint showing on Google Earth. And if this is underwater like you said, that would be why Google Earth aint showing it.


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## Erie Addict (Apr 12, 2004)

According to fisheries biologist i know quite well, those "4 blocks" are manmade spawning structure for walleye. There used to be walleye stocked in alum. The state used the left over rubble and gravel from the Cheshire road and 36 piers to build them. This time of year, winter, i would not attempt to take a boat over them, unless you want to get out and push. Keep in mind that the map you are looking at was the last known Topo made before the dam was built, Circa 1972, Through erosion and the corp of engineers alot has changed, but alot remains. 
Hint, See if you can find the old trestle bridge and you will find fish.
hint, Find the old C&O line and you will find fish.


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## EDD (Apr 11, 2004)

I know the area , there's 2 flats in that bay , 5 ft on top , droping to 15 ft on the lake side and about 30 ft on the others . It's a shale rock flat (nothing on top )that they excavated around. ( not man made ) I fished the area years ago before the lake filled completely . only thing I've ever seen caught on them are muskys and pan fish.


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## BottomBouncer (Jan 20, 2005)

The best thing I could tell someone fishing Alum for the first time, from a boat with a depth finder is to look at the shoreline. Find fallen trees. When I first bought my boat, this lead me to tons of fish. Sat on one hole all days with minnows and caugth everything from cats to bluegil to saugeye...DOZENS of crappie in mid summer.....keeper size. 

Took 8 dozen minnows one day. Had to trailer the boat mid afternoon because we ran out of bait.


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## Net (Apr 10, 2004)

Here are 4 photos I took of those shale reefs back in Jan 2000 during a period of low water. The tops are normally under water. These are located in the same general vacinity as the area circled by F4F.


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## Rod&Reel (Jun 4, 2005)

Sure looks like thats what he has circled.


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## Fish4Fun (Apr 6, 2004)

Thanks net i would say those are it.


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## AnglinAddict (Nov 22, 2004)

I fished those a couple of time last summer and only ended up with one smallie. I kept bottoming out on them and finally gave up. I did mark alot of fish there on my electronics, but couldnt get em to bite. The question I want to know is where is Crisco Bay? I have heard talk of it, but no one wants to give up the location.


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## ying6 (Apr 21, 2004)

I can tell you a lot of those places don't produce like they use to. We have fished Alum for quite a few years now and it seems that most of the "go to" spots or "honey holes" don't have the numbers they use to. Probably due to the fact that many people fish them now. 
Crisco bay sounds like any bay that produces some good eaters. 

Hoover to me is more of a mystery than Alum. The difference in depth is dramatic from 30ft off shore to 40ft.


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## sowbelly101 (Apr 5, 2004)

i think its that area that was pointed out with the reefs or its close to it.

sowbelly


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## George (Mar 27, 2005)

I think the last few messages of this thread really drive one point home...no map out there is 100% accurate. There are little holes, points, dips...whatever that no map will show you. It's about getting out there with a depthfinder and looking for these subtleties and noting them on your own map.


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