# CC Stocking



## Ol'Bassman (Sep 9, 2008)

Here's my beef. The ODNR has, in the past, stocked three southwest lakes, CC, East Fork and Cowan. All within easy driving distance of Cincinnati. They stopped stocking Cowan years ago and this year they stopped stocking East Fork. Instead they are stocking CJ Brown which is not far enough in southwest Ohio for people living in Cincinnati. Moving the stocking to CJ Brown will put more pressure on CC which IMHO is over fished now. I feel like southwest Ohio has lost out on this deal and it isn't right. One thing that would help make it right is for the ODNR to make up for all those years CC was under stocked. They could also consider stocking Rocky Fork lake with muskies.


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## burnsj5 (Jan 30, 2014)

Cincinnati just isn't close to many good bodies of water for stocking muskie. We lost our chance at east fork, no one fished it or at least didn't report them and I feel like the ODNR didn't do as much follow through for why they didnt take to the lake if that was the case or push for more activity from clubs/fisherman, just my opinion. I don't think CC has anymore more pressure than west branch or some of the other lakes, we just get congregated to the same few spots because the lake is so open and deep with no weeds. Only so many coves, main lake structure, and shorelines with decent lay downs vs having a lake with multiple weed beds, flats, etc.
Living in Cincinnati it's either CC, drive to cave run, or if feeling adventurous brookeville lake in Indiana has muskies and probably closer than CC to most who live on the city.
I've come to terms with how things are in this part of the state for now and as a result actually plan to relocate in the next year or two to get to better fishing and an outdoor lifestyle. Living in Cincinnati for the last 13 years have learned it's not very conducive to muskie fishing or doing much as outdoors as I would like.


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## crittergitter (Jun 9, 2005)

I think Rocky Fork got stocked with muskies many, many years ago. That or the creek had some native strain muskies in it for awhile. I'm not sure. Anyway, is it really close to Cincy?  

ODNR has been saying for years, even going back to the scale sample program, participate, send in reports (even fishless trips) or your lake might not be stocked anymore. It's a great expense. So, to do it on a lake that gets no reporting, it's pointless. I had 4 fishless trips at Clearfork last year and every single trip got reported. The #'s are down at that lake, but ODNR can see the utilization is still good so they keep it in the stocking program. If I were you, I'd be fishing CC a LOT and reporting, even fishless trips, or risk losing that lake too. Complaining on this website won't really accomplish much at all.


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## flyinghappy (Jun 26, 2017)

How do we report the #'s. New to the area and want to start doing so.


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## Ol'Bassman (Sep 9, 2008)

I agree with much of what you say but I still think Southwest Ohio got screwed. Some years the minnow program produces an overage when all the lakes are stocked at one per acre they have minnow left over. Instead of putting them in some central or northern Ohio lake, put them in CC for a change to make up for the years when CC was under stocked.


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## crittergitter (Jun 9, 2005)

Flyinghappy - google the Ohio Musky Angler Log and it should come up. Register on it and then you can log your trips and fish caught.



Ol'Bassman said:


> I agree with much of what you say but I still think Southwest Ohio got screwed. Some years the minnow program produces an overage when all the lakes are stocked at one per acre they have minnow left over. Instead of putting them in some central or northern Ohio lake, put them in CC for a change to make up for the years when CC was under stocked.


As I understand CC did not get shorted several years. It got shorted 1 year. In that year, it was a bad year at the hatchery and ALL the lakes got shorted, not just CC. Plus, the following year or maybe it was 2 years later, CC got a double stocking as did Eastfork. They were the only ones that got a double stocking. 

Also, I have heard the musky fishing is great at CC last year and this year. Why are you so unhappy?


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## flyinghappy (Jun 26, 2017)

crittergitter said:


> Flyinghappy - google the Ohio Musky Angler Log and it should come up. Register on it and then you can log your trips and fish caught.
> ...


Thanks fro the Info! Joined and will be reporting my days


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## Ol'Bassman (Sep 9, 2008)

The ODNR is only stocking one lake in southwest Ohio. Down from three. That bothers me. I feel they should put more advanced fingerlings in CC to compensate. What's wrong with that?


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## Saugeyefisher (Jul 19, 2010)

Ol'Bassman said:


> The ODNR is only stocking one lake in southwest Ohio. Down from three. That bothers me. I feel they should put more advanced fingerlings in CC to compensate. What's wrong with that?


Uhhhhh doesnt columbus have just one main muskie lake? Everything else being at least an hour away depending on where your at in cbus......
Life is not fair my friend.


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## crittergitter (Jun 9, 2005)

CC and CJ Brown are 43 minutes apart according to Google Maps. That's not outrageous. Plus, you have Ohio Brush Creek and Scioto Brush Creek both with known native populations of muskie. Plus, Eastfork was stocked with muskies for about 8 straight years. Go fish it. You have CC and a few other options. I have Alum with documented loss due to high water events, and Clearfork which got hit hard by VHS for several years. Don't see me complaining one bit. My next best options is Saltfork an hour and 40 minutes away. 

Like SF said, life isn't fair.


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## Ol'Bassman (Sep 9, 2008)

Saugeyefisher said:


> Uhhhhh doesnt columbus have just one main muskie lake? Everything else being at least an hour away depending on where your at in cbus......
> Life is not fair my friend.


You forget Salt Fork


Saugeyefisher said:


> Uhhhhh doesnt columbus have just one main muskie lake? Everything else being at least an hour away depending on where your at in cbus......
> Life is not fair my friend.


Columbus has Alum, Clear Fork, Salt Fork and now CJ Brown. Alum is what 15 minutes away, Clear Fork 50 minutes away, CJ Brown is 40 miles west and Salt Fork is the furthest way at 1 hr. 45 minutes. And you are a lot closer to all those musky lakes in northern Ohio. Dang, I wish I live in Columbus! We have one musky lake in Southwest Ohio and that is CC. It is not a secret that the musky clubs in Columbus and Cleveland have a lot of sway with the ODNR. I'm sure the fact that the Biologist in the ODNR which is located in Columbus are musky fishermen and live in or near Columbus had nothing to do with the decision to move those advanced fingerling nearer to Columbus.


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## Ol'Bassman (Sep 9, 2008)

crittergitter said:


> CC and CJ Brown are 43 minutes apart according to Google Maps. That's not outrageous. Plus, you have Ohio Brush Creek and Scioto Brush Creek both with known native populations of muskie. Plus, Eastfork was stocked with muskies for about 8 straight years. Go fish it. You have CC and a few other options. I have Alum with documented loss due to high water events, and Clearfork which got hit hard by VHS for several years. Don't see me complaining one bit. My next best options is Saltfork an hour and 40 minutes away.
> 
> Like SF said, life isn't fair.


 It isn't about what's fair. It's about where our tax money goes and where the advanced fingerlings go. Southwest Ohio musky hunters have contributed to the musky minnow fund for many years because we wanted to have musky in Southwest Ohio lakes. When you move 934 advanced fingerlings yearly from East Fork , that's 9340 over 10 years, you are moving our tax and minnow fund dollars out of Southwest Ohio. We didn't pay that money to have to drive to lakes outside of Southwest Ohio.


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## crittergitter (Jun 9, 2005)

Ol'Bassman said:


> It isn't about what's fair. It's about where our tax money goes and where the advanced fingerlings go. Southwest Ohio musky hunters have contributed to the musky minnow fund for many years because we wanted to have musky in Southwest Ohio lakes. When you move 934 advanced fingerlings yearly from East Fork , that's 9340 over 10 years, you are moving our tax and minnow fund dollars out of Southwest Ohio. We didn't pay that money to have to drive to lakes outside of Southwest Ohio.


We all have choices.


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## 9Left (Jun 23, 2012)

Hmmm...I would have to disagree with the statement that Caesar's Creek is overfished... Yes, you do see a lot of boats out there… But for at least 20 years now I have had absolutely zero problem catching my limits of crappie, and big ones too! plenty of Sauguye, plenty of bass, plenty of catfish… I think because of the location… It definitely gets a bit crowded at times, which can be annoying .... but definitely not over fished.


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## Pike (Apr 7, 2004)

9Left said:


> Hmmm...I would have to disagree with the statement that Caesar's Creek is overfished... Yes, you do see a lot of boats out there… But for at least 20 years now I have had absolutely zero problem catching my limits of crappie, and big ones too! plenty of Sauguye, plenty of bass, plenty of catfish… I think because of the location… It definitely gets a bit crowded at times, which can be annoying .... but definitely not over fished.


I think he was talking about over-fished for muskies due to the fact it is one of the only areas in SW Ohio being currently stocked.


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## 9Left (Jun 23, 2012)

Pike said:


> I think he was talking about over-fished for muskies due to the fact it is one of the only areas in SW Ohio being currently stocked.


Ohhh....Got it, thanks


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## MuskyFan (Sep 21, 2016)

Ol'Bassman said:


> The ODNR is only stocking one lake in southwest Ohio. Down from three. That bothers me. I feel they should put more advanced fingerlings in CC to compensate. What's wrong with that?


Cowan and East Fork were stopped due to lost fish over/thru the spillway. They are also looking at that at Alum now.


Ol'Bassman said:


> Columbus has Alum, Clear Fork, Salt Fork and now CJ Brown. Alum is what 15 minutes away, Clear Fork 50 minutes away, CJ Brown is 40 miles west and Salt Fork is the furthest way at 1 hr. 45 minutes. And you are a lot closer to all those musky lakes in northern Ohio. Dang, I wish I live in Columbus! We have one musky lake in Southwest Ohio and that is CC. *It is not a secret that the musky clubs in Columbus and Cleveland have a lot of sway with the ODNR*. I'm sure the fact that the Biologist in the ODNR which is located in Columbus are musky fishermen and live in or near Columbus had nothing to do with the decision to move those advanced fingerling nearer to Columbus.


Not having a club at all in SW Ohio doesn't help. There was one Muskie Inc club that folded and finally got rolled up into the Central Ohio club in Columbus. There is no representation for SW Ohio and without a coordinated effort there won't be. But we fishermen are a fickle bunch with much infighting about which species deserves more attention. Not unlike hunters.



Ol'Bassman said:


> It isn't about what's fair. It's about where our tax money goes and where the advanced fingerlings go. Southwest Ohio musky hunters have contributed to the musky minnow fund for many years because we wanted to have musky in Southwest Ohio lakes. When you move 934 advanced fingerlings yearly from East Fork , that's 9340 over 10 years, you are moving our tax and minnow fund dollars out of Southwest Ohio. We didn't pay that money to have to drive to lakes outside of Southwest Ohio.


Here's the stocking breakdown. Last year CC got 1200 more than the normal amount of fingerlings. Some lakes went up, some lakes went down.
CAESAR CREEK LAKE 2,408 2,723 1,906 1,873 2,806 2,806 2,796 5,616 2,829 2,796 3,981

https://apps.ohiodnr.gov/MuskieLog/stocking.aspx

And the money goes into a general fund. It is not necessarily allocated where it is collected. Never has been. So we really haven't "lost" anything. I'm surprised they haven't cut the lake list back and have only one in each each area.


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## cincinnati (May 24, 2004)

Ol'Bassman said:


> The ODNR is only stocking one lake in southwest Ohio. Down from three. That bothers me. I feel they should put more advanced fingerlings in CC to compensate. What's wrong with that?


Look @ the bright side: your math is bad! Southwest Ohio has never had more than 2 musky program lakes. First, they were Rocky Fork & Cowan. Then Rocky Fork was dropped for Caesar. East Fork replaced Cowan. If you don’t recognize CJ Brown as a southwest lake, you’re still only down 1 lake. It’s not nearly as bad a screwing as you thought!


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## Ol'Bassman (Sep 9, 2008)

cincinnati said:


> Look @ the bright side: your math is bad! Southwest Ohio has never had more than 2 musky program lakes. First, they were Rocky Fork & Cowan. Then Rocky Fork was dropped for Caesar. East Fork replaced Cowan. If you don’t recognize CJ Brown as a southwest lake, you’re still only down 1 lake. It’s not nearly as bad a screwing as you thought!


I think your math is bad. CJ Brown is north of I 70 so it is not in SW Ohio. How is being "only down 1 lake" and thousands of advanced fingerlings not a bad screwing?


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## Ol'Bassman (Sep 9, 2008)

MuskyFan said:


> Cowan and East Fork were stopped due to lost fish over/thru the spillway. They are also looking at that at Alum now.
> 
> Not having a club at all in SW Ohio doesn't help. There was one Muskie Inc club that folded and finally got rolled up into the Central Ohio club in Columbus. There is no representation for SW Ohio and without a coordinated effort there won't be. But we fishermen are a fickle bunch with much infighting about which species deserves more attention. Not unlike hunters.
> 
> ...


It's either politics or money. On ODNR stocking numbers, they are not accurate. I have been there at CC when they stocked it. The numbers I got from the guys on the truck stocking the lake are not what the ODNR says and the actual numbers are always less.

I'd just like to see a couple more of the 5616 stocking years.


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## Saugeyefisher (Jul 19, 2010)

Ol'Bassman said:


> You forget Salt Fork
> 
> 
> Columbus has Alum, Clear Fork, Salt Fork and now CJ Brown. Alum is what 15 minutes away, Clear Fork 50 minutes away, CJ Brown is 40 miles west and Salt Fork is the furthest way at 1 hr. 45 minutes. And you are a lot closer to all those musky lakes in northern Ohio. Dang, I wish I live in Columbus! We have one musky lake in Southwest Ohio and that is CC. It is not a secret that the musky clubs in Columbus and Cleveland have a lot of sway with the ODNR. I'm sure the fact that the Biologist in the ODNR which is located in Columbus are musky fishermen and live in or near Columbus had nothing to do with the decision to move those advanced fingerling nearer to Columbus.


I don't muskie fish,if your dollars are being moved somewhere else that does suck! I dont chase muskies. I enjoy them as a bi-catch. 
Just to show you here is my drive time for the muskie lakes around me. Moderate traffic. 
Alumcreek -40 minutes
Cjbrown-1 hour
Clear for 1 hr 15 minutes+
Saltfork/Piedmont 1hr45min-2hr.

I do have have the flow from alum creek in my backyard plus sciota below greenlawn 10 minutes away. That I do plan on chasing them in eventually.......


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## crittergitter (Jun 9, 2005)

Ol'Bassman said:


> It's either politics or money. On ODNR stocking numbers, they are not accurate. I have been there at CC when they stocked it. The numbers I got from the guys on the truck stocking the lake are not what the ODNR says and the actual numbers are always less.
> 
> I'd just like to see a couple more of the 5616 stocking years.


It's prime time musky season. I know several guys that are on CC and they are smokin em. You are here belly aching. I just don't get it.


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## Saugeyefisher (Jul 19, 2010)

Oh my


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## Tinknocker1 (May 13, 2013)

Kyle smoked musky sounds awesome post the recipe please


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