# FISHING PIER at MELDAHL!!



## nlcatfish (Mar 21, 2005)

I was finally able to get a photo of the pier, not the best set up! From this photo it looks like 1/4 of it is so close to the bank it is useless! the end of it for casting towards the river will be very tight for 2 people at a time. You will need an extra long handle dip net to get the fish over the railing. here is the link for the photo:
http://galvanizeit.org/project-gallery/gallery/meldahl-fishing-pier


There is a walk way to the ramp from the parking lot.


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## Pooka (Jan 30, 2012)

I truly appreciate the effort and the money that goes into public "fishing access" but if very often seems that no fisherfolk were consulted on design and placement.


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## surfstriker (Mar 27, 2015)

Do you have any idea when it will be open to the public?


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## nlcatfish (Mar 21, 2005)

Last I was told sometime in JULY, Since the rains have raised the river might be pushed back. Hopefully they will let people know when it opens.


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## Salmonid (Apr 14, 2004)

Thanks Norb for keeping us in the loop, great info and the walkway pier may be better then you think, lets wait and see, Im thinking the whole length of the pier should be good for casting out into the outflow. Time will tell.
Salmonid


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## BMustang (Jul 27, 2004)

I'll bet the Greenup Dam folks are laughing uproariously!

God Gawd!

"Nothing is too good for the fishermen, So give the fishermen nothing."


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## Doboy (Oct 13, 2008)

Pooka said:


> I truly appreciate the effort and the money that goes into public "fishing access" but if very often seems that no fisherfolk were consulted on design and placement.



WOW! I agree with that!
I sure hope that that deck is anchored on HUGE pilings! (judging by the size of that rig/ crane). And I hope that you guys don't get any ice build-up below that dam!!! 

At one of my favorite Pa Ohio River places to fish, the heavy wall 2" pipe railing is constantly being damaged by ice. The concrete walkways are completely under water 3 or 4 times each year.
The larger fishing walkway, that is farther down river, is totally concrete, with a wheelchair access ramp & a canoe & yak launch ramp.
*IT'S A VERY NICE PLACE FOR A FAMILY PICNIC & FISHING OUTING. *Very Fisherman Friendly*, up above the dam!.
BUT, 
I wish I was working there when they built it!
The whole length of the bank should have been a concrete walkway. NOTHING TO DAMAGE, NO MAINTENANCE! IF you need railing, it should be made out of 8" to 12" H-beam piling!
The best place to fish is the small area BETWEEN THE 2 WALKWAYS! (2 small backwash pools,,, NO ROCKS! Everyone 'fights' for those 2 spots)
I would have dredged out the hundreds of rocks/ boulders that were left underwater in front of the main 50yd long walkway,,,, it's SNAG CITY! ???  THEY only dredged out about 15'! Sooo many 'new-bies'/ kids cast out to bottom fish, loose all of their crap, get pissed, give up & leave! I hate to see that happen.
From that main platform, It's about a 60' cast to the fast water, so your lures have about 5 seconds before you gotta real them in,,,, if they drop down 5',,,, THEY ARE GONE!*

*lol,,, so GIVE ME a long-boom excavator for a day & I'll make that place (& any other place!) a fishing paradise. 
WE/ OGF needs a forum where WE can talk to those design 'people'.
Maybe Pass this to the ODNR,,,, like who-ever needs a hint! *

*
*


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## Daveo76 (Apr 14, 2004)

BMustang said:


> I'll bet the Greenup Dam folks are laughing uproariously!
> 
> God Gawd!
> 
> "Nothing is too good for the fishermen, So give the fishermen nothing."


No Comment ,something that ruins the fishing you are used to is ridiculous. Our area is in the pics and at least we have the lower sidewalk to fish if the turbine outflow is too strong, and you guys will have 5. At least our area is concrete.


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## BMustang (Jul 27, 2004)

Daveo76 said:


> No Comment ,something that ruins the fishing you are used to is ridiculous. Our area is in the pics and at least we have the lower sidewalk to fish if the turbine outflow is too strong, and you guys will have 5. At least our area is concrete.


How nice would that be.

Your situation is like that at Pickwick Dam in Tennessee that I posted earlier this spring.

This "fishing pier" equidistant to the end of the lockwall at Meldahl is nothing more than a perceived concession to the fishermen. If they were truly interested in providing a good fishing condition, we would have something comparable to Greenup/Pickwick. If there was ever a plan to do something like this, it obviously ended up on the budget cuts floor.


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## BMustang (Jul 27, 2004)

Unfortunately the prime fishing will be about 200 yards upstream, where I strongly suspect there will be a large "KEEP OUT" sign erected.


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## Pooka (Jan 30, 2012)

I have often wondered why, for bank access, they do not just go with concrete "stair steps" . Maybe 10 ft or so wide "treads" with 5 ft or so "risers". Water comes up, still a place to fish, water goes down, still a place to fish. 

I recently scouted several "new" WVDNR access points in Cabell county. We get a decent road, a little parking if it is dry, and then a 8 to 25 ft near vertical drop to the water. 

They are there, they can be used, and I am very grateful for them, but gee whiz, they could not have borrowed a bit a heavy equipment from the dept of highways and spent a 1/2 hr cutting a "ramp" down to the water?


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## Doboy (Oct 13, 2008)

Pooka said:


> I have often wondered why, for bank access, they do not just go with concrete "stair steps" .* Maybe 10 ft or so wide "treads" with 5 ft or so "risers". Water comes up, still a place to fish, water goes down, still a place to fish. *
> 
> I recently scouted several "new" WVDNR access points in Cabell county. We get a decent road, a little parking if it is dry, and then a 8 to 25 ft near vertical drop to the water.
> 
> They are there, they can be used, and I am very grateful for them, *but gee whiz, they could not have borrowed a bit a heavy equipment from the dept of highways and spent a 1/2 hr cutting a "ramp" down to the water?*


EXACTLY what I was talking about!
I DO get worked-up, and fly off the handle,,, rightly so,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,
so many wasted opportunities,,, missing those prime opportunities to make some great FAMILY fishing spots.
Why the hell can't the 'BIG-WIGS' work together and produce SOMETHING that benefits everyone concerned,,,,
specially the outdoor sportsman & his family.? like, We're spending BILLIONS on BLACKTOPPED bike & walking trails???? I'm retired I'm OLD, ,,,, MY KNEES ARE SHOT! lwtf I WANNA FISH! (everywhere!)

30 YEARS AGO (my fishing friends LOVE IT when I start off this way!) some of you old timers will remember 'THE BUBBLE' at Ashtabula,,,, aka the old hot-water power plant discharge. 
A person could park up on the hill, walk down the steep bank & fish along the shoreline. Probably one of the best fishing spots in the continental USA!
It was absolutely unbelievable how many fish piled in there to spawn & feed. A night-fishing paradise! 
Erosion caused the power plant to build a breakwall,,, they placed 6'-8' concrete boulders along shore, all the way up that 100' bank. I was the guy that placed all of that stone and build that wall!
I was also the guy that bitched to every 'head-honcho' that I could entrap,,,, I tried to talk them into letting me make a dandy walkway down that steep bank, & to let me place those huge water-line boulders in such a way to enable the fisherman to have an easy, safe shoreline access. 
Well, you know how well those suggestions flew,,,,, NO WAY they said,,, & they even fenced the whole place in,,, now with NO ACCESS.
*That's just one of the hundreds of fishing spots that 'I' could'a built along our Eastern waterways,,,,, IF THE STATE WOULD MANDATED IT! *I could of made every bridge bank, pipeline crossing, & steel mill waterline, fisherman friendly,,, AND it wouldn't have cost the 'STATE' one damn dime extra.
WE gotta keep bitch'n,,,,, there IS A WAY!


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## Pooka (Jan 30, 2012)

Doboy said:


> EXACTLY what I was talking about!
> I DO get worked-up, and fly off the handle,,, rightly so,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,
> so many wasted opportunities,,, missing those prime opportunities to make some great FAMILY fishing spots.
> Why the hell can't the 'BIG-WIGS' work together and produce SOMETHING that benefits everyone concerned,,,,
> ...



Ah,, so it is all your fault!! Now we know who to blame! 

LOL Just kidding!

Seriously, I hear you. I am sure there are concerns I may not be privy too but it is hard to believe that there could not be some compromises made. 

Maybe the problem is that fisherfolk, with some exceptions, (Fly/trout fishing folks for example) are not very politically organized. When you fussed, you were just one voice and easily ignored. A thousand folks fussing, together, gets more attention--action. 

Just out of curiosity, how much more do you think it would have cost to have done the work you suggested at the Ashtabula project? -Fuel, labor and ???.


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## Pooka (Jan 30, 2012)

Doboy said:


> I could of made every bridge bank, pipeline crossing, & steel mill waterline, fisherman friendly,,, AND it wouldn't have cost the 'STATE' one damn dime extra.
> !


BTW,, That seems to have been the plan of the WVDNR--Most of the access is on bridge ROWs, they just failed on the follow though. --got "that close" and then quit.


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## Doboy (Oct 13, 2008)

*I could of made every bridge bank, pipeline crossing, & steel mill waterline, fisherman friendly,,, AND it wouldn't have cost the 'STATE' one damn dime extra."*

For instance,,,, I was on the Mahoning River Summit St Bridge rebuild. (search for Ezbites Youtube video). I placed all of the rip-rap along those banks. 
On-My-Own, I made 'rock' steps down the hill and placed the concrete slabs 'FLAT' under the West side of the bridge so that it was EASY access for the fishermen. (After all, I/we were catching at least 10 smallies during every lunch half-hour,,, + Walleyes, pike, bass, perch, carp & cats! Even some musky & a rainbow TROUT,,, in the Mahoning!) I also made the East side 'Nature River Walkway' (park/ tax-payer monies) a tad longer towards the dam,,,, lol, I wanted to be able to CAST to the dam from the end of it!
I was just about done when the BIG-BOSS showed up,,,, he nicely chewed on my butt for a bit and made me *redo everything to State 'spec'*. What a BUMMER! The State boys, aka 'fishermen' were on my side,,,, they knew what I was doing,,, they would'a never said a word. 
The company boss didn't want any liability's,,, IF someone fell in.
After all,, I made/gave them access????????????????

I built some REAL DEEP holes under the Pa rt 60 bridge,,,, at 422. (tons of fish, frogs & turtles there!)
Made some nice bank fishing 'pads' under the Mahoning Ave Bridge,,,,, & rt62,,, more in Struthers, some near Meander, OR rt30, even 2nd St down Pittsburgh! lol, TOO many to even remember! 
I *fished* before & after work from Cleveland, down to Aliquippa! I HAD to have a place to cast! 

The 'EXTRA COST' of a fisherman friendly design would be trivial,,,, pert-near nothing. I would'a/ could'a done it myself.
'WE' just got to get together & BITCH!


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## Daveo76 (Apr 14, 2004)

Notice the iron pole? they were going to put a fence all the way to the top to keep us 100 feet away from the building housing the turbines. We bitched long and hard about it and even got the wild life office in Chicago to put a stop to it. It was the city of Hamilton who runs the hydro and they are real butt holes about it. So you don't see a fence there. We have it nice at Greenup. The plant was built in 1982 So I guess they were "fisherman friendly 33 years ago. Gripe as much as you can about it because that doesn't look very good. We always catch fish downstream but up close, we can never reach the fish when they are bustin in the gates but we can get them downstream. You guys will have a lot of trouble catching them if they really crank the turbines. Just a couple thoughts here. There have been some great guys that fish Meldahl come up and fish just to see what it's like and we appreciate you coming up. Good fishermen. Somehow you will figure it out because you will see the fish will be somewhere every day in different .spots. Tailwater fishermen are the best , so you'll have some learning to do and I wish you all the luck in the world.


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## marv (Nov 18, 2004)




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## Salmonid (Apr 14, 2004)

Marv where is this pic from? Is this the new one at Meldahl?

Salmonid


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## nlcatfish (Mar 21, 2005)

YES that is it!! THERE IS NO WAY YOU CAN EVER CAST TO THE DAM! You will only be able to fish the canal out flow from the pier. Just do not know how the fishing will be until folks. A chance to wet alone.


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## GarrettMyers (May 16, 2011)

marv said:


> View attachment 189226


That's pathetic.


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## BMustang (Jul 27, 2004)

Strictly a buy-off. It's a shame too because this is the same outfit that runs the hydro at Greenup Dam - Hamilton, Ohio.

Therefore they have the know-how, but there was obviously no pressure put on them to hold up there end of the deal.


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## surfstriker (Mar 27, 2015)

Any more update on this guys? Are they open for the public yet?


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## nlcatfish (Mar 21, 2005)

I called the other day. The pier & park is NOT OPENED! They said the rain slowed things down again. Said to call them back in mid August for an update.


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