# Help me complete my bucketlist!



## Bays (Apr 14, 2019)

All,

I've posted some fishing reports on here in the past and have REALLY been fishing a lot this year. I am a bank fisherman who will go anywhere and everywhere to catch fish. I always practice catch and release and I'm just looking to catch the following fish. 


Sauger
Saugeye
Walleye
Shovelnose Sturgeon
Northern Pike
Any species of Trout
Paddlefish
Musky (I have tried Caesars Creek with no luck, I understand how hard it is)
I live in Butler County and am usually willing to drive up to an hour away. If the place is REALLY good, I can drive further. If you guys have any tips or places to go I would appreciate it. If you don't want to give away papaws fishin spot, I totally understand. Thanks everyone!


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## guppygill (May 8, 2004)

But and read the Ohio Lakes Maps-North and South books, tell you what each lake in your area has


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## guppygill (May 8, 2004)

I meant “buy”.


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## garhtr (Jan 12, 2009)

Sauger -- Ohio rv tribs and crk mouths-- Now !
Saugeye --Cowan or CC even CC spillway-- Now !
Walleye --Cj brown maybe even the spillway
Shovelnose Sturgeon ??
Northern Pike??
Any species of Trout --mad river now or wait for spring trout releases.
Paddlefish -- they can be caught below Meldahl but probably snagged accidentally
Musky--- CC-- you still got time.
Good luck and good fishing !


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## stonen12 (May 13, 2019)

If you got a pair of waders the mad river near Springfield has a lot of public access and pretty good brown trout in it on the north end of the river, I’d say it’s about about a hour and half to two hours from ya. The fishing’s great this time of year.


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## Bays (Apr 14, 2019)

stonen12 said:


> If you got a pair of waders the mad river near Springfield has a lot of public access and pretty good brown trout in it on the north end of the river, I’d say it’s about about a hour and half to two hours from ya. The fishing’s great this time of year.



I do. I used to live in Urbana.


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## stonen12 (May 13, 2019)

Bays said:


> I do. I used to live in Urbana.


 awesome! If you come up PM me maybe we could meet up or I could just throw a few ideas your way for what to use.


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## Fishin4meat (Apr 24, 2017)

If you live in Butler county great Miami River is your go-to for Saugeye and far enough down sauger farther north northern pike some places trout for example where the mad River comes in or I d just fish the mad River itself.... I'm in Butler county and fish year-round let me know if you want to try the river one day good luck buddy I'd like to catch a lot of those too


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## Fishin4meat (Apr 24, 2017)

And as far as musky is concerned fish the northern part of Caesars even the creek section don't use muskie size lures use bass lures....seen 7 caught in one day fishing the white bass run this spring all above the northern most ramp


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## riverKing (Jan 26, 2007)

You can find pike in the upper gmr. There are much better fisheries in NE Ohio. Shovelnose sturgeon....good luck, I've tried for them and blue suckers for several years with zero success. They are incredibly rare in ohio, they pop up below meldahl dam once a decade, the other locations you can find by searching collection records in ohio, but they are impossible. However if you drive to the wabash in western Indiana they are quite common, use nightcrawlers, seriously dont get fancy, just anchor them on the bottom.


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## HamiltonKdog (Oct 15, 2014)

Bays said:


> All,
> 
> I've posted some fishing reports on here in the past and have REALLY been fishing a lot this year. I am a bank fisherman who will go anywhere and everywhere to catch fish. I always practice catch and release and I'm just looking to catch the following fish.
> 
> ...


Saugeye spillway acton lake
Walleye and Trout - brookville
Paddle fish, Shivelnose sturgeon, Ohio river below the locks
Musky Ceasars Creek, Acton lake but not sure they are still there, caight my first one there in 1975, caught a couple on late 80s


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## garshark (Aug 23, 2011)

riverKing said:


> You can find pike in the upper gmr. There are much better fisheries in NE Ohio. Shovelnose sturgeon....good luck, I've tried for them and blue suckers for several years with zero success. They are incredibly rare in ohio, they pop up below meldahl dam once a decade, the other locations you can find by searching collection records in ohio, but they are impossible. However if you drive to the wabash in western Indiana they are quite common, use nightcrawlers, seriously dont get fancy, just anchor them on the bottom.


Very interesting I would love to catch a sturgeon any info on prime time to fish for them?


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## $diesel$ (Aug 3, 2018)

Don't know where Butler county is, but in N.E. Ohio, the secret muskey spot (and to a lesser extent, pike) is the Mahoning River. Get below any of the 16 mill dams and cast away. Use bass plugs and braid and you will catch them.....we'll, lets say "hook" them anyway.
Best one i know of is, Lowellville, 7 miles east of Youngstown, the dam is 100 yards west of the only bridge in town.
If decide to try it, better hurry as they are set to blow it up in the early spring. I've heard they are going to blow all 16 of them over the next few years.


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## Vin (Oct 7, 2014)

Ill go ahead and plug the new fishes of Ohio guidebook here. All 187 species of fish in Ohio complete with pictures, descriptions, distribution maps, and tips on finding them. http://www.ohiobiologicalsurvey.org/pub_highlight/

It’s an excellent resource and interesting to see and learn about fish you may have not even known existed in the state!


As far as specific tips, as others have said. North GMR will have pike (albeit few) and saugeye and you will get sauger closer to and in the Ohio. Mad river for trout. Ohio River or Scioto for paddlefish, but you’ll be snagging them (they’re planktivorous). Shovelnose sturgeon were stocked in the scioto very briefly and there are still a few in there, but the chances of actually catching one is probably pretty close to zero. CC is your best bet in the area for Musky.


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## Vin (Oct 7, 2014)

montagc said:


> Ditto on the book. The Ohio bio survey publications director is a coworker so I was eager to get my hands on a copy. It’s a great resource and worth every penny!



Cool! I work with Brian Zimmerman and helped out for a few years on the distribution surveys, map making, and photo taking for the book. It’s cool to see years of work come to such a nice finished project. A side note to OP: the OSU museum of biological diversity fish division actually has a public access database where you can look at collection records for every species in Ohio and many surrounding states. It may be useful for your search!


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## N8ive (Apr 6, 2020)

Trout = Mad River, north of 36 all the way north of Zanesfield. Some of the best (and easiest to get to) are around West Liberty. I have caught several over 20" and to many to count between 16" - 20". Also, another easy spot to access for trout is in front of the Piatt Castle located at 10051 Township Rd 47, West Liberty, OH 43357. It's not the Mad but should let you get a fish or two (or more based on persistence).


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