# I need help finding a canal or river running off the ohio i can use a small boat on.



## rking0204 (Aug 5, 2009)

I want to fish the ohio river anywhere close to cinci or 30 mins either way,i know where to put in at downtown but i have a small boat and would prefer to stay where i would be safe,any suggestions? any info would be appreciated.


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## Ken G (Apr 9, 2004)

Get an Indiana license and you can go to Tanners, Hogan, Laughery, Grant's, Goose, and Bryants Creek which are all within 1 hr of downtown Cincinnati.


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## BMustang (Jul 27, 2004)

The Licking River is directly opposite of the public landing on the Kentucky side, and fifteen minutes downstream on the Ohio side is the Mill Creek.


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## rking0204 (Aug 5, 2009)

Thank you very much,I will try that,Im only in a small 14ft boat and want to be safe or at least get home in one piece,i live in ohio and have a ohio fishing license do i need a ky one for the licking river spot? we would love to catch some catfish or gar or basically anything that bites.


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## The Yeti (Mar 17, 2009)

The LMR drains into the Ohio too over on the east side of town. I'm sure you could get a little boat quite a ways up there too.


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## Fishman (Apr 5, 2004)

Little Miami or the Great Maimi sound like good ideas. You can launch at Scmitt field (for a fee, think it's 10 bucks) and can scoot on over to the LMR pretty quickly. If you go into a river in KY you're going to need a KY license.


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## Cincyghosthunter (Jun 4, 2008)

If you get a Hamilton County Park permit, you can put in at Shawnee Lookout and go down river towards the Ohio. Just a word of warning, a small portion of the river flows through the State of Indiana, so you might want to have both licenses. There's a real nice deep hole that used to hold a lot of big channel cats in it just before you get to the railroad bridge. I used to take a throw net with me and load up the live well with 3 to 5 inch shad and go down to that hole, toss my line in and hold on real good. If you throw a nightcrawler up into the creek (part of the Oxbow) that flows into the river at that hole and let it drift out into the river, you can catch some nice hybrid stripers.


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## rking0204 (Aug 5, 2009)

Thank you very much for the info,is the shawnee lookout on the great miami?


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## fishdealer04 (Aug 27, 2006)

rking0204 said:


> Thank you very much for the info,is the shawnee lookout on the great miami?


Yes, but from my understading there is a sand bar now and you cant make it down the river to the Ohio unless you have a conoe. You would probably need to go down to Tanners and work your way up river to the GMR and go in that way. Or like Fishman said launch at Schmidt Field and go up to the LMR. You should be ok in a 14 ft boat with a good motor, just dont go in high traffic times and just be safe.


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## H2O Mellon (Apr 5, 2004)

From my understanding, Fishdealer is right so Shawnee Lookout is a no go unless somehing has changed this year.

What kind of 14 footer do you have and how big is your motor?

I used to have a 14 foot Trackr Pro Guide w/ a 9.9 motor and was fine on the Ohio. I would never launch at Schmidt Field in a small boat in the spring or summer though. I hate that place with a pasion. The ramp i great but a high percentage of the people who use it have more money than sense and dont seem to care a great deal about others. 

I would recomend Tanner Creek for sure. As others have said you have the GMR just up from the ramp and your OH license is valid there. Be carefull though of fishing where the GMR meets the Ohio, as I have been told you need an IN license. With your 14 footer you should be able to go pretty far up in the GMR. Also you'll be able to fish some of the barges and other spots on the Ohio itself in that setup.

Another good idea might be for you to meet up w/ someone else from OGF. Follow along in your boat to get a feel of how the river is.


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## The Yeti (Mar 17, 2009)

The previous posts are correct - The Shawnee channel itself is _maybe_ 5ft deep through the middle of it but towards the mouth where it enters the GMR is about 100-200 ft of sand, mud, and itchweed. This was a recurring problem for years (mainly because of its location at the outside bend of the widest part of the whole river) and they'd spend lots of money dredging it to keep it open. They stopped dredging it a few years ago and now the GMR is totally inaccessible from the ramp unless the river is near flood-stage.

You can fish KY tributaries of the Ohio up to the first dam or rapids without buying a KY license, but you have to follow KY's regulations. And to fish anywhere on the IN portion you would have to buy a KY or IN fishing license.


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