# Kokosing River ?



## Riverman

I am hoping to canoe the Kokosing in 2 weeks and wondering what else is in the there besides smallies. I have waded sections before and really like some of the spots. I was always fishing with small jigs and twister tails but twice I had something rip line off my reel and had no chance of slowing it down.


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## ddomin

theres a lot of big carp in the kokosing


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## acklac7

ddomin said:


> theres a lot of big carp in the kokosing


And it's extremely polluted....Make sure you wear your waders!


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## bkr43050

acklac7 said:


> And it's extremely polluted....Make sure you wear your waders!


I assume that you were kidding on the "polluted" part? I would say it is very clean.

As far as fish to be found on the Kokosing, I would say your most plentiful catch will be smallies, with plenty of rock bass as well. In some stretches you will run in to some largemouths but not too many and I have never found any large ones. In the lower stretch and then the Walhonding you will find some pike but not in very large numbers. An occasional muskie can be found but even much more rare than the pike. There are a fair number of cats in certain stretches as well.

As far as the smallie fishing itself I would say that the numbers are typically excellent and the size is a bit on the small side. You will find a pig every now and then but you will probably need to catch 100's of 10-12" fish before you find one over 18". I would suggest jigs/twister tails for a primary lure. Also bring a Rebel Craw, Rapala Original Floater, and some Mepps Aglias. That should be enough to keep you busy catching fish all day long.


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## mkombe

Where would the best place be to access the Kokosing? Ive never been there before and would like to try it out.


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## crittergitter

Several nice public access points between Mt Vernon and Gambier. Just head east of Mt Vernon on SR 229 and you'll find a good spot.

CG


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## bkr43050

crittergitter said:


> Several nice public access points between Mt Vernon and Gambier. Just head east of Mt Vernon on SR 229 and you'll find a good spot.
> 
> CG


At the point where you would normally turn left to go up in to Gambier from 229 make a right and at that bridge is a good access area with a parking lot. Another good spot is from just past Howard. If you go east on Rt. 36 and then turn right on Pipesville road just after you go out of Howard you will cross the river on a somewhat newer bridge. The old road for the old bridge is on your right and you can park in the end of that old road to get off the traffic area.


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## mkombe

Thanks.

Im coming from New Albany, would the best way to head up there be 71?

I appreciate the help!


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## bkr43050

The quickest way for you to get to Mount Vernon would be to go up Rt. 62 and then Rt. 661 north will bring you right in to town. 661 ends in town so just follow the Rt 13 signs north in town until you come to the signs for Rt. 229 East. Take that out of MV to Gambier 6-7 miles. If you are going to Howard look for Rt 36 East signs instead of 229. Take 36 maybe 9-10 miles to Howard.


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## Riverman

I'd like to think what ripped my drag for 30 or 40 yards before it broke was a Muskie! But fishing for smallies with Muskie line isn't going to be easy. You need to make long casts for smallies sometimes and heavy line is not good for long casts unless I switch to some kind of spider wire or use a BulletBobber all the time with a heavy monofilament.

I really doubt if a Carp or Catfish would hit a jig and tail on the move.

There are 2 spots that are little challenging for a canoe. One is a tight 90 degree turn between 2 low rock walls and the other I called the triple jump because there are three drops in a row of about 18". There are other spots that also would be better suited for a yak.


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## bkr43050

I have caught a few carp on jigs before. I have also accidentally snagged them in the tail area with a jig. I can guarantee you that if you hook a 25-30" carp in the tail area with smallie gear you will be going for a ride.  So I would not rule the carp out either. But what the heck dream big. It was probably a muskie.


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## marengojohn45

probably a muskie although my son hooked a 7-8 lb carp on my ultralite that scared the #### out of him. Iknow there's at least one 36 in + muskie inside mt vernon's city limits that my buddy has been hunting since we saw him last summer. I've caught a couple nice lm but mostly rock bass. and have heard of some trout down toward howard. Its a beautiful river. The guy who said its polluted must have caught a rain after the farmers fertilized or something. I love fishing the kokosing!


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## bkr43050

marengojohn45 said:


> I've caught a couple nice lm but mostly rock bass. and have heard of some trout down toward howard.


I have not heard about the trout around Howard although I would expect to see some of them in the MV area since they stock them in the Foundation Park which is right next to the river. I am sure that some make it over to the river in one way or another. I am not saying I have put them there but having a river sit within 50-100' of the edge of that lake would be awfully tempting to some folks.


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## LFN

Riverman
Have you ever fished the river north of mount vernon?
By the way I'm from Waldo townshop!
Lou


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## FOSR

There is also access at the old bridge under 62 at Milwood. You used to be able to drive right onto the riverbed, I have a shot of my dusty Outback sitting there.

Also consider taking 715 E, north of Rabbit Ridge (used to watch a property there) - this highway floods when they impound water behind Mohawk Dam but some of the side roads lead to access at the river. Some of it is private campground sites, though.

Some friends and I rented kayaks and did a few miles on the river, saw a bald eagle standing on the bank.


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## I_WALL_I

Both shovelhead and channel cat will crush a twister on the move!!! We fish with jigs/twisters almost exclusively and this year alone I have 5 channel while crappie fishing w/ jigs! (using no bait) Wife got a 33 1/2" shovel IN DECEMBER trolling jigs... In the tusc. river over the years I caught a lot of cat on twisters!!!


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## Riverman

I have only fished from Milwood down.

Ok you guys shattered my dream that I had a Muskie on - Thanks a lot!

Catfish hitting crappie or smallmouth lures just doesn't seem right.

I once saw a carp and threw a spoon past it figuring I might try to snag it but it ran out and grabbed my spoon and then ran 100 yards out into the lake breaking my line. 5 minutes later it was back in the same spot and damned if I wasn't stupid enough to loose another spoon and so much line I couldn't make 20 ft cast! Ended my day rudely.


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## FOSR

Been a while since I've been up there - can you still park where 36 crosses the river? Bit of a walk down to river level, though.


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## bkr43050

FOSR said:


> Been a while since I've been up there - can you still park where 36 crosses the river? Bit of a walk down to river level, though.


I have never had any problem parking on the east side of the bridge (south side of the road) and walking down in on the that same side. It is a pretty good hike from there but there is some good fishing in there.


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## FOSR

If you look in some of the old Ohio history, the Kokosing was named Owl Creek. Supposedly the Ko-Ko in the name is an imitation of an owl's hoots.


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## Harbor Hunter

Actually,Owl Creek is one of the Kokosing's branches.It was impounded back in the 70's,and most of it is now Kokosing Lake.Back in the early 70's,"Owl Creek" was smallmouth heaven,pretty much anywhere between the small town of Waterford,all the way down below where it crossed under Rt.13.While the stream above the lake still holds a few smallies here and there,the larger bulk of them seemed to pass through the lake and populate the quarries below Rt.13.Unfortunately,these quarries are privately owned,and permission is pretty much non-existant.I do know a couple of people that do have access to the quarries,and they tell me that there's humongous bass in them,both smallies and largemouth.Below Rt.95,the stream runs through another old quarry,which is also private,but you can fish that one from a small boat.Just below that quarry,the river merges with the East Branch(which flows out of Knox Lake).A few more miles downstream,just below Rt.13 coming into Mt.Vernon,it merges with the north branch and from that point south it's known as the Kokosing River.I've fished every inch of the Kokosing and all it's main tributary streams,and believe me,the river is not polluted anywhere along it's length.I prefer fishing the area around Howard and Gambier,but it's probably better below Millwood near the Rt.36 bridge.


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## Swick

I fished the kokosing last year below the lake with a friend. We did really well, catching a lot of smallies between 12 and 15 in. Im not sure what road we were on, but if you are going north on 13 and turn right on quaker then turn right on the next road there is a bridge that we parked at. We waded down stream like your not supposed to and kicked up all kinds of stuff, but we still slayed em.


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## FOSR

And what about the bike trail, could you park somewhere and walk it to a bank spot?

http://www.kokosinggaptrail.org/TRAIL/aatrail.htm


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## bkr43050

FOSR said:


> And what about the bike trail, could you park somewhere and walk it to a bank spot?
> 
> http://www.kokosinggaptrail.org/TRAIL/aatrail.htm


You could do that as well. From the parking lot in Mount Vernon you could walk in a way and get on the river but you will have quite a hike. Your best bet if you were choosing to do that is to park at the lot at Gambier and go either direction from there. However I don't know that you would gain anything over just entering the river at the bridge there at Gambier. From there you could go either direction.


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## ozzy

In the mid seventies a gravel pit used to lay in the river behind Pittsburg Plate. Ther'e were always a few Muskies in there. I caught two but wasn't sure if they were Muskies or northerns from the new Kokosing lake. I took them to Tim's Tackle and they identified them as Muskies. We believed they came from Knox lake because they stocked them there at that time. I know of another one coming out of there. One day while I was shooting carp with a bow from a boat we drifted over a very large Musky in shallow water. I still hear of a few Muskies bing caught from the Walhonding below the dam.


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## Mushijobah

The guy who said it was polluted was kidding. There are indeed muskie in the Kokosing, and Licking watersheds too.


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## foundationfisher

ozzy said:


> [In the mid seventies a gravel pit used to lay in the river behind Pittsburg Plate. ]Ther'e were always a few Muskies in there. I caught two but wasn't sure if they were Muskies or northerns from the new Kokosing lake. I took them to Tim's Tackle and they identified them as Muskies. We believed they came from Knox lake because they stocked them there at that time. I know of another one coming out of there. One day while I was shooting carp with a bow from a boat we drifted over a very large Musky in shallow water. I still hear of a few Muskies bing caught from the Walhonding below the dam.


ozzy the gravel pit you mentioned is owned and maintained by the city now. they put in benches and picnic tables, and mow weekly. stocked with trout too. a good place to take the li'll young'uns. it's a VERY TOUGH place to fish, but with the right timing and presentation, the fishing can be great. i've heard there are northerns in there too, but i dunno


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## ozzy

Is the pit still in the river ? I thought that had all filled in. I haven,t lived in the area for many years but I did get back a couple of years ago and got a really nice smallmouth just above riverside park. Back in the sixties that stretch of the river was really polluted because of the junk yard, Continental Can and the water plant. But when they cleaned it up the river really improved.


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## acklac7

Mushijobah said:


> The guy who said it was polluted was kidding.


No way man! I caught a 3-eyed Smallie out of the Koko once! *swears*


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## bkr43050

ozzy said:


> Is the pit still in the river ? I thought that had all filled in. I haven,t lived in the area for many years but I did get back a couple of years ago and got a really nice smallmouth just above riverside park. Back in the sixties that stretch of the river was really polluted because of the junk yard, Continental Can and the water plant. But when they cleaned it up the river really improved.


The "pit" you are referring to is still just a part of the river. It simply opens up in that area and has the river flowing through unobstructed. There were several pits in there way back if you recall. They actually connected about 4 of them together by removing the ground between them. The large one that sat the farthest eastward is still as it was before. The next one to the west used to have a small dike separating it from another one to its west both about the same size. That dike is gone. As you may also recall several years ago you could drive through the middle of there and there were a couple of other smaller ponds on the north side of that road. That road is gone and the lake extends all the way over and though those ponds as well. I don't believe they ever connected the pond that sits the farthest west. As you can imagine it makes this a rather sizable body of water now. I have been wanting to make it out there some time with a small boat and give it a go. I am sure it gets plenty of fishing pressure so I really don't know how great the fishing is. I have heard stories of nice fish being caught from there but I find it hard to imagine it is as good as it once was. Overall it is a very nice lake and a great asset to the Mount Vernon community.


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## Atavistic By Nature

crittergitter said:


> Several nice public access points between Mt Vernon and Gambier. Just head east of Mt Vernon on SR 229 and you'll find a good spot.
> 
> CG


I'm heading to Mount Vernon tomorrow and by dusk I'll be finished up and looking for a spot, so since you seem familiar, I wondered if you knew how the catfishing was down there. I've never been there. Thought about maybe checking out Knox Lake if the river is a bust too. Thanks!


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## acklac7

Another great thread dug up from the good old days before social media took over everything....


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## Atavistic By Nature

Blech. I got rid of Facebook last Fall and man, I should have done it sooner! 
Have any knowledge of anywhere near Mount Eaton a middle aged fat man might have some good luck fishing?


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## crittergitter

Atavistic By Nature said:


> I'm heading to Mount Vernon tomorrow and by dusk I'll be finished up and looking for a spot, so since you seem familiar, I wondered if you knew how the catfishing was down there. I've never been there. Thought about maybe checking out Knox Lake if the river is a bust too. Thanks!


If you're after catfish, target the deeper waters well down stream. I'd say Millwood and east would be a good starting point.


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