# Hocking River



## RiverWader (Apr 1, 2006)

Well finally after a two week drought I got to get a lil wet!
Waded from the radio station in Nelsonville to the Plains and boy the fish were on fire! Ended up cathing 26 Smallie and 7 spots. Many of the fish were in the 2# range with the biggest being a 3.7 spot that was caught behind Fast Traxx race track. All fish were caught on a black Bitsy Bug with black chunk jr.trailer It was a great day all in all , only bad moment is when a 4 foot
snake dropped of a limb like 10 feet from me and started comin towards me , I
never knew I could walk on water like that! lol


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## oufisherman (Apr 10, 2004)

Congrats on the fine trip. I've been wondering if anyone had been hitting the Hocking lately. I'm really missing that river now that I'm out of the area. Too bad I didn't realize its full potential sooner. 
I've been around the Fast Trax area. Did a few trips after a days work from Wayne National Forest. I caught a few bass from there, but not alot. Looked like a decent area. 
I would suggest from the Radio Station back towards Nelsonville. I fished that area once and it looked like some good areas past 691 bridge into Nelsonville. 
One plea, save me a few fish from there. Looking at making a fall trip back to get in one some action.


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## RiverWader (Apr 1, 2006)

OU, I've fished that stretch many times , I work in Nelsonville and I park at our lot and wade down behind Movies 10, theres some great fishin in that stretch of river but not only for bass , I've caught some monster Cats and a lot of really nice Crappie . Oh the fish will still be there in the fall , it sesems like they multiply as the weather starts to get colder, 3 years ago my bro-inlaw , brother and I went out the 2nd week in sept. on a fri-sat-sunday fishing action and caught of 90 fish the three days.


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## fishing_marshall (Jun 12, 2004)

Sounds like they were biting pretty good!


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## RiverWader (Apr 1, 2006)

Well went back to the Hocking tonight , but went below Whites Mill tonight 
ended up catching 17 Whities and 5 Sauger , 3 of which were over 17 inches long. I couldnt believe with the water temp as warm as it was the fish were hittin pretty good.


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## Brian.Smith (May 18, 2006)

Back from A 2 week Vacation ,i'll be down monday afternoon. Sounds like you guy's had a good day fishing


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## RiverWader (Apr 1, 2006)

Brian , I'll be back down there Monday afternoon as well. We are going to try and break our our one day total of fish caught..


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## HockingEscape (Apr 3, 2006)

Was at my cottage in Coolville for the past week and a half. Caught a bunch of sheephead, quite a few 6-8 inch cats, including 1 that looked like a blue cat, 1 large channel cat, handful of bluegil and 1 large snapping turtle (I couldn't get the hook out of the snapper he swallowed so much of it had to let him loose with the hook).

My cottage is about 4 miles north of rt 7/50 along rt144. I have yet to catch any bass or crappie.


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## striperfreak (Apr 30, 2004)

wait till fall hocking escape. the crappies will turn on in the coolville area when water temps hit low 60s


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## crawdiddy (Apr 10, 2006)

I heard from a guide whose opinion was that the hocking was the best river in ohio for smallmouth. hocking escape you are styling in your cottage on the river.


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## striperfreak (Apr 30, 2004)

no smallies down there unfortunately. largemouth only fair. catfishing exellent. i used to live at 144 and river road just south of guysville. If your not fishing whites mill in athens then the fishing farther south is very seasonal, hit and miss. with migrating fish. i once fished an area for two days with not a bite then on 3rd day the whiteys and hybrids moved thru and i couldnt keep fishing, my arms were sore, next day just a few, next day, gone.in summer fish deep timber with lively baitfish, fall fish minners around brush for crappies. always throw something oin the current for moving white bass, saugeyes and occasional hybrids. find a rapid and fish there before dark with livebait.


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## RiverWader (Apr 1, 2006)

Crawdiddy, I would have to agree with the Guide about the Hocking. But I've 
found that I've caught bigger and more Smallies above Whites Mill in Athens.
I think the best fishing is between Logan and Nelsonville where they a slot and bag limit in place.


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## oufisherman (Apr 10, 2004)

I think you will catch more smallies above Whites Mill closer to Athens. My personal best 17 incher (until this year) was caught West of Nelsonville. THere is more cover to hold the fish, which may or may not be the difference. However, the area closer to Athens holds a few big smallies also. I lost a real nice smallie, maybe 18 inches, and saw another follow me in below Whites Mill. Also, before I left town, I managed two 15 inch and my PB 17 1/4 inch smallie below Whites Mill. Just depends on the time I guess!


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## RiverWader (Apr 1, 2006)

OU, You have any good places to fish down where your at now?


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## oufisherman (Apr 10, 2004)

Riverwader, I've got a few bigger rivers than the Hocking to fish over here. I'll try out some of the Shennendoah here in WV and the Potomac. I believe you can fish the Maryland side of the Potomac with a WV license, and a bike/hiking path on an old canal way goes along the river. I'll be checking it out hard when the wife leaves town for about 3 weeks in September. There are also a few smaller rivers the size of the Hocking and smaller I'll explore, they come off of both bigger rivers mentioned. I'm getting my licenses tomorrow, and then IT'S ON! Only fished once in the 3 weeks I've been down here, and that was on a small pond back in Ohio. 
I'm still gonna try my best to get back to Athens for a late September fishing trip. See what happens and good luck on the Hocking.


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## Guest (Aug 19, 2006)

Good posts guys. I always enjoy hearing reports about the hocking river, since that will be one of my major fishing locations once we move down there next year. It is absolutly beautiful in that area, and there is something about it that keeps calling me back. I can hardly wait any longer to move. Is there any good fishing right aroudn the campus there?


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## crawdiddy (Apr 10, 2006)

Good luck on the "c class" oufisherman! Be sure to post a pic when you get THE BIG ONE! I know you are on riversmallies too, there are a lot of guys on there from down by where you are too. You probably already realized this, but thought i'd mention if you are looking for partners/ places down there. Good luck, they get BIGGER down there. BIGGER waters = BIGGER smallies!


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## RiverWader (Apr 1, 2006)

Traphunter, where will you be moving down here?


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## oufisherman (Apr 10, 2004)

Crawdiddy, I did realize that there are a few guys from around here on riversmallies. I'm definately going to try and talk with a few for some general pointers. I would love to have a kayak to fish the bigger rivers here, but will have to wait. I'm looking forward to the fall bite and some nice smallies.
Traphunter, are you moving to the Athens area for school or permantly. The Hocking is a great place for smallies and spots. I've found more spots around campus and more smallies back towards Nelsonville. Although I landed three smallies from 15-17 1/4 inches about 2 months ago close to campus. I'll give you more info in a PM sometime. Getting ready to head out furniture shopping with the wife!


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## Guest (Aug 20, 2006)

I will be moving either to Athens or Nelsonville, Im not sure quite yet.


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