# Wading Licking River below Dillion



## FightingMuskies50 (Feb 15, 2012)

Ive been below the dam at Dillion a few times and it looks like it would be a pretty good small mouth spot. The area directly below the dam and spillway seems to be pretty much gravel and until the rain last week, looked pretty low/wadable with plenty of swallow gravel bars. Does anyone have information about the river and fish below.
Thanks!


----------



## M.Magis (Apr 5, 2004)

I&#8217;ve seen a lot of people wading for saugeye the first few hundred yards below Dillon, but after that it&#8217;s not so easy. From there it can you&#8217;ll run into countless holes and submerged timber that can make wading dangerous when coupled with the steep banks. It&#8217;s really better suited for a small boat once you get a few hundred yards downstream. 
After that you can drive on down to Dillon Falls, a small section of natural falls. It&#8217;s a nice place to wade around. Be careful if you wade within the falls themselves, I understand there are some very deep holes.


----------



## FightingMuskies50 (Feb 15, 2012)

Ok, the two spots I was looking at was where the river gets very wide directly after the spillway and a few hundred yards down where there is a little park looking area, where there is almost a little channel that loops around an island and back to the main river. I have never been to the falls though or really on the river past the little park.
What do you throw for saugeye/techniques to catch them, ive never targeted them.


----------



## M.Magis (Apr 5, 2004)

The standby has always been a regular jig/twister tail. I&#8217;m sure something like a shallow crankbait or suspending jerkbait would work also. 
I don&#8217;t recall any wadable water down by the little park area, but it&#8217;s been years since I&#8217;ve been there. It was always a &#8220;pond&#8221;, with water too deep to wade. Decent crappie fishing from what I remember.


----------



## mallorian (Feb 19, 2012)

Better smallie fishing down at dillon falls. I go out on the rocks all the time. I mostely just use a jig head with a chartruse mister twister. Just cast up stream and let it make its way down stream. It will eventually settle in one of the holes where the smallies like to hide for an ambush.


----------



## GABO (Apr 4, 2008)

I have waded and fished the area for over 20 years. The wading has become pretty crappy since the army corp redid the rocks and the flooded all of the allowing the silt to change it all. Along w the rocks that washed down too. The places that u used to be able wade are deep now and the deep pools are fewer and fewer. 
Saugeye fishing isn't any where near hat it used to be but it is improving. Seems to me most of the better fish caught are probably buckeye fish. There are some times when numbers are good but the size just isn't consistent. 

You can wade down below the falls and catch fish. BUT BE WARNED!!!! the IDIOTS who run the dam will raise that thing full blown for no apparent reason. And there is no warning down there. They are the worst at doing this more than any other flood control lake in the state. It is ridiculous to say the least. And when asked about the reasons for them messing w the water level so much they pass the blame to someone else. This is my home water. It sucks to get on the pattern and have it change bc they open the dam up. Not to mention the fact that they wash all the fish out of te lake and directly below the dam with their antics. It amazes me that the state still wants to put fish in it. 

All that being said the smallies are there and the occasional good one too but it really isn't a strong fishery like I wish it would be. Good luck and if u hear the horn blow u get out of the water.


----------



## mallorian (Feb 19, 2012)

Yeah gabo is right, u get no warning. Had it happen to me a couple of times. If u go to dillon falls find a spot near the bank and make note of where the water lever is. Keep checking that spot for any changes and if it goes up get ur rear end out of the water. Started doing that after one of my buddies was almost swept down stream and havent had any problems since.


----------



## FightingMuskies50 (Feb 15, 2012)

I noticed that when looking at the USGS flow chart for the river. They only include gage height, not discharge but it was obvious that the lake had been opened up 2 or 3 times in the last couple of days after the rain. The gauge got high, then dropped which would be typical of rain, but then raised 3 times in just a couple days. If we go to the falls should we place a marking stick on the bank or something of that nature?


----------



## GABO (Apr 4, 2008)

Look back past the last rain. It's a dam yoyo. No need for it to be the way it is. Find a good flow u can keep it at that level and then u can slowly go up or down w out the extremes that they do. Yes mark the water and watch it like a hawk.


----------



## M.Magis (Apr 5, 2004)

They must do things different than they used to. I used to fish it very often, but this was 15 years ago. Back then, I can only recall a change in discharge one time.


----------



## mallorian (Feb 19, 2012)

FM u can do the stick if u want, but i always just find some natural feature like a rock or something similar. Lots of items in the area to use that are already there.

Magis i've been fishing there for over 20 years and its pretty much been the same the whole time. Guess u just got lucky when u went. My friend was almost washed away 15 or 16 years ago but since i started watching for the water level i havent had any problems. As soon as i notice an inch or 2 rise i get my butt out and call it a day.

Also keep in mind the weather the last week or so. Of there has been any major rain the water level tends to change fairly often. We went out one time a couple of years ago and the water dropped about 3 inches half way through the day but was 4 inches higher than the starting point by the time we left. I really think the ACE at dillon don't have a clue how to manage a dam.


----------



## FightingMuskies50 (Feb 15, 2012)

Must have closed it today anticipating rain this week. The water level dropped almost 2 feet today.


----------



## GABO (Apr 4, 2008)

They dropped it two feet but it's still running two feet higher than normal. It's a mess and totally irritating, but I still caught fish today. 

FM they don't anticipate anything and they always suck it off the bottom. Just dumb stuff


----------



## FightingMuskies50 (Feb 15, 2012)

Im not too familiar with the river so I dont know much about when its fishable but you were down there today, is it wadeable or still to much?


----------



## GABO (Apr 4, 2008)

you need it in the 4 foot something range to even think about wading close to the dam and anything 5.5 or lower down stream. water is stained and still roaring out. yes i fished today.


----------

