# Learning the area



## BigFishAddict (Feb 25, 2012)

Just moved down to Columbus a week ago from Cleveland. Spent my whole life learning the Cleveland fishery and looking forward to learning the Columbus waters as well! Been out to the scioto so far with some success. But any tips would be welcome! Looking for wipers, smallies and saugeye!


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## Baloogala (Jul 29, 2016)

The nice thing about living in Columbus is the abundance of streams to fish and that goes along with the two huge reservoirs just outside of town...and a lot more within easy driving distance. There are maps that show where there is stream access for Big Walnut and the like...or even a park that has a creek through it. I've discovered good fishing in spots that looked very unlikely, so get out and explore!


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## E.sheets3 (May 9, 2019)

Alum is smoking hot this year for bass and saugeye.
Hoover is a great kayak lake for big water thanks to the motor restrictions. It also boasts monster bluecats.
Prairie oaks is a different style fishery with crystal clear water. 
Scioto south of Griggs is fun for cats and smallmouth. 

Like they said above, all the creeks and rivers have good smallmouth and channelcat. Griggs itself has good shovelhead.

Stay away from buckeye lake unless you like punishing days or want to invest a lot of time finding a viable pattern.

Sent from my SM-S727VL using Tapatalk


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## Saugeyefisher (Jul 19, 2010)

E.sheets3 said:


> Stay away from buckeye lake unless you like punishing days or want to invest a lot of time finding a viable pattern.


Ya stay away from yuckeye its the dead sea


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## Brahmabull71 (Jul 30, 2014)

Saugeyefisher said:


> Ya stay away from yuckeye its the dead sea


Pssshhh


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## Baloogala (Jul 29, 2016)

What part of Columbus are you in? I have very little free time these days, but may be able to meet up on a weekend soon. I'm on the south end.

I will say this...most of my luck in the creek/stream comes on one of 4 things: Big Joshy 2.75 (color varies, but either Green Glow Perch, Green Gizzard, or Clearwater have been the best), Rebel Craw, Cordell Crank Smokey Joe (Walmart will have these in bargain bins for like $2), and Bomber 2A Baby Bass with orange belly. Other folks do very well with finesse...just not me.

Over a couple years, I have noticed some generalities in my area...but the most common is water that is flowing somewhat slowly near a point or very deep water is the best, occasionally a short run between riffles, but I am far from an expert.


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## Saugeyefisher (Jul 19, 2010)

Brahmabull71 said:


> Pssshhh


Lmao unreal boss,unreal....


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## Snookhunter52 (Apr 1, 2019)

As you might have read in other threads, the size and numbers for wipers are not nearly good as in the Ohio River. I would say fishing for wipers is similar fishing for large steelhead. You can fish 40 hours a week and only catch a couple good quality fish. Tackle for them is similar medium heavy rods with 4000 to 6000 size reels outfitted with at least 15 pound braid. Daytime bite hasn't been very good lately but should get better as fall nears. Swimbaits, jerkbaits and lipless cranks work but make sure to use heavy duty split rings and trebles because I have already lost fish that way. If you do catch a big one please release it because there's not that many of them and they're full of various contaminants. If you plan on becoming a fulltime wiper enthusiast be prepared to put in a lot of hours and it's highly addictive.


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## BigFishAddict (Feb 25, 2012)

Thanks everyone! I’m down in Bexley right across the street from alum creek. Hit it for about 25 minutes today and landed two little smallies. Any good around here in the creek? I’m going to try my best to learn the Scioto and Olentangy. They seem to hold the greatest variety and offer the most water to cover.


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## Baloogala (Jul 29, 2016)

BigFishAddict said:


> Thanks everyone! I’m down in Bexley right across the street from alum creek. Hit it for about 25 minutes today and landed two little smallies. Any good around here in the creek? I’m going to try my best to learn the Scioto and Olentangy. They seem to hold the greatest variety and offer the most water to cover.


There are some creek masters on here. Search for "AllBraid" and Riparian Ranger usually starts fantastic threads, too.


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## BigFishAddict (Feb 25, 2012)

Snookhunter52 said:


> As you might have read in other threads, the size and numbers for wipers are not nearly good as in the Ohio River. I would say fishing for wipers is similar fishing for large steelhead. You can fish 40 hours a week and only catch a couple good quality fish. Tackle for them is similar medium heavy rods with 4000 to 6000 size reels outfitted with at least 15 pound braid. Daytime bite hasn't been very good lately but should get better as fall nears. Swimbaits, jerkbaits and lipless cranks work but make sure to use heavy duty split rings and trebles because I have already lost fish that way. If you do catch a big one please release it because there's not that many of them and they're full of various contaminants. If you plan on becoming a fulltime wiper enthusiast be prepared to put in a lot of hours and it's highly addictive.



I’ve been steelhead fishing in Cleveland for the last 10 years and it took me about 5 of those years to get it down! I was at Greenlawn yesterday throwing topwater and had three big blowups from wipers but no takes.


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## Sgirl (May 26, 2018)

I love those who shame Buckeye Lake. I tend to by-pass their post due to the fact if your not catching saugeye and killer size cats here then your not doing something right. If you want a good spot and some how to's hit me up. I love teaching kids how to do it. : )
Bigfish, Buckeye Lake is a hidden gem for catfish and saugeye. Come to the beach side and give it a try, make your own mind up.


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## Dovans (Nov 15, 2011)

Sgirl said:


> I love those who shame Buckeye Lake. I tend to by-pass their post due to the fact if your not catching saugeye and killer size cats here then your not doing something right. If you want a good spot and some how to's hit me up. I love teaching kids how to do it. : )
> Bigfish, Buckeye Lake is a hidden gem for catfish and saugeye. Come to the beach side and give it a try, make your own mind up.


Absolutely not. It is the Ghetto lake of Ohio. Everyone's best bet is to go to Alum Creek. Alum Creek where Saugeye jump into your boat.


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## Tinknocker1 (May 13, 2013)

saugeyefisher never told me bout the beachside


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## scioto_alex (Dec 30, 2015)

You're lucky that you came to town just after two dam removals. One was on the Olentangy at 5th Ave. and that impounded a big pool alongside the OSU stadium. Now that's a clear flowing stream and you can see the cobblestone bed.

This was the Main St. dam removal on the Scioto.


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## meisjedog (Oct 4, 2010)




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## Sgirl (May 26, 2018)

Dovans said:


> Absolutely not. It is the Ghetto lake of Ohio. Everyone's best bet is to go to Alum Creek. Alum Creek where Saugeye jump into your boat.


I'd like to ask when was the last time you fished Buckeye Lake?
Do you really believe they would continue to build million dollar homes on a ghetto lake.
Smh


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## polebender (Oct 29, 2011)

Sgirl said:


> I'd like to ask when was the last time you fished Buckeye Lake?
> Do you really believe they would continue to build million dollar homes on a ghetto lake.
> Smh


 He is being facetious!


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## Saugeyefisher (Jul 19, 2010)

.


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## Dovans (Nov 15, 2011)

polebender said:


> He is being facetious!


LOL! Thank you!


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## Sgirl (May 26, 2018)

meisjedog said:


> View attachment 318129


This made me laugh. You must be a fake news follower. " big smiles"


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## Sgirl (May 26, 2018)

[QUOTE="meisjedog, post: 271


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## Saugeyefisher (Jul 19, 2010)

Sgirl said:


> This made laugh. You must be a fake news follower. " big smiles"


What's fake about the advisorys?


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## Snookhunter52 (Apr 1, 2019)

BigFishAddict said:


> I’ve been steelhead fishing in Cleveland for the last 10 years and it took me about 5 of those years to get it down! I was at Greenlawn yesterday throwing topwater and had three big blowups from wipers but no takes.


I've never tried using topwater for wipers but I heard it's a blast. Just a warning the fish get hit pretty hard at greenlawn, especially on weekends. There's still big ones in there. You can find wipers wherever there's whitewater. That hint will get you away from the crowds.


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## BigFishAddict (Feb 25, 2012)

Got into a few good ones this evening for about an hour..!


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## Saugeyefisher (Jul 19, 2010)

BigFishAddict said:


> Got into a few good ones this evening for about an hour..!


Not to bad for just learning the area! As things start to cool,fishing will pick up even more. Central ohio offers great fishing,for a good variety of species. You've started off on the right track doing what your doing. Dont over look the nite bite and other spillways,or like mentioned above finding any faster water. 
More then likely at some point this fall the river will get blown out. At that point dont shy away from lakes like buckeye,alum,and Hoover. They all offer good fishing,with buckeye and alum having the best bank access. Also if you learn to read and follow the lake/river gauges there is usually a spillway with a hour that is fishable no matter how much rain we get due to the staggering the releases so they dont flood things out. Good luck!


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## MIGHTY (Sep 21, 2013)

If you continue to visit Greenlawn I might run into you one of these days. I work on Greenlawn right next to the fire station. I’m just a lowly creek cat-fisherman though. Usually only fish for smallies really early in the spring before the catfish turn on or late in the fall/winter when catfish turn off. I’ve been chasing them a little more than usual this year though. I don’t fish the Scioto very often but maybe I’ll stroll down through there before long.


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## scioto_alex (Dec 30, 2015)

Taking the Outback down to pick up litter at Greenlawn


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## meisjedog (Oct 4, 2010)

BigFishAddict said:


> Got into a few good ones this evening for about an hour..!


I think you should rename this thread to "Moved into the area - gonna show you around" Nice Fish - heh!


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## gotribe (May 5, 2006)

BigFishAddict said:


> Just moved down to Columbus a week ago from Cleveland. Spent my whole life learning the Cleveland fishery and looking forward to learning the Columbus waters as well! Been out to the scioto so far with some success. But any tips would be welcome! Looking for wipers, smallies and saugeye!


Not an easy area to learn because there is just so much water! This year I’m focusing on the Scioto north of the reservoir. There is nice smallie water as far up as you care to go and some of the trib creeks are good, too. Have fun!


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## Clevelandtocolumbus (Sep 13, 2010)

I know the feeling! I've been here almost 10 years and I have just started to really catch my drift. It depends on if you have a boat or not, especially on these super hot days. Without the boat I mainly do buckeye and deer Creek they are not close to each other. I have had some success on Alum Creek. Weather permitting I will most likely be at alum or buckeye for saugeye Friday evening without my boat. I only have a lil 8 ft boat with a trolling motor but waiting til pay day to get a new battery.


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