# Winton Woods



## DrBlamm0

Fished on the eastern side of the harbor between 9:15 and 10:45 this morning and landed three bluegills... my first fish of the season. It was terribly cold though; looking forward to the big warm-up.


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## greghal

I grew up near winton woods , as a kid we fished it some. I know we caught bluegills, and when I was a teen we would catch big carp. Is the lake still good fishing, I heard it can be a sleeper. Years ago Mr.Arborgast used to test his luers there (jitterbugs, hula popers).


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## DrBlamm0

Dear "Greghal",
Overall I would have to say that Winton Woods is "OK". In the spring and fall it can be the best place around, but during the heat of the summer the oxygen levels in the lake can get very low and the fishing suffers. There are plenty of bluegill, pumpkinseed, bullheads and channel cats in there, but nothing really big. I have caught carp up to 18 inches or so (like one per year) in Winton Woods but you have to be extremely patient and fish on the bottom with cereal balls.
The lake is also prone to flooding, but as the level goes down one of the best places to fish is on the bluff below the harbor playground, but it can be very snaggy. The worst thing is that shore anglers are restricted to the harbor area. I really wish that the district would open up more bank space.
All the Best,
"DrBlamm0"


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## fishdealer04

I agree with you that they should have more bank spaces in their parks. Hamilton County Parks are some of the nicest around but they lack good bank fishing at a lot of the lakes. Lake Isabella has the best but its a paylake. Sharon Woods is limited to certain areas just like Winton Woods.


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## mkl

I fished Winton Woods around late March of last year and caught a dozen+ decent crappie in a few hours time. No monsters but some nice ones. I rented a boat and - back then - I had a trolling motor and battery so I trolled down to the deeper part of the lake. There's lots of cover in 10+ feet of water when you get back there and that's where they were. But as the others have said, you need to do some traveling to get to them.


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## Localbasser8

I live down the street from winton woods and fish it all the time. I Catch plenty of carp this time of year there but the bass are a little harder to get to bite unless its been a warmer week (about 55 degrees + for a few days). With this variety of weather this time of year in cincy its hard to keep a steady gameplan with how your gonna catch these suckers. Anyway, I recommend going to the creeks that surround winton lake if you want good bank fishing as they warm faster than the lake itself. There are a few spots that are easily hikable that provide great fishing. I have a good "secret" spot that is an outlet onto the lake that me and a couple buds like to fish that is a prime spot for bass, carp, and catfish as well as little yellow bellies that make good bait. I love fishing winton and I am always here to give any advice and point you in the right direction about winton and I am also open to any advice/ experiences others have about fishing the lake as i am sitll learning the complications of this muddy beaty


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## Nubes

I think the last couple years Winton has been better than Sharon Woods. Ive caught large mouth out of both lake that were 4+ lbs in that 19-21 inch mark but Winton seems to be pushing bigger large mouth at the moment. IMHO. 3-4years ago I seemed to do better at Sharon but lately Winton has been better for me. The last day I fished Winton last year was late fall and I was throwing a spinner bait in high water which brought more cover into the mix and made the coves a couple feet deeper toward the backs of them. I had what I think was the biggest large mouth I've ever had at Winton, I got him up next to my yak after he was peeling drag for a minute then as soon as I went to grab him he kicked and jumped one last time and broke off my line which was 8lb fluro. Its always a good one that got away but he looked as big if not bigger than any LM I've caught at either lake. I also caught a couple between 16-19 inches that day, so it was still a good day


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## Localbasser8

Nubes said:


> I think the last couple years Winton has been better than Sharon Woods. Ive caught large mouth out of both lake that were 4+ lbs in that 19-21 inch mark but Winton seems to be pushing bigger large mouth at the moment. IMHO. 3-4years ago I seemed to do better at Sharon but lately Winton has been better for me. The last day I fished Winton last year was late fall and I was throwing a spinner bait in high water which brought more cover into the mix and made the coves a couple feet deeper toward the backs of them. I had what I think was the biggest large mouth I've ever had at Winton, I got him up next to my yak after he was peeling drag for a minute then as soon as I went to grab him he kicked and jumped one last time and broke off my line which was 8lb fluro. Its always a good one that got away but he looked as big if not bigger than any LM I've caught at either lake. I also caught a couple between 16-19 inches that day, so it was still a good day


Thanks for the reply I think Ill be fishin winton on sunday. Probably renting a boat and hitting the wood by the shores alot


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## Nubes

Localbasser8 said:


> Thanks for the reply I think Ill be fishin winton on sunday. Probably renting a boat and hitting the wood by the shores alot



I should have noted that I have not fished either lake yet this year. But no reason to believe that it wont be the same or even better this year?? Its going to come down to water temp right now. Not sure what the water temp at Winton is at the moment but its suppose to warm up outside so that should help.


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## GarrettMyers

Localbasser8 said:


> Thanks for the reply I think Ill be fishin winton on sunday. Probably renting a boat and hitting the wood by the shores alot


I've never fished Winton Woods, but I wouldn't fish cover in these temps. The bass will most likely be in deeper holes still.


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## greghal

Years ago I remember old guys talking about skulling around the banks of lakes in kentucky with long cane poles. With a lenght of line a big hook and, a gob of night crawlers, they would dip around wood and any other cover next to the banks, and pull out the biggest bass of the season. They said it was best when the water was up and muddy or stained. Forgot to to tell they would do this out of a jon boat. Has anyone heard of this method.


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## darkseid69

I grew up sneaking around that lake. Fished with one of the old park commisioners "Odi" he taught me some things that are secret too this day. It has some fish in it believe me. My tip is look under the cut banks and skip soft baits way under the bank and let it soak. You better hold on and pull like hell.


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## Nubes

I fished Winton for a few hours yesterday. Water was high and muddy, surface temps around 50-52 degrees. I caught 2 and lost one fishing square bills off the rip rap at the dam. Lost 2 crank baits on snags too, which almost led to me falling in because I could almost reach down to one of them and was almost up to my shoulder in the water trying to get it! I figured hypothermia wasn't worth a $5 square bill and left her! I wanted to hit some structure in the coves on my way back but KY tipped off at 5pm so I had to high tail it out of there! It was a good day, the bass are definitely waking up and KY won, so I cant complain!


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