# Hamilton Lake



## Dogsled

I posted this in the Lounge and re thought it so I thought i'd move it hear and maybe get a bite. I have it listed under dead lake. Anyway.........

Hi, this is my first post, I was reading the threads here for a while and noticed alot of people here from the Youngstown area and I have been doing a lot of research and have a question anybody and everybody has to have an opinioin on. We have a lake here in the Are, its called Hamilton, it was always a pay lake (or as long as I remember) and had great fishing. A few years back it closed and hasn't been stocked or fished cause its a resevoir.
The spillway/dam goes into a waterway called Yellow Creek in the Mill Creek Park area. It runs through some beautiful woodland area right in the middle of Struthers OH. and dumps intothe Mahoning river. I fly fish and I've been scouting out the are for a few weeks now and feel the lay of the water and surroundings would offer plenty of food for at least bass that get out of the lake and into the bigger Mahoning. I call the administrators of Mill Creek Park (and by the way you are allowed to fish Yellow Creek) and they tell me there are nothing in Yellow Creek but maybe some carp. Their reasoning is Hamilton isn't stocked and would be pretty much void of any game fish but why, the fish that were there when it was shut down to the public should have flourished. I feel Mill Creek just doesn't want any fishing in that area and are telling me this as a 'keep out'....God I didn't plan on plundering the land! What are some other opinions on how this eco system with the fish works, should it be barren or could it flourish. I know, all I have to do is get out and throw a line in and find out, but I was wondering what species would have been the strongest and what would be getting bigger and able to make it to the Mahoning? Basically, I got the feelin of bass while I was there, does that sound feasible? 
I was there the other day and fell in the creek cause the snow gave way under me but just up to my knees. The creeks clean and clear some rocky bottoms some riffles and some smooth runs. Nice bends with a lot of open ir for fly casting in waders. Any locals from the Cornersburg area of Youngstown want to do any hiking to find out if its a spot loaded with some secrets?
BTW, great website


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## riverKing

not totally on topic, but if its the same yellow creek that goes into the ohio river near stubenville, its got all well, pretty much everything in it. esocids, black bass, crappie, white bass, and sauger. great size for a fly rod too. look for the back pools in the weedbeds, they are really cold...maybe use a shock tippet cold....:B


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## Dogsled

Not the same area at all, this is in Youngstown Ohio.


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## Dogsled

Here is the latest report I got from the ODNR on Hamilton;

Hello. My name is Matt Wolfe and I am a Fisheries Biologist withthe Ohio Division of Wildlife. Your email below was forwarded to me fora response. To be bluntly honest with you, we really have no idea what is inLake Hamilton. We have never gone out and sampled it, and we don't haveany records of what might be in there. Based off of the size, shape, andsurrounding landscape of the lake, I would guess that the lake probablyhas some bass, sunfish, and likely some crappie in it. There seems to bea lot of wood structure along the Eastern shoreline, so that definitelyhelp out the bass and bluegill. As far as the size of the fish, I haveno idea. As far as access of streams in Ohio is concerned, it is a verygray area. Bottom line is that no one can own the water, but SOMEONEowns the land underneath the water. Anglers think that if they arestanding in a stream, they are O.K. and legal, but this is far fromtrue. As long as you do not touch bottom you can go wherever you want.BUT, the minute you touch bottom, you had better be on public lands orelse you can be charged with trespassing. For instance, if a ParkDistrict owns both sides of a stream, you can wade up and down it withno problem. If the District only owns on one side, then you can legallyonly wade on one side of the stream. If it is private on both sides,then you cannot legally touch bottom (unless you have permission to wadefrom the landowner). Hopefully this information helps out a bit. Sorry that I couldbe more specific, but we don't have survey information on some of thesesmaller, private lakes in Ohio. If I may be of any further assistance,feel free to contact me at our District office. Thanks!

So it looks like its up to the locals to find out. All I got mainly was he didn't know anything but he could arrest me for doing it. Good lord, how long before this Govt just crumbles and I can fish in peace. Al


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## Guest

hamilton has always been privately owned. first by the youngstown sheet and tube and then by the ohio water service. i believe it was a quarry at one time, as the north shoreline is very deep. the outflow at the spillway is usually minimal so yellow creek fishing may be a bust. we walked it as kids and found a lot of chubs and minnows, but little in the way of game fish. the only place i remember wood was where yellow creek enters from poland on the south end. there was a shallow area (opsitniks) right off of 616 but the rest of the lake was deep.


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## shorebound

i have fished yellow creek where it runs through poland it was like pulling teeth getting permission from the "bottom owners" it is either evens or pine that has the spill way off of north lima road between there and the poland library is where i have fished before all i found in there was some small blue gills and a few small crappie and i caught a pearch the size of my pinky


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## Guest

evans lake spillway is just south of five points. the bottoms that you speak of had decent fishing in the early spring, years ago. we called it tiny's (or teenie's) pool.


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## $diesel$

The city of Youngstown just purchased McKelvey lake with a promise of opening it to fishing in the next few years after dam repair.
As for Hamilton, it's still closed to fishing, but i grew up fishing this pond back in the day. Hamilton is a very good crappie lake as well as a good bass lake. The various sunfishes are abundant as well. Hamilton has been know to give up some smallish perch as well as the very rare walleye that were stocked many years ago. I personally never seen a pike or muskie come out of this lake. If memory serves, Hamilton is near 50 ft. at the dam and i'm not sure of the acreage. 
Hope this helps.


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## cwm

Just saw this post. I fly fish ultralight 2&3 wt rods. I have fished Yellow Creek occasionally over the past 5-6 years. Lots of chubs and gills . With UL gear,it’s entertaining. Haven’t fish from the park to the Mahoning River launch but may try this spring.


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