# Sharon Woods



## stuckonGMR (Nov 19, 2013)

Hey Guys, 

I always get a lot of good info from these forums (Much Appreciated I was wondering if you all could help out again... A buddy and myself will be hitting Sharon Woods lake this year due to proximity. If you have any bait tips for this lake that would be great!

Mainly going for bass I've not had much luck with anything other than 1 or 2 pounders.

Tuesdays will be the days 5pm - whenever look for me on a tan Ascend SOT kayak!


----------



## BornWithGills (Feb 26, 2006)

Highly pressured but there are some nice bass in there. I live pretty closes so I'm sometimes there when the rivers are blown. See you out there!


----------



## zack2345 (Dec 22, 2010)

That lake is one of the best kept secrets around... Crank baits early season before the grass gets bad then spinner baits then summer time throw frogs in the grass and big plastics out deep... I've caught several bass out of that lake over 4 pounds... And a couple 5s... If I'm not mistaken the hamilton county park record bass was caught from there... Just over 7lbs


----------



## stuckonGMR (Nov 19, 2013)

Wow great to hear! Thanks for the great info


----------



## canoe carp killer (Apr 2, 2014)

stuckonGMR said:


> Hey Guys,
> 
> 
> 
> ...



I went there last summer and the park ranger told me I couldn't use my kayak there. I asked why, and he told me "it's just not allowed" I didn't bother after that lol.


----------



## Fastball (Sep 23, 2014)

canoe carp killer said:


> I went there last summer and the park ranger told me I couldn't use my kayak there. I asked why, and he told me "it's just not allowed" I didn't bother after that lol.


That park ranger was wrong. There's even a 'put-in' spot for personal kayaks and canoes near the dam. A few years back you couldn't bring your own, but that is not the case anymore. 

Straight from the Hamilton County website:
_The scenic 35-acre Sharon Lake has a boathouse with row, pedal and pontoon boats and kayaks for rent. *Licensed private canoes, kayaks are permitted.* Electric and gas motors up to four horsepower are permitted are to use with rental boats or private canoes and kayaks. Fishing is permitted from boats or fishing pier. An Ohio State Fishing License is required_


----------



## BornWithGills (Feb 26, 2006)

Fishing by yak or boat is pretty much the only way you are not allowed to fish on most of the shoreline.


----------



## Nubes (Dec 3, 2012)

I pull a few 4+ lbers out of there every year in 19-21 inch range. lots of vegetation in that lake so I fish almost exclusively weedless. Ive done well early spring with a shaky head and a weedless wacky rig at Sharon then once they get a little more active TX rigged worms(tequila shad or baby bass seem to be my go to colors) work well and working top water frogs across the matts of vegetation works too. I have stumbled upon a pattern at Sharon when its rocking with people and one would think its probably not the best time to catch fish but the big ones get away from the racket and if you know where they're hiding that's when I've had my best days out there. I made this connection last summer and it worked on multiple occasion so I cant wait for the busy traffic days of Sharon coming soon this summer because that pushes them back a little and i know a few spots they'll hide when its rocking out there. I made this discovery when I got so annoyed one day I was out there and they must of had 20 boats and pontoons going at once out there? complete madness and chaos on that tiny little lake. I was able to get a few dinks in the course of a few hours hiding in the cover on the outside edge of vegetation. Then a light bulb went off as I was observing the boat chaos on the water and I tried something completely different and caught 4 fish between 16-20 inches within 20-30 mins and this has worked for me a few times at Sharon whens it rocking on the water like that. I actually look forward to those days now because I doubt many if any have picked on this yet??


----------



## stuckonGMR (Nov 19, 2013)

Awesome great info Nubes thanks! Going out there for the first time today. Not looking forward to the wind beating me to death but at least I'll be on the water with a line in, instead of at home looking at my lures.


----------



## G-Patt (Sep 3, 2013)

I had really good luck there this year at the southeast arm of the lake where's there's a bunch of submerged trees. I caught several bass using a beetle spin tipped with a nightcrawler. I fished it at medium speed with periodic pauses (no jerks). Seemed to do the trick. When I fished it in late March, the top water column was hovering around 57 degrees. It's probably solidly in the 60 degree temps. I was tracking schools of fish in 16 FOW near the dam, but they weren't biting my lures and nightcrawlers. The active fish were shallow and absorbing warmth from the submerged trees.


----------



## zack2345 (Dec 22, 2010)

Nubes said:


> I pull a few 4+ lbers out of there every year in 19-21 inch range. lots of vegetation in that lake so I fish almost exclusively weedless. Ive done well early spring with a shaky head and a weedless wacky rig at Sharon then once they get a little more active TX rigged worms(tequila shad or baby bass seem to be my go to colors) work well and working top water frogs across the matts of vegetation works too. I have stumbled upon a pattern at Sharon when its rocking with people and one would think its probably not the best time to catch fish but the big ones get away from the racket and if you know where they're hiding that's when I've had my best days out there. I made this connection last summer and it worked on multiple occasion so I cant wait for the busy traffic days of Sharon coming soon this summer because that pushes them back a little and i know a few spots they'll hide when its rocking out there. I made this discovery when I got so annoyed one day I was out there and they must of had 20 boats and pontoons going at once out there? complete madness and chaos on that tiny little lake. I was able to get a few dinks in the course of a few hours hiding in the cover on the outside edge of vegetation. Then a light bulb went off as I was observing the boat chaos on the water and I tried something completely different and caught 4 fish between 16-20 inches within 20-30 mins and this has worked for me a few times at Sharon whens it rocking on the water like that. I actually look forward to those days now because I doubt many if any have picked on this yet??


Them bass go to those spots in the dog days of summer to get to the cooler water and more oxygen. I've got a tournament there this Wednesday I'm hoping there still on my pattern from two years ago cause I have not fished it yet this year. Has any one caught any bass yet this year?


----------



## trailbreaker (Oct 11, 2008)

stuckonGMR said:


> Hey Guys,
> 
> I always get a lot of good info from these forums (Much Appreciated I was wondering if you all could help out again... A buddy and myself will be hitting Sharon Woods lake this year due to proximity. If you have any bait tips for this lake that would be great!
> 
> ...




GMR will be up after the rains over with


----------



## Nubes (Dec 3, 2012)

zack2345 said:


> Them bass go to those spots in the dog days of summer to get to the cooler water and more oxygen. I've got a tournament there this Wednesday I'm hoping there still on my pattern from two years ago cause I have not fished it yet this year. Has any one caught any bass yet this year?


the dissolved oxygen is better in shallow water usually and there is still a thermocline at Sharon even if she is only 15-20 ft deep at its deepest. The shady banks and that lake staying at the same level year in and year out helps too I think. Some flood control lakes don't have that much vegetation because the water levels are always changing. Under the cover of tree limbs and mats of vegetation you can be in 3 ft of water directly off the bank at Sharon. The tree roots in some areas help hold the bank in place as the water carves and erodes at it allowing some spots to be fairly deep directly against the bank. Some of the biggest hogs I've got out of that lake are in those holes when its super busy. The water is rocking on the outside edge of the vegetation and smooth as glass in the shady holes behind it. A nice quiet, deep enough, cool enough spot for the big ones to hang out in until things settle down a little. I was out last weekend with my nephew who was kayak fishing for his first time and the vegetation was still below the surface but growing quickly!


----------



## zack2345 (Dec 22, 2010)

Nubes said:


> the dissolved oxygen is better in shallow water usually and there is still a thermocline at Sharon even if she is only 15-20 ft deep at its deepest. The shady banks and that lake staying at the same level year in and year out helps too I think. Some flood control lakes don't have that much vegetation because the water levels are always changing. Under the cover of tree limbs and mats of vegetation you can be in 3 ft of water directly off the bank at Sharon. The tree roots in some areas help hold the bank in place as the water carves and erodes at it allowing some spots to be fairly deep directly against the bank. Some of the biggest hogs I've got out of that lake are in those holes when its super busy. The water is rocking on the outside edge of the vegetation and smooth as glass in the shady holes behind it. A nice quiet, deep enough, cool enough spot for the big ones to hang out in until things settle down a little. I was out last weekend with my nephew who was kayak fishing for his first time and the vegetation was still below the surface but growing quickly!


Yea I believe that for sure.. But there is a couple spots in that lake in the summer where the big bass just stack up... Like 5 years ago the hamilton county park tournaments had a 8 fish limit for some reason but this team weighed in 8 bass all over 4 pounds caught from the same spot. I fished it a week later with the same results.. It's amazing


----------



## Nubes (Dec 3, 2012)

Ive wondered that about bass in other lakes as well. I know they'll move around during there summer patterns but do the big ones tend to hang out with other big ones? Size and age should make a difference? As they grow they go from being on the menu to eating whatever they want on the menu if they're lucky enough to get that big? I've noticed a few times that fish of a certain size seem to be what I'm catching but then I've had times where they're all different sizes??


----------



## zack2345 (Dec 22, 2010)

Nubes said:


> Ive wondered that about bass in other lakes as well. I know they'll move around during there summer patterns but do the big ones tend to hang out with other big ones? Size and age should make a difference? As they grow they go from being on the menu to eating whatever they want on the menu if they're lucky enough to get that big? I've noticed a few times that fish of a certain size seem to be what I'm catching but then I've had times where they're all different sizes??


I believe they do. I just got back from dale hollow and we had 6 boats there so we had a competition on biggest fish for each day... 5 bucks per day. We ended up winning every day and we fished the same hole every time and had bigger fish in general every day. Also I watch the guys on bass masters say the school they found does not have the quality fish they were looking for so that just leads me to believe that they school up in similar size


----------



## stuckonGMR (Nov 19, 2013)

I guess I'll see you there tonight Zack2345. First tourney for me... I'm not exactly expecting to do well but I do expect to learn a thing or two. I'll be one of the guys in the yak


----------



## DLarrick (May 31, 2011)

stuckonGMR said:


> I guess I'll see you there tonight Zack2345. First tourney for me... I'm not exactly expecting to do well but I do expect to learn a thing or two. I'll be one of the guys in the yak


could you post a link to that tourney? i wasnt aware they did them with kayaks too. i live pretty close to sharon and might be interested in a few.

thanks


----------



## stuckonGMR (Nov 19, 2013)

DLarrick said:


> could you post a link to that tourney? i wasnt aware they did them with kayaks too. i live pretty close to sharon and might be interested in a few.
> 
> thanks


I will when I can but apparently you can't use the yak.I found out the hard way luckily they had a Jon boat left for me to use.


----------



## zack2345 (Dec 22, 2010)

stuckonGMR said:


> I will when I can but apparently you can't use the yak.I found out the hard way luckily they had a Jon boat left for me to use.


Man that sucks I wish you would have read that post sooner so I could have told you that ya can't use yaks... That would kinda be like me and my dad using tow different boats lol.. Any way did you guys catch any ?


----------



## zack2345 (Dec 22, 2010)

Came in third our big fish was 3.03


----------



## stuckonGMR (Nov 19, 2013)

Nice congrats on third... We got 5th with one 2.64 pounder


----------



## DLarrick (May 31, 2011)

stuckonGMR said:


> I will when I can but apparently you can't use the yak.I found out the hard way luckily they had a Jon boat left for me to use.


that sucks getting up there and finding out you couldnt use your kayak. would have been pretty sweet to be able to but understand with it being a two person per boat situation. it would be nice if there was some kayak tourneys around here closer. at least you beat the skunk so that was a good thing. what kind of turn out did they have?


----------



## stuckonGMR (Nov 19, 2013)

it was a pretty good group 14 teams. Nobody was crowding anyone..

Yeah I'd like to do a kayak tourney. If I ever see one I'll post it up on here


----------



## canoe carp killer (Apr 2, 2014)

stuckonGMR said:


> it was a pretty good group 14 teams. Nobody was crowding anyone..
> 
> Yeah I'd like to do a kayak tourney. If I ever see one I'll post it up on here



Especially if it's in the cbus area please do!!! Love to do that, never have before. Just don't want to get in one of those ones where u have to go everywhere.


----------



## DLarrick (May 31, 2011)

not a bad turn out. do they do those weekly there or does it rotate around parks?
I know they do the buckeyekayakfishingtrail but most of those are further up north....have you checked that out CCK? I plan on going up to Indian lake in a couple weeks to fish the crappie tourney. Just wish there was a couple closer around here.


----------

