# Pay lakes



## jimnrg (Aug 6, 2008)

I'm probably going to get slammed for asking this but being from San Diego where all lakes are city or privately owned and you must pay per day to fish I don't understand why these resources are frowned upon here other than the fact that the catches aren't recognized by the state for the record books. I would gladly slip a farmer or quarry manager a ten to be able to fish in an otherwise untapped fishery but why are stocked pay ponds/lakes taboo?


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## truck (Apr 12, 2004)

Mostly because of where the large cats come from


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## monsterKAT11 (Jun 20, 2004)

i know alot of catfishermen dont' like paylakes because some of the paylakes take the flathead and blues they have out of natural rivers, which is wrong. don't get me wrong, i would pay a farmer or a quarry owner to fish, because thats basically untapped area! but with a paylake it's like you may as well put an over fed catfish in a barrel and have people pay to try to catch it.

plus, it's much more rewarding puttin in the effort to scout out the river and finally catch what you've been chasing forever


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## Joey209 (Oct 17, 2007)

Paylakes..............I have seen some of the most malnourished fish come out of paylakes.Its disgusting,A couple years ago me and a buddy went to one and he caught a 39 inch 8 lb Flathead.The thing looked like it hadn't eatin in months.And it makes me mad that Paylakes are like "We just stocked 20,000 lbs of catfish!!!!" Well did you also stock it with 3000 lbs of baitfish???????So they won't starve???Didn't think so.I'd rather catch fish in the wild


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## River Anglin (Feb 18, 2008)

I suppose paylakes might be nice for the elderly or handicapped and maybe a good place to take a young child. To me, it just wouldn't feel like fishing. I like the cat-and-mouse game of fish that are difficult to locate in the wild. I also share the concerns over the methods used for collecting the fish to stock in these places. 

My job used to lead me to a local paylake for purposes other than fishing. The place was generally nasty (littered) and frequented by alot of strange characters.


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## jimnrg (Aug 6, 2008)

I didn't know any of this but it makes sense. Back home the lakes are just as challenging as anywhere and the environment is conducive to good health in the fish(That's how we get 20+ pound LM) and all the stocking in city and private lakes is regulated by the CA Fish & Game.


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## buckeyefishing (Oct 8, 2008)

Like everyone else has said it is almost like cheating in my mind. I would rather learn through trial and error or research of a location....not by giving someone a $10 bill to catch a fish. Around here almost anyone who is somewhat involved with fishing considers paylakes a contrived way to catch something....especially since there are so many other options (rivers, lakes, creeks, etc.)


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## jacmec (Sep 28, 2008)

Guys from work would often go to pay lakes. They would talk about big fish, but it seemed more like an excuse to drink and hang out. Doesn't really sound like there is any challenge to it.


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## misfit (Apr 5, 2004)

there is more than one type of pay lake.they don't all fit into one simple mld as described by most people here.
many are well run operstions with many farmed or self sustaining species available,that don't even stock large cats.
bass,trout,panfish,channel cats,etc can be found.even the state operates a few pay lakes such as these.
they all serve a purpose,though their purposes may not all be the same.


> Around here almost anyone who is somewhat involved with fishing considers paylakes a contrived way to catch something....especially since there are so many other options (rivers, lakes, creeks, etc.)


if that were the case,there wouldn't be so many pay lakes(of all types)doing so much business in this state.


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## buckeyefishing (Oct 8, 2008)

Misfit - I agree not all "pay" lakes are the same. There are membership/club lakes that are leased to members and like you mentioned the ones that are owned by state (which I think most are regulated in some way..permits, etc.)

I guess I was referring more to the "plop your butt on a five gallon bucket with rod in hand and drink till you can't see straight" type of pay lake in which pounds of fish are dumped in weekly and if you are one of the lucky few that catch a certain "tagged" fish you win some sort of prize....those are the ones that are ridiculous.

As far as pay lakes doing so much business...it is an easy way to go catch fish. you don't have to do any research, very little trial and error involved...just seems contrived to me that is all. I may be in the minority as far as i know....most i have talked to have agreed with me on this point though

With that said I hope everyone in the state goes to a pay lake! that means more fish for me to catch in ohio's rivers, lakes, and streams!


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## fishdealer04 (Aug 27, 2006)

I am an avid fisherman, and have been fishing all of my life. I was first taken fishing by my dad at a pay lake to fish for trout. Ever since then I have been hooked on fishing. I would fish in a puddle, just to fish. I fish almost every day even if its just for bluegill.

I do fish in pay lakes. Some of my friends do it, and if it means getting to hang out with them and fish, then by all means I am going to. A lot of people fishing for the big cats do it for money and for the better chance to catch a big fish. There are a lot of paylakes in the area. Some treat their fish the way they should be, and the others don't. I only fish at the lakes that do treat their fish right. There are tactics to catching fish in a pay lake. By no means do you go everytime and catch fish, its like any other state park or river, some days they are biting and somedays they are not. Fishing is more luck than anything. Right time, right bait, right place.

Some of the fish are raised to be put into the pay lake, and others do catch the fish out of lakes and rivers and stock them into their lake. The place I fish at, does that. Is it wrong? No its not. He has a license from the state of Ohio, and Kentucky, that lets him do it on the Ohio River. He is allowed a certain amount of fish by the DNR and thats what the does. If it was wrong, then the DNR would not let him do it.

Now I am not talking about all pay lakes, I am sure some are shady, but not all. Just have to know where to go. The other common thing people say is that a wild flathead or blue fights harder than a pay lake fish, is wrong. I have caught them wild and at pay lakes and there is no difference. It all depends on the fish. Also another reason people fish the pay lakes is for money, hitting jackpots or bounty. Along with catching big fish. I dont know too many places around here that you have the shot at catching a fish over 100 pounds other than the Ohio, but even those are far and between. The lake I fish at, when I do go pay laking has 7 fish over 100 pounds...pretty good odds there....

If you want a good resource on the pay lakes around here go to: www.cincypaylakes.com 

Everyone is entitled to their own opinion. Some people love pay lakes, others hate them, and then there is me, where as long as the fish are treated well, I am ok with fishing them. If I had the choice to go to a pay lake or the river, I would choose the river, but sitting at the pay lake with friends is never a bad option either.


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## CO_Trout (May 10, 2008)

Are there any paylakes in the cincy area that managed for bass ? (being that if you fish it, you have a better chance of catching more bass than cats, like a 4 or 5 to 1 ratio)

From what I gather, most paylakes are for Catfish.  I personal rather cut my line than catch any cattrash. They may be big but I would rather catch a large steelhead or even a muskie of that size. tougher to catch and pose a better challenge to catch than cats. 

Throwing out a line, sitting around waiting for a fish while drinking beer just isn't fishing to me.


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## kingfisherie (Sep 22, 2007)

i ran a paylake in northen ohio for years it was stocked with trout and cats white bass ect. mostly net caught fish you arent going to find many with large amounts of bass or many farm raised fish stocked its to expensive to stock farm raised fish because no fisherman wants to pay the cost anyway 10 percent of the people catch 90 percent of the fish at a paylake the others just want to wet a line and dont care if they catch or not we stocked trout and stocked daily we didnt make anything on the fishing just on the bait and retail items sold not much mark up believe it or not its true !


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## monsterKAT11 (Jun 20, 2004)

i don't understand why you would pay money if you didn't care about catching a fish and just wanted to wet a line


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## fishdealer04 (Aug 27, 2006)

CO_Trout said:


> Are there any paylakes in the cincy area that managed for bass ? (being that if you fish it, you have a better chance of catching more bass than cats, like a 4 or 5 to 1 ratio)
> 
> From what I gather, most paylakes are for Catfish.  I personal rather cut my line than catch any cattrash. They may be big but I would rather catch a large steelhead or even a muskie of that size. tougher to catch and pose a better challenge to catch than cats.
> 
> Throwing out a line, sitting around waiting for a fish while drinking beer just isn't fishing to me.


They stock catfish, because they are a tougher fish. They can live better in harsher conditions and many different temperature of water. I know Lake Isabella has a nice bass population as well as most of the Hamilton County Parks. They don't let you keep bass at Isabella I know, so you can catch nice ones there.

Sitting and drinking beer? When you are fishing a pay lakes you should be trolling, thats what I do, I don't even drink when I am fishing.

You cant compare muskie with cats, they are 2 different types of fish. I would choose to catch a muskie any day, but there is nothing like tearing into an 80 pound blue...


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## cantsleep (Jul 25, 2007)

a thread about paylakes that hasn't turned into a flamewar!
I understand some anglers contempt for paylakes, but don't share it myself. I'm not against going every once in a while, although I greatly prefer the challenge of finding the wild ones. As was said earlier, as long as a pay lake is ethical and legal, I've no problem with them.
Not everyone likes the same thing,(duh) and paylakes offer different people what they like to do. If that's sittin around a fire drinking, with a line out, and they're enjoying themselves why should it bother me?
Matter of fact I wish the buttheads who constantly litter the GMR in my town with liver containers and trash would spend MUCH more time at paylakes.


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## Ol'Bassman (Sep 9, 2008)

If you are interested in bass at a pay lake, try the Metro Park lake at Voice of America park in West Chester. The lake is about 35 acres, clean and well maintained. It is a great place to take a kid and teach them how to fish (or for them to teach an old fisherman new tricks). 

There is a fisherman's pier that you can fish from. There is a huge blue gill population that the bass feed on. When you catch a blue gill off the pier don't be in a hurry to reel it in with a little luck a bass will take it. All those kids throwing back the blue gills have the bass waiting around the pier to be hand feed. Here is their website: 

http://www.butlercountymetroparks.org/content/txtcontent/ReaganRates.htm

Fees are charged to get into the park (like Hamilton county parks) and there is a separate charge to fish. This is also a very nice grassland park.

If you go there, do us a favor and tell the people running the bait/boat house that making bass catch and release is the way to go. If enough people chime in about catch and release it will happen.
________
Sweetbl0ndebitch cam


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## jacmec (Sep 28, 2008)

fishdealer04 said:


> Some of the fish are raised to be put into the pay lake, and others do catch the fish out of lakes and rivers and stock them into their lake. The place I fish at, does that. Is it wrong? No its not. He has a license from the state of Ohio, and Kentucky, that lets him do it on the Ohio River. He is allowed a certain amount of fish by the DNR and thats what the does. If it was wrong, then the DNR would not let him do it.


I just don't see the difference between this and selling the fish as meat. In both instances you are going to be selling the fish to another person, in one form dead in the other alive. Also I don't approve tax money used to improve populations in lakes and streams, just be be dumped into a pay lake to make some guy a profit.


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## fish4life (Jun 27, 2004)

Voice of America park in West Chester has a variety of fish stocked and decent creel limits to keep the resources in check. They opened the lake as a pay to fish lake 2 years ago I beleive. They also stocked the lake with fathead minnows and shiners. The lake has a good Bass population and also has hybrid striped bass as well as some crappie and bluegill. A 14" size limit on Bass is in effect. They rent boats and if you are a Kayak owner you can launch your Kayak free once you get a permit at the boathouse. If I were to fish a Paylake which I rarely if ever do, this would be the one go to. Here is a link for more info.

http://www.butlercountymetroparks.org/content/txtcontent/ReaganRates.htm#boatingrules


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## imalt (Apr 17, 2008)

i think its the definition of a paylake. i dont think voice of america is a true paylake, I consider paylakes the catfish lakes. Technically park lakes are pay lakes if you have to pay for a park pass. I think the original poster was talking more about lakes like voice of america. And when you mention paylakes around here everyone thinks of catfishing pay lakes


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## [email protected] (Dec 22, 2006)

Wouldn't removing some cats from the wild leave more forage for other species and those cats remaining?

I've only fished paylakes a few times. Usually I got skunked and the only time I caught a big one was a blue that stretched from my chest to the middle of my shins and only weighed 26lbs. it should have weighed closer to 40lbs. 

I can only immagine what the reaction would be if the paylakes were taking large quantities of bass, trout or walleye from public waters so I can see why the die hard catters get pretty worked up at the paylake concept.

Going to a paylake isn't too far off from paying a guide to put you on the fish.


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