# Mogadore Lights



## City fisher (Jul 12, 2012)

This Saturday/early Sunday morning while out at Mogadore there were two boats putting around with a bunch of flood lights mounted on them powered by some type of generator from the sounds I heard, at least 8 flood lights a piece were on these things. Four mounted on each side and two on the front. They also had what looked like some kind of platform built in the boat as there was one guy standing on the platform thing and another driving the boat. They were hugging the shore line all the way around the lake. They even went into every little cove they came across. Never ventured out into the lake, just stayed up close to the shoreline. Can anyone shed some light on who or what this was? At first I thought it was some one running some trot lines but they never stopped to look at anything. It was almost like they were searching the banks for something.


----------



## stak45dx1 (Jun 21, 2011)

dnr electro-fishing? anything else and I would imagine that gas-powered generators wouldn't be allowed on mogadore.


----------



## City fisher (Jul 12, 2012)

I thought the same thing about the elctro-fishing. But wouldnt they have to stop and grab the fish and do what ever it is they do before moving on to the next spot? These boats never stopped and never went above a crawl for speed and it seemed like they were lighting up the woods around the reservoir more than anything. I heard them before I saw them and thought the same thing, even said to my cousin, someone is going to get hammered for having the gas powered generator on Mogadore. It could have been ODNR as there was a ranger turning his pickup around at the gate when I first got there but I figured he was checking for fishing licenses. He didnt have a trailer on his truck.


----------



## Seabolt84 (Jun 1, 2011)

I noticed a similar thing at Nimisila on Sunday morning around 4am a boat with 2 men running a generator with four huge spotlights on one side of the boat perusing just the shorelines


----------



## Seabolt84 (Jun 1, 2011)

Maybe they were park rangers checking shorelines for illegal camping and such but the boat was unmarked as far as I could tell.


----------



## creekcrawler (Oct 5, 2004)

Seen a rig like that at LaDue.
They were bow-fishing for carp.
Pretty crazy rigs though.


----------



## Eliminator (Aug 26, 2006)

Has frog gigging season begun yet?
I don't think so maybe they were just pre scouting.
Wouldn't think DNR would hug shorelines for electoshock?


----------



## BASSINaDL (Aug 24, 2010)

ive seen them out their a couple of times before, they're bow fishing.


----------



## ezbite (May 25, 2006)

Bowfishing, much easier to see the fish at night under the lights.


----------



## buckzye11 (Jul 16, 2009)

Must have some kind of bowfishing tournament trail, a few weeks ago at Nimisila there were at least 10 of the same boats out bow-fishing.


----------



## City fisher (Jul 12, 2012)

Just 2 that I saw Saturday night.


----------



## T-180 (Oct 18, 2005)

Bowfishing under the lights. We do it all the time out of our converted Tracker boat & it's growing in popularity in Ohio. The Ohio Boys Outdoors tourney was on Nimi a couple weeks ago, thus all the boats. At least you didn't call the cops like some people do and get them all excited.


----------



## c. j. stone (Sep 24, 2006)

Thinking aliens looking for food supplies.


----------



## City fisher (Jul 12, 2012)

They didn't bother me. They went out far enough to make surer hey didn't get caught up in our lines. Even waved. Real nice guys.


----------



## snag (Dec 27, 2005)

that's a night bow fishing set up with the generator and lights, did it yrs ago but not at mogadore, I,m not sure if it was ok or not there, cause of the gas restrictions on the lake.


----------



## leeabu (Apr 10, 2004)

Mogadore rules are you cannot have a gas tank in the boat. Hard to run a gas generator without gas!


----------



## Buzzking (Feb 15, 2013)

Are these guys bowfishing for carp & bowfin? Sounds like fun!


----------



## jonnythfisherteen2 (Mar 5, 2011)

bowfin? I doubt it. they aren't classified under a rough fish category, and killing them doesn't seems to bring any good or bad. at least that's what it seems like to me.


----------



## snag (Dec 27, 2005)

jonnythfisherteen2 said:


> bowfin? I doubt it. they aren't classified under a rough fish category, and killing them doesn't seems to bring any good or bad. at least that's what it seems like to me.


 sorry jonny- but bowfin can legally be taken with a bow, with carp and the others listed under forage fish section of your regulations,but another question on bowfishing at moggie, are the grass carp protected there? that's what those guys were probably after at night cause a few yrs back some guys were wacking them with a bow and set off a lynching party,lol...grass carp are good eating a white meat to them...


----------



## leeabu (Apr 10, 2004)

snag said:


> sorry jonny- but bowfin can legally be taken with a bow, with carp and the others listed under forage fish section of your regulations,but another question on bowfishing at moggie, are the grass carp protected there? that's what those guys were probably after at night cause a few yrs back some guys were wacking them with a bow and set off a lynching party,lol...grass carp are good eating a white meat to them...


The grass carp are protected!


----------



## Slab assassin 55 (Jan 27, 2013)

Yea the grass carp are protected 


Posted using Outdoor Hub Campfire


----------



## c. j. stone (Sep 24, 2006)

snag said:


> but another question on bowfishing at moggie, are the grass carp protected there? that's what those guys were probably after at night cause a few yrs back some guys were wacking them with a bow and set off a lynching party,lol...grass carp are good eating a white meat to them...


I, for one, am totally opposed to shooting amurs! or any abuse/bothering of the species at Moggie(or Wingfoot). We had this conversation a while back in another thread but I'm sure the "proponents" of getting their numbers down (and there were a number or the "unenlightened" who said go get them by any means!), are too young to remember the days when you couldn't wade, row, or electric motor thru the masses of weeds at both lakes! Mogadore just had a weed growth spurt in the last two weeks, but it would have been much worse had there been no amurs to help chew them up. They do absolutely no harm to the fishery, cannot reproduce, and were stocked in those lakes by a large group of people who put in many hours of hard work to generate the funds to pay the high prices for however many were stocked in Moggie(particularly the Goodyear H&F Club!)-all with the full approval and auspacises of the ODNR at the time! The same club put some in "Weedfoot"-as it was know back then, as did the Goodyear T&R Co. Now both lakes are benefiting from their presence and if you want to see a "lynch mob", let a few people cause the return to those "bad old days" because they enjoy a very "unique" pasttime! IMO, shooting common carp is no problem at all but amurs is another issue all together. They are very distinguishable species and there is NO EXCUSE to bother the "old folks" amurs, a very valuable resource!


----------



## c. j. stone (Sep 24, 2006)

I forwarded my post above to Div. 3 Fisheries Supvr. His reply is posted below:
"We are aware of these tournament and that grass carp are being shot and allowed. There is a law against taking amurs. They should be advised that the ODNR takes a dim view of these activities and they should comply with the law or be prepared to face the consequences!" Hope they know the law and respond appropriately.


----------



## exide9922 (Aug 9, 2010)

wow! go odnr!


----------



## Bassbme (Mar 11, 2012)

I remember Mogadore pre grass carp days. I remember the fund raising booth Goodyear Hunting and Fishing Club had set up by the fountains at Chapel Hill Mall with a sign "Adopt a fish." If my memory serves me correctly. Goodyear Hunting and Fishing Club ended up putting 2,000 Amur into Modgadore. I also remember Wingfoot pre grass carp days. As well as Hudson Springs pre grass carp days. 

I don't want to get into a debate on the subject, so I'll agree that grass carp do no harm to a fishery, but with a stipulation. Grass carp do no harm to a fishery, IF they are stocked in the proper number. The proper number being .... enough to control the weeds, but not enough to eradicate them. An "enlightened" person would probably tend to agree.


----------



## ezbite (May 25, 2006)

not protected in private ponds and they DO DAMAGE the ecosystem by eating all plant life.. see any weeds in the pond behind me???


----------



## c. j. stone (Sep 24, 2006)

Bassbme said:


> I don't want to get into a debate on the subject, so I'll agree that grass carp do no harm to a fishery, but with a stipulation. Grass carp do no harm to a fishery, IF they are stocked in the proper number. The proper number being .... enough to control the weeds, but not enough to eradicate them. An "enlightened" person would probably tend to agree.


I get it and I totally agree with the "numbers per surface acre" concept. That's why the Gy. H&F Club worked very closely with the ODNR Fisheries Div. while doing the Moggie stockings(as I referred to previously). We had the best available lake biologist in NE Ohio(Francis "Frank" Bezdik) work with us when we stocked them in Wingfoot(at that time it was private and the state didn't want to get involved there). He also consulted with the Congress Lake group and anyone will tell you who has fished there, the fishing is second to none! The turn around at Wft in terms of reducing the weeds, improving water quality, and improving the fishing overall was nothing short of fantastic. Credit it to amur stocking-and aeration. Contrary to what some might think and will tell you, it was not done haphazardly by an over zealous bunch of "do gooders"!


----------



## jonnythfisherteen2 (Mar 5, 2011)

oh, OK. though I wonder why.


----------



## Bassbme (Mar 11, 2012)

c. j. stone said:


> We had the best available lake biologist in NE Ohio(Francis "Frank" Bezdik) work with us when we stocked them in Wingfoot(at that time it was private and the state didn't want to get involved there). He also consulted with the Congress Lake group and anyone will tell you who has fished there, the fishing is second to none! The turn around at Wft in terms of reducing the weeds, improving water quality, and improving the fishing overall was nothing short of fantastic. Credit it to amur stocking-and aeration. Contrary to what some might think and will tell you, it was not done haphazardly by an over zealous bunch of "do gooders"!


Actually, Wingfoot was one of the lakes I had in mind when I said, as long as the grass carp aren't over stocked. I had fished Wingfoot once before the grass carp were put in. (my dad was good friends with one of the big wigs in the hunting and fishing club) And you're right. It had a ton of weeds, but the bass were fat and sassy. I'll be honest and say that I haven't fished Wingfoot for many many years. The last time I fished it was when the boat rental that was on Mishler Rd. was open. The last couple of times I fished it.... there were no weeds in the lake at all. None visible in shallow water, and none visible on the depth finder. Am I mistaken in thinking the grass carp completely eradicated the weeds in Wingfoot? One other thing about the last couple of times I fished it ...... a bass that had the head of fish that should have weighed at least 3 lbs. would have probably only weighed 2 lbs. 

I was one of the "unenlightened" people that you spoke about in your one post earlier in the thread. When I was fishing Wingfoot those last couple of times, it was right at the time that Goodyear Hunting and Fishing Club were raising money to put grass carp in Modgadore. I was dead set against it, because I just figured they were going to do the same thing to Mogadore, that they did to Wingfoot. Thankfully they didn't.

Actually, the grass carp haven't had that big of an effect on Mogadore. The most noticeable being the area east of 43, and on the east side of Congress Lake Rd. Just my personal opinion here....... but the grass carp really screwed up the area east of Congress Lake Rd. It is no where near the fishing it was before they put grass carp in. True, it was a pain to fish and had very little open water ..... but it was a hollow bodied frog fishing paradise. I had personally caught numerous fish over 5 lbs. 1 fish over 6 lbs. and 2 fish over 7 lbs (bass) from that side of the lake. Friends had lost fish bigger while in the boat with me. After the grass carp that all ended. 

Anyhow...... just sharing some stories and doing some wondering. Oh...... they put grass carp in Hudson Springs as well. Over stocked them to the point that the were eating grass along the shore. (personally witnessed) They really hurt that fishery. Since the lake is (or at least was) stocked periodically it's hard to say how badly it was hurt.


----------



## c. j. stone (Sep 24, 2006)

Bassme-Wingfoot was always extremely fertile in the old days-thus the weed growth was very prolific. Farming runoff(mostly in the east end then filling the lake towards the dam on the west end) with nitrogen, constant weeds, die-off and constant turnover, along with the relative shallowness of the lake made for an ideal weed situation. Nothing could be done about the farm runoff but the aeration I mentioned before was what probably knocked out a lot of weedgrowth. Mechanical forced oxygenation of the water contributed to rapid degredation of the nutriment rich muck on the bottom which helped reduce the weed growth and actually regained some minor increases in depth. The effects of the aeration (for over ten years) will soon disappear since the State cannot afford to continue it. Then, the amurs will be stressed to keep the weeds in check(unless they all get killed!) This, together with the amur stockings, has definitely had an adverse effect on the weed growth. Wingfoot was always a decent bass lake primarily due to the abundance of panfish. IT STILL IS! I would suggest you give it another shot or two currently. The size of the bass should have improved with the reduced cover for the smaller "bait " fish to hide in. Even though the bluegills are "grazers ", their sizes have improved to the best I have seen in 40 years! because the available predators have easier feeding on the smaller ones since there is less cover and more food available for the survivors!! Crappie and perch are thriving as well. Lakes don't need tons of weeds to be good fisheries!


----------



## StuckInStark (Apr 4, 2013)

yes it is bowfishing and on electric only lakes you are allowed to have the generators the boat sunday morning on nimisilla was me as a matter of fact lol


----------



## StuckInStark (Apr 4, 2013)

and grass carp are overstocked in some lakes and if they are they will easily eradicate all the weeds there


----------



## chevyjay (Oct 6, 2012)

:!:!if the boats with the lights were on mogadore last night they could of also been looking for the bear that was allegedly seen in the congress rd. area. lol
:!


----------



## nixmkt (Mar 4, 2008)

StuckInStark said:


> yes it is bowfishing and on electric only lakes you are allowed to have the generators the boat sunday morning on nimisilla was me as a matter of fact lol


In case you are not aware, Mogadore is owned by the City of Akron and has special electric only rules that are more restrictive than typical ODNR electric only rules. As noted earlier, seems doubtful gas generators would be allowed there.


----------



## Slab assassin 55 (Jan 27, 2013)

I too think it is very unlikely that the gas generators would be allowed on moggy


Posted using Outdoor Hub Campfire


----------

