# PIKE Levels



## freakofnature13 (Jul 2, 2008)

Do water levels matter when it comes to fishing the dams? or is it just a timing thing.. Been wantin to make another trip to Pike.. but we had a horrible day on the 9th just a couple lil saugers. just wonderin if anyone had any advice on a good water level to start fishin?..and according to the level forecast it says to be droppin another foot from today. Will it even be worth it? good haul down there for me so just wanna try and make it at least worth it


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## mrtwister_jbo (Apr 7, 2004)

i like it between 17' an 20ft 2 fish off the pier
twister


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## toboso (Apr 14, 2004)

I used to try to "time" the fishing kind of like "timing" the stock market--not a good approach to either. While I do watch for water level and gate opening information I don't get hung up on the elevation. I've had great days at 17 feet and terrible days at 13 feet. It mostly depends on which gates are open and how much. Sometimes I simply have to make the 100 mile drive to find out...I have learned that going fishing is the only to find out if they're biting:F


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## ohiogary (Dec 14, 2006)

I live 20 min. away from the dam and wednesday the water level was at around 15 and there was only 3 guys fishing, 2 of them caught a few nice walleyes, around 4 lbs, jig heads and minnows, I only fished for about and hour caught 2 saugeyes 13-14 inch, came back the following evening with minnows, never seen a fish caught, the water level was probally down to 13. The gates have a lot to do with the fishing, when you cast straight out and you go to take up slack and the line is at 10:00 towards your left not a good day. If you are planning a trip down to Pike Island send me a pm, I might be able to help you save long drive.


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## Walleye Hunter66 (Jul 13, 2009)

Where is Pike Island I fish cumberland never been to Pike What town is it in and Where ?????


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## snake69 (Sep 26, 2005)

You go down the Ohio side of the river. Thru Wellsville, Stuebenville and so forth. It's in the town of Yorkville, Oh. Right at this moment, the water is only inches from the pier.


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## adp15 (Jan 11, 2008)

hey freak planning on going down thurday if water isnt to high i live in stark county its a good drive for me as well but its my day off so gotta go! your welcome to go with me if you want.


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## bigraysr (May 23, 2004)

a friend of mine at work was at pike island Sunday and he said the bite is on rite now. They were catching the eyes and sauger on jigs with twister tails and this is new to me. Tip the jig with strip of bacon. One guy had caught 30-40 fish mixed of eyes and sauger. nothing large. lot of 12 - 17 in fish.


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## Doboy (Oct 13, 2008)

STRIP OF BACON???
Cooked or UNCOOKED!?
lol, Just kidd'n,
Thanks guys, for the GOOD Reports!


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## lil goose (Oct 16, 2009)

bigraysr said:


> a friend of mine at work was at pike island Sunday and he said the bite is on rite now. They were catching the eyes and sauger on jigs with twister tails and this is new to me. Tip the jig with strip of bacon. One guy had caught 30-40 fish mixed of eyes and sauger. nothing large. lot of 12 - 17 in fish.


Yeah a buddy of mine has been doing very well catching nice sauger and walleye lately! 19 feet is the magic number 19ft or under you can fish off the pier! The higher the water the better you just might have to fish off the rocks,can be awesome at times,but be careful they can be slippery when wet!!! lol


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## Carver (Jan 20, 2010)

The river is up and on the rise. If anyone is planning a trip this weekend check the water level might be covering the pier and up into the trees.


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## bigraysr (May 23, 2004)

I go up the wva side on rte 2 to work every day. Today there was about 8 guys standing on the pier fishing. By tomorrow it may be on the pier. The river is to get up to flood stage with all this rain comming.


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## bigraysr (May 23, 2004)

just came down from work and the whole pier is covered. Includeing the railing The river is comming up quick.


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## freakofnature13 (Jul 2, 2008)

Guys are also using belly meat from small saugers. seen it on a hook layin on pier. Pier is shot for now like said. She'll come down and fishing will be back on! Heard about the baccon.. haha funny stuff but hey whatever works right?


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## freakofnature13 (Jul 2, 2008)

Few pics here from last week big one is 7 n half pounds 25 3/4 inchs


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## walleyewrangler13 (Apr 2, 2010)

wow. thats a really nice fish freak! were you catching a lot of smaller fish too?or just a few big ones?


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## freakofnature13 (Jul 2, 2008)

another pic from pike from the 17th. My dad still had some trouble gettin fish.. such a light bite.. 4-6 lb line and med. to med light rods will help detect light bites. some nice saugers are there just gotta get through the lil ones


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## Carver (Jan 20, 2010)

freakofnature13 said:


> Guys are also using belly meat from small saugers. seen it on a hook layin on pier. Pier is shot for now like said. She'll come down and fishing will be back on! Heard about the baccon.. haha funny stuff but hey whatever works right?


Is it legal to use game fish for bait ?


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## freakofnature13 (Jul 2, 2008)

very good question carver.. i dont think i know the answer to that. i got word from down there thats what they were using.. and i saw personally a plain ole 1/0 Hook with the scale skin of some type of fish.. not sure what it was but it looked to be sauger? i could be wrong and cant be for certain cus i havent seen anyone personally do it.


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## Hatchetman (Apr 13, 2004)

If the sauger was caught legally, not snagged or cast netted, it can be used for bait. A lot of shovelhead fisherman use small mouth bass for bait and claim it's one of the best baits swimming. a chunk of meat with that twister is always a good thing....


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## freakofnature13 (Jul 2, 2008)

thanks hatchetman for the clarification.. makes sense


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## Carver (Jan 20, 2010)

I stopped by the dam today and was surprised the water was not over the pier. A lot of guys were fishing but I didn't see a fish in the short time I was there.


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## walleyewrangler13 (Apr 2, 2010)

just got back from pike. fishing was slow, dad managed one saugeye, and one sauger. (both were keepers) let them go. and i caught my first ever muddpuppy.  
saw lots of fish caught. nothing to brag about though.


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## Small Town Country Boys (Feb 10, 2011)

When do you think the water will be low enough to fish off the rocks?


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## htnickle (Apr 15, 2004)

is bait shop open down in yorkville


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## mrtwister_jbo (Apr 7, 2004)

hey joe,
the bait shop in yorkville was open this mornin at 9am when i drove by 4 work
twister


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## freakofnature13 (Jul 2, 2008)

if that lil bait shop isnt open there in yourkville..an if your looking for minnows or somethin like that. Not much of a selection. But Browns hardware in tiltonsville has live bait. im thinkn just like ur crappies or mediums. my dad got a few doz last time he went there. and when they were out he went to cabelas. got shiners.. said he did better with them then minnows.been wantin to stop in an see that lil baitshops style tho. i figured they'd be open a lot more with the fisherman that fish there locally at Pike


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## walleyewrangler13 (Apr 2, 2010)

anybody been by pike lately to see how high the water is? its probably going to go back up after the rain though.


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## mrtwister_jbo (Apr 7, 2004)

the way it looks,last i heard cresting at 40+ft flood stage is 37' that means you can fish from the parking lot  
twister


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## stekzus (Mar 26, 2008)

Just took a ride over to look at the water level at pike island....the top rail on the pier is above water..seen two guys fishing along rocks.. Casting towards feeder creek with jigs only watched for about ten minutes one guy caught small sauger .. Throwback


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## husky hooker (Apr 6, 2004)

35 ft right now at 7 pm tuesday


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## walleyewrangler13 (Apr 2, 2010)

anybody know how the water is right now?


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