# Anyone fish the "Hamilton Canal"?



## dinkbuster1 (Oct 28, 2005)

not sure what its called, i used to refer to it as the "hamilton canal". it runs from just below the b-street dam up to the Rentschler dam. we took a ride down to Bass Pro/Jungle Jims on saturday and had the urge to drive over to the canal (off canal street) and take a look. 

anyone do any good in there? what species are abundant?

looks like they are clearing out the west end of the canal and putting a bike path thru there. its been 15 years or so since i last seen that area and i seem to remember there being no concrete rip-rap on the west side and it being wooded all along the bank then. back then (in February) we stopped and chatted with a group of people who were packed into a smalll spot near a backwater marsh that were slaying carp on corn. at that time it was the only clear spot i seen to fish in that canal. now its opened up quite a bit, especially down near the ball fields.


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## Weatherby (May 27, 2005)

Carp, channel cats, flat heads, largemouth, bluegill, and very rarely a smallmouth.


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## Fyrfightr (Apr 28, 2009)

It's called "Ford Canal". The city removed all the brush/trees on the north side getting ready to put a bike path in. I haven't paid much attention to the Ohio state fishing guide for a few years, but they used to warn against eating any fish out of the canal due to chemicals.


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## rcjohnson (Dec 11, 2008)

When I was a kid, many years ago, you would hardly ever see a fish in the canal. Where is nears the GMR the city of Hamilton uses the water to generate electricity. The result is a lot of turbulent water with lots of oxygen. A fantastic place to fish back then but very dangerous as well. They do not allow anyone in there now. Remember that Chem-Dyne in Hamilton was very close to the canal. One of the most polluted operations in the U.S.


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## Weatherby (May 27, 2005)

Chem-Dyne (I couldn't remember the name of it.) closed in the 70's. They still have pumps running to purify the ground water there. I wouldn't eat any fish from there but there are many to catch.


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## dinkbuster1 (Oct 28, 2005)

may just have to check it out come spring. how long has that rip=rap concrete been on that west bank? that should make for some great cover for crayfish and imrove the smallie fishing! 

any idea what the average depth is thru there?


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## rcjohnson (Dec 11, 2008)

Henry Ford had that canal dug to provide hydro electric power for his plant which is now the Hamilton generating plant. Everything around there was named after him. Ford Blvd., Ford ball fields, even a sub division known as Fordson Heights.


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## dinkbuster1 (Oct 28, 2005)

found this while searching for more info on the canal.......

http://www.lanepl.org/blount/jbcomp/documents/3914BD901A41548612741EF071502681371052AF.html


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## Fyrfightr (Apr 28, 2009)

Actually the Ford plant is the same location as Chem-Dyne ended up at. No one knew what they were doing there till it caught fire...


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## ffunk5 (Aug 7, 2011)

tons of carp in there, pretty big ones too.


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