Southwest Outing @ Rocky Fork

[TimJC]

Alright, now that Shawn has posted the info whose gonna be there.

I will not be able to fish the event in its entirety as I have to work both friday and sunday. I do, however, plan on getting there wednesday evening and fishing into friday morning. I then plan on making the trip back sometime before midnight on friday and fish until really early sunday morning. Well that is at least the plan. I still need to figure sleep into the equation but who needs that (besides my lazy ass).

[flathunter]

I plan on being there for awhile saturday.

[cwcarper]

Hoping to be there Friday, Saturday, and Sunday...at the very least i'll fish all day saturday into sunday morning.

[TimJC]

Hey Jack, could you possibly point me to other places with deeper water access. The problem with the venue for this outing seems (after looking a topo map) to be the lack of water over 6 feet deep. This spot will make for a nice night bite but with daily temps hitting the upper 80's we're gonna have some trouble catching in the day (as well as stay hydrated). For that matter the night bite might also kick in way later into evening (morning) and last til after sunrise. The weather for next week is not looking good at this point. It looks like a lot more rain. How is all this incoming water going to effect fishing in the upper portion of the lake that we will be in? Link to Weather for Hillsboro. (http://www.weather.com/weather/local/USOH0409?from=search_city)

[catking]

This area is shallow, but this lake is a little diffrent than some. The carp still are there. And some big ones. The carp are not in deep water yet anyway around this area. The water temps are not warm enough. They are still in the 70's. Anyways, IF it does rain alot, this are gets muddy fast. But that doesn't seem to bother these carp anyways???Like Tim said, lets get a head count on who will be there. I'll be dropping by Friday evening and Saturday afternoon through the evening. I know crappielooker is coming. CATKING

[bigjohn513]

i plan on showing up...anyone want to cookout on sat night?

[flathunter]

I cant believe that weather forcast, when will this crap ever end????

[flathunter]

Tim, I dont know the lake very well so I cant help you on that...Rocky is not a flood controll lake so they wont be backing up water after a heavy rain so we should be ok.

[Miso_Ohio]

I am still unsure if I can make it or not, maybe one day on Saturday. This summer is starting to get kind of crazy, it is looking like I will be missing the Tappan lake outing as well. If it rains no problem, my bite alarms have already proved to be up to the task, and I will also get to put my new Frogg Toggs t the test :)

[RiverRat]

Tim,
I will be there Friday after i get off work(7:15pm) and stay til sunday(weather permitting that is).
Hope to see you all there.

Scott

[Rooster]

I will be there Saturday or Sunday morning unless the Ohio River falls enough for a chance at some stripers. I plan to do some bassin :eek: But, I have caught many carp at RF on Rebel Wee Crawls. I will roll by to say hello and hopefully get a look at some Euro gear. I have been planning to purchase a pair of rods and pod for some time now, but have never had an opportunity to see the gear.

[TimJC]

I'm thinking that the rain might not be as bad as the link I posted above indicates. The weather channel's website is notorious for being wrong. As long as the nights are rain free I'll be happy.

[flathunter]

Mark my word it will rain heavy for the next few days, why?..Because the river I fish is now fishable but I am sure by the weekend it wont be due to high water.

[TimJC]

For all those outside of SW Ohio, it hasn't rained much at all today in Cincinnati. Just a few brief periods of drizzle. So take the weather predictions on the link I posted on the previous page with a grain of salt.

I'm getting ready to hit the road and plan on being at Rocky Fork by 8:30p (Mapquest says it's 1.5 hours for a 57 mile trip). I'll report back tomorrow afternoon on my catches (or lack there of).

[Fishman]

So is anyone out there right now, I was gonna head over and head out early in the evening, but if no ones there I probably won't go.

[crappielooker]

yeah, i just got here and tim just left..the rain came hard for about 10 minutes..i'm driving around trying to find more spots to fish..the whole lake looks very carpy to me..plus too many spots to try out..i will be somewhere around the northend of the lake..if someone comes by and don't see me by the campground..i should be somewhere along the north end..
i'm at the hillsboro library right now and will head back to the lake shortly..
see you all out here..the weather ain't too bad..
Ak..
PS..my cell phone do not work out here at all..

[TimJC]

I just got home for a little rest and bait making before work. The carp really stack up in this area at night. I had one little fish on royal carp redstar boilies but lost it while fooling with the drag on the new reel. I got a second on pescaviva with some homemade dough and it was about 6lbs. The fish were splashing all night and kept tapping my lines.

The weather last night and today was awesome. Only two VERY breif periods of rain this morning. I hope to be back at the campground before midnight.

[RiverRat]

hey...where in the campgrounds are you guys????
Im thinking of heading down, but have NEVER been to this campground/lake and dont want to be searching all night for people i know.
is there many open campsites around where you are??
I'll decided after looking at the NORA weather channel if im heading down or not tonight...if not look for me EARLY in the morning.
Hope to find you guys.......

Scott

[catking]

Just go into the main entrance and keep to the left.I believe the second road to the left once you pass the main entrance building, (the first stop sing, turn left. Go all the way back (the lake will always be to your left, People are at the point. You cannot miss this. cwcarper, Gill Girl & crappielooker are there now. traphunter and carphunter were there earlier, as was TimJC, but they left for various reasons, but are returning. I'll be around tomorrow after I get home from work....... CATKING :)

[TimJC]

Scott,
When entering the campground you will want to take the second left at passing the range station. The area is a small loop that has parking on the outer end and a shaded picnic area at its center. There are several campsites close to this area that aren't being used. I think they are primitive sites and the numbers are written on the road from 215-235 (this is an estimate). The fishing area is REALLY close to the parking lot and last night I spent a fair amount of time watching my alarms from my car (no the weather was not bad either). I'm getting ready to leave now and meet whom ever is down there. I hope to be there before midnight. Also Ak might not be fishing at this area. He left me a message about a spot at the marina. I'll send you a PM scott.

[flathunter]

Have you seen anybody catching any cats in this area?

[DaleM]

Come guys, someone let us know how the catching is going! Hope this rain doesn't mess you guys up. Good luck to all.

[catking]

Here's what I know. Not many showed up last night due to heavy storms in our area. As I'm typing this reply, we have big storms about an hour away, with lightning. I will head up there around 3 pm, to see who has survived :D But I will say this. I've seen where some members fish regardless of the weather, fish on. We (my area) just had a fellow killed two weeks ago cattin in a storm. IT IS NOT FREAKIN WORTH IT !!!!! When a storm like the ones we have been having comes, I don't care how far one drives to an outing, get into a car or something or just go home. Fishin in this weather is foolish. I think some people forget that outings are about FUN and FRIENDSHIPS, not dying for crying out loud...........There, I've gotten it off my chest :D Full report later............. C.K.

[PAYARA]

i think your SW outings are jinxed :D i feel you King.
i am stuck from fishing alot of times because i dont have
a ride,and i can get caught in a storm again,it sucks!
i was caught in a BIG storm last year,with no shelter what so ever,wind of at least 50 mph it sucked the air from
my lungs :o and SERIOUS thunder and lightning.
it will not happen again! ITS SCARY!

but you can't tell Ak that,he would camp in a tsunami :D

[traphunter]

We was there yesterday evening and today and we got 7 all together. The fish were not biting very well at all. It was also raining and windy most of the day today, but I think it cleared up right when we left. It was fun trying anyway and good to meet some of you. :)

[TimJC]

Catking, thanks for blowing the weather out of proportion. It didn't rain long and the weather for this event was superb. It's just sad that the carp weren't biting. It's rained for a total of maybe one hour for friday and saturday (thus far), and the storm catking was talking about was light rain for about 30-45 minutes. I managed 2 fish from thursday evening through today and had one fish throw a hook, and I had crappielooker take care of another one as I was to comfy in my car last night. This event was definietly the one to miss as under 20 carp were caught among the 8 or so fishing, with all fish under 10lbs. Numerous baits were used and corn was definitely one of the better ones. I think wheaties and boilies accounted for the most fish.

[roadman]

Fishcrazy and i got down there after 3. Met flatheadmaniac,TimJC and traphunter. Pretty nice guys!!! Where was everybody else?????????

[RiverRat]

just got home...been up since 5:15am friday morning & about 2-3 hours sleep last night.

Fishing was SLOW to put it lightly and the SW weather could have been nicer to us too.
I think 8 members total fished this outting with big fish going to either Gill Girl, CW, traphunter or TimJC ?
I landed 2 fish and together they weighed 4 lbs maybe.
Glad to meet up with the gang even if the carp didnt come visit much.....geez!

Also met up with some old "GFO" guys...very good to finally meet you guys, next time will find a better spot so we can get ya the pictures ya wanted...lol.

AK, i'll catch up with you at the "ramp" sunday evening and will get some GOOD size carp on the lines for sure...dont forget that Catapult..lol

Scott

[RiverRat]

Baits:

mine: 24mm Boilie Shop Tiger Nut flavor & Rye Krisp dough balls.

#1 bait by far was WHEATIES...of course i didnt bring any!!!

[crappielooker]

sunday evenin??

[flathunter]

I just drove 100 miles to this event and saw no one???????
If this was a sponsered CAG event should there not have been someone from Cag Present at all times, from start to finish??????What a waste of time...Got there appx 8pm saturday.

[traphunter]

All of ours was caught on wheaties and a special Walmart Bait. :D I think my friend carphunter caught the most 5, and he lost 1. Not to bad for a Rookie. :cool: :D

[TimJC]

Sorry Jack. Interest in this event died with the possibility of bad weather and the lack of access to water over 6 feet. This was an awful event in boh attendence and fish taken. If we have the SW event at Rocky Fork again, we will definitely need to find a spot with better water characteristics, but we could of course just hit Paint Creek instead.

[PAYARA]

Flathunter, you bring up a VERY good point.iam not
bashing here so Shawn or who ever it might concern,
iam not takeing aim,just suggesting.i believe it would be a GOOD thing in the future to have a person in charge at the event the entire time the event is said to last.because you
dont know who is going to show up,and how far they are
comming from.rain or shine i think somebody SHOULD
be there,esspecially when it is a CAG outing too.

[TimJC]

Greg,
I agree with you completely, but it is asking a LOT for one person to be on the bank for 40 hours straight. Shawn also said that he would not be there so any idea of order kind of goes out the window.

[flathunter]

It does not have to be the same person I dont think for the whole 40hrs, but someone should be there...This is the first one of these events I have ever gone to, and it just left a very bad taste in my mouth, to find no one there at a event that was supposed to last untill sunday at noon...I think paint creek also would have been a better location, even the spillway..But that is besides the point, I even drove around the campgrounds for awhile hopeing to even see a sign saying cag carp in cancelled....Oh well :(

[crappielooker]

well... i'm still sore from packing and unpacking my things to avoid the rain or lack there of.. :rolleyes: i found out one thing i'm really good for at night, being somebody's bite alarm.. ;)
i tried to tell myself to stay out there as long as i could, but my body just kept callin my bed..needless to say, i packed up and came home..plus the bugs was eatin me alive, even with DEET on!!..
I drove well over 300 miles for all that..... :rolleyes:

[PAYARA]

either give shifts or cut the hrs of the fish-in.most
of the CAG fish-ins are 2 day 10-12hr events.if you
cut the time its still good,you can still fish all night
if you wish.the big fish award time limit would be
cut down,so what.it would give people an idea of when
to show up and be certin theres people on the seen.
not everyone has each others cell no..

[PAYARA]

yes,i also know Shawn has his no.listed.but if he is
not present for the enitre fish-in how will he know somebodys going to be there to greet/fish with people?
its a thing that needs to be looked into IMO.

[TimJC]

Better yet would be to call in advance, but none of our cell phones would work at this venue. I'd happily be phone b!tch for any event I'm at as long as my phone could get a signal.

[TimJC]

This is one of, if not, the biggest carp from the OGF/CAG June outing at Rocky Fork.

http://www.ohiogamefishing.com/photopost/data/500/38DSC00031-med.JPG

[tpet96]

Well, I'll take the heat and the fire. That's fine. I said I wasn't going to be there well in advance. Catking took the reins of this event, and did all the planning, location, motel info, etc. Thanks Rick for the work! :) It's kind of hard for me to be there when I say I'm not going to.......so unless you are willing to drive 200 miles NOrth, I cannot greet you.

As for the bitching on the Ohio Carp King award........it will be from 3:00PM on Friday until 12:00 Noon on Sunday. Period. That's the way we set it up........that's the way it will stay.

I'm sorry that you had to attend with no one there.......but like I said......you can fire away at me.....but how am I supposed to do anythign about that when I'm not even there, with ample advance notice given? Normally when I'm at an event, I will be there from Friday AM through Sunday AM. You will see me there at all points of time. Come to the Buckeye Lake outing and I'll be there.

[tpet96]

BTW......somebody do a write up and send it to me, along with any pics that were taken. tpet96@columbus.rr.com

[tpet96]

Payara and Flathunter........you have PM's.

[catking]

I didn't realize that there would be all this commotion. First of all I'll clear one item up. PM"s were sent by myself to say that there was a huge dangerous storm headed towards this area. And that chances are I would not be heading back up there. I posted about this yesterday. It's silly and foolish to stay along the banks of a lake during storms, no matter how far you drive. I'm not talking about Jack, I'm talking in general. These events usually take care of themselves. As far as I know grown men attend these and if they decide the weather dictates some changes, so be it. As it turned out, the weather turned SOUTH, but reports of Tornado activity and 80 MPH winds within an hour, isn't something to take lightly. I also echo the light turnout for the Southwest section. Maybe CAG should rethink having one down here. The lack of interest except by a few good enough to show was indeed distasteful. But not taking away from the ones who did. I met a few new members and chatted awhile with them. CATKING

[tpet96]

On the locations.........The group in a whole decided this location back in September of 2003 at the ALum Creek Outing. Everyone was in agreement that this was a good location to hold an event.

As for SW and SE, these are ALWAYS goign to be poor turnout events due to the location and the number of anglers in that part of the state. NE and Central events always seem to be high in numbers because of 1.) Number of anglers in that area and 2.) it's Central and a fair drive for everyone to make.

Some people need to realize on the point of CAG......that we aren't going to have a turnout of 50 people at each event. People have lives and cannot make 8 events a season. When we decided dates last year, I already had 2 booked up for this year on weekends that we chose. I cancelled one of them to attend an event, and this weekend was the other one. Wasn't goign to cancel that one.

Take Salt Fork last season. Nobody stuck around for Sunday becaue of 95F temps during the day and mid 80F water temps. Like I said.......normally I'm there Fri through Sunday morning when I'm in attendance. Sometimes weather and personal things change those plans. That is why I list a telephone number to reach me. If you are in doubt.....or plan on showing up at an odd hour (middle of the night, late on sunday, etc.) call me to find out what is going on. When I'm 200 miles from the computer, I can't always update the thread :)

[RiverRat]

100 miles......?
Jack i thought you lived right by Paint Creek Res.?? If so its a whole lot closer than 100 miles...i think i drove 65-70 miles one way from Columbus.

I understand what you guys are saying but if i read correctly somewhere.."Catking was hosting the SW event??"

Scott

[flathunter]

Scott I dont live by paint creek res..I drove 52 miles to get to this event and 52 miles back which is 104 miles...

[catking]

It's all water under the bridge now. Tpet is right about turnouts and many cannot make them all. That's fine. Stonelick, though nasty weather last year, still had a great turnout. Bottom line is sometimes things just don't turn out as planned and it's NOBODYS fault. Everybody does the best thay can. And I believe it's time to move on. CAG and it's outings have always been well planned and usually a good turnout. I've gone to probably 8 of the CAG outings, and haven't been dissapointed in any of them. It was a shame that Rocky fork turned out bad, but still we had some great people show up and they did fish.I will say that Rocky Fork and it's LARGE Shallow falt is a place that would be great in the early spring. Test nets have shown this to be a fact. But we all don't need to make this into an urinating contest :D Good Day and see you all soon. CATKING

[catking]

By the way, nice carp GILL GIRL !!!! Looks like you enjoyed yourself ;) DA KING !!!

[flathunter]

If I offended anyone I am sorry...I was thinking these events were bigger than they actually are, I thought there was Cag members from all over the country, and outside of the usa to fish these events...I was kinda upset last night, just because I wanted to meet some new people, and talk to some old friends, and see some of this euro gear in person :D I will try to hit the outing at Buckeye Lake..Cheers everyone!

[Miso_Ohio]

Man this looks kind of messy, Flathunter, the scenario of guys coming from out of state is pretty rare, except on events where big fish have been caught. Places like Erie seem to draw that crowd, but Alum Creek is starting to make headway. As far as guys coming from other countries, most of those gusy where originaly from that country, but now live in the states, unless they are visiting friends back here.

I guess I should of headed out to this event, but I wasn't feeling too good, and the last place I needed to be was out in the rain. Normally getting a little wet doesn't bother me, and if it would of started thundering I would of sat it out in the car or at a truck stop. Sorry nobody was there when you got there, that is really strange for a saturday, which is when most of the people fish. For the most part these events are a bunch of local guys getting together to fish, sometimes there are only 10 of us that show up, sometimes there is a whole bunch of us. When it comes to Euro gear though, you will not be dissapointed, there are a lot of oufits Ohio.

[cwcarper]

Well...the outing felt more like a poor day of fishing with some fellow carpers than it did a CAG fish-in. The weather wasn't really all that bad...and was very comfortable at times. The venue was a nice place to hold an outing...but it seems June was a bit late in the year this time around. It seems the warm temperatures already had the carp (particularly the larger ones) holding in deeper water elsewhere in the lake. I was a bit surprised at the low turnout, since when i showed up on Friday evening it was only Crappielooker, Gill Girl, and I sharing the bank. Scott and Tim showed up a bit later and at least made for a less boring evening. The fish just weren't cooperating...i landed a small carp and an even smaller channel cat and Gill Girl landed a couple carp and another cat. While it was a bit more productive than the SW outing last year...it seems we'll still be looking for a new venue for next year's outing...maybe something a bit closer to civilization...or maybe skip the SW altogether. Whatever the case...i still had a good time and will be looking forward to Buckeye Lake in July.

[TimJC]

I don't think that skipping the SW outing is a good idea. These outing are, as jack pointed out, about spreading the word of carp as a sportfish as well as fishing. Before leaving Scott actually talked to a gut for 15-20 minutes about CAG and carping. This definitely makes it a worthy event. The whole thing with civilization isn't that bad either. Hillboro is like 10 minutes from the venue and just about every fast food joint is there. The only problem is a lack of cell phone reception. If we fish Rocky Fork again we should either schedule it earlier or find a different spot on the lake to fish. AK can chime in here as he went looking for other spots to fish before the event started. Paint Creek is another option. It's not close to "civilization" either but there are big fish in there (BigJohn513 can confirm this).

Basically us slacker SW residents need to look for better places to fish. I'm lucky if I get to fish twice a month and at least one of those is a CAG event. I want to try out Cowan more this year and maybe look to East Fork also. Catking and BigJohn513 should be able to help us find locations for east fork. I know that Fishman and Crappielooker have both spent some time carping there.

[cypry]

Ive always found these events to be very well organized well in advance and information posted on multiple sites , with the events decided by everyone the previous year . the problem that shawn and everybody for that matter has is that we are trying to spread the word of carp fishing around the state and i believe it is a must to have events spread around , regardless of whether the venues in that area are popular or not .

this is what a lot of early carp fishing was about in the 70's ...pioneering . In england it wasn't popular back then and the few people that fished for them went out and searched for new venues , tried to search for bigger fish . it's only these people that caught unknown 40lbers and published the pictures in the press that made carp fishing as popular as it is today .

as much as i miss fishing for these big fish in england , it's that pioneering spirit that i love about the CAG/OGF guys fishing in the states , a lot of what we are doing here is about trial and error , trying to find these venues that are going to promote carp fishing here . and unfortunately until we have been going for a few years and have the support in numbers there is always going to be the odd event that suffers , either due to adverse weather , family commitments or whatever and the people who are out there organizing these events and the people who step into the breach when others can't be there , and even the people who attend are doing an absolutely excellent job in difficult circumstances to promote carp fishing.

[cwcarper]

I should mention that i don't really think it would be a good idea to get rid of the southwest outing either...since i grew up fishing these lakes, it's one of the outings i always look forward to. I just thought that if we could get something a bit closer to the cincinnati/dayton area where more of the people from the southwest are concentrated we might be able to bring in more of the "newbies" to carping.

[tpet96]

If we had a location right on the Ohio River, that would be perfect for a summer gig......What about Eagle Creek? ;)

Cypry,

Great insight! We need to hook up sometime soon man. Been way too long.

[TimJC]

Haven't caught anything big (mostly doubles with some singles mix in) at eagle creek but it is an awesome place to fish. The fish are there and the bankside camping makes it a lot of fun. The pig roast if July 31st, and Ak and I will surely be there in full carpin effect again this year.

[RiverRat]

Hey guys,
It was only ONE event out of MANY great ones that didnt turn out so well...no biggie, the other events will be back to normal and everything will be right again.
Jack, never any problems buddy, im just sorry it worked out the way it did. Tim JC and I stuck it out through the storm in hopes of catching a few more & meeting up with any more anglers dropping by. And hes right i did get to promote the CAG to a guy who was very interested in carp angling.....after i told him about all the places we fish and all the great guys, he said hed check out the CAG & OGF for sure.

Sorry that the weekend did go as normal to those who missed us at Rocky Fork, but dont give up on us carpers just yet....many more events to come.

Scott