[ShakeDown]

Braved the crowds and took my Dad/Brother out Saturday, then my Mom/Brother Sunday. Reminded me of how great of a fishery that place is!

Both days, we lost count of the crappie, and took 5/6 bass each day crappie fishing. Hit a 5lb channel on my 11 foot crappie rod/6lb test, thought I had a HUGE smallie until that sucker showed his ugly swollen head. Tons of gills mixed in too.

Both days, we decided to bounce for eyes...good good call We must have boated 30 or so between Fri/Sat, biggest @ 21", most were 16-17. ALL C&R out of laziness. Found the eyes in 12-13 feet...took 5 smallies in the process, and a carp.

Family had a great time, as did I. Gotta love it when the fish cooperate when you have guests!

 

[dfoxfish]

hey shake, that sounds like a good reason to switch to alum! been doing so well at hoover, i saw no reason to go to alum. doplar shows no rain coming in today, so after the family thing today, i believe i'll hit alum.

 

[Fishzilla]

Sounds like a great day Shakedown. Oh how I do miss Alum when it's on. With that kind of success you should be charter captain!

 

[crappielooker]

captain Toobin sounds great..LOL..shake..why didn't you gimme a call maan?? guess you were too busy haulin in fish

 

[Jollygreen68]

Hello everyone. I'm new to this forum and basically new to bass fishing and couldn't help but read that shakedown caught 5/6 bass a day on his trip to alum creek. Thats amazing, I wish I had that kind of luck/success. I have just started bass/crappie fishing recently and only have 2 small crappie to show for many many many hours and days of fishing. I have read like every article about where to find LM bass, what lures to use, etc etc and yet NOTHING!!! I got into fishing because I wanted to catch fish, not stand around all day for nothing to happen. I do understand that your going to have down times and up times, good days and worse days. But when you don't catch anything for weeks on end, that is rediculous and NO fun at all. My question to you guys is where do I go to catch LM bass? I have "heard" that Griggs is great, I've heard that Alum creek is good, Hoover is good, and O'shay. And yet I have been to all of these places multiple times at morning, day, and night, along different places where bass are "supposed" to be and I have caught jack SQUAT, lol. I have picked up on the fact that most good fisherman will not give out info on good fishing spots (honey holes is what you refer to them as I guess) which I understand and don't at the same time. But if you guys could clue me in on where exactly on these lakes/resevoirs I could have some good luck catching LM bass and crappie, I would be so damn happy. The only place I have been told about that I am almost sure to catch some fish is at Griggs. I am supposed to go a few hundred yds south of the damn in the river on the right side near a frisbee golf course and there are supposed to be enough SM bass there for everyone in the city to catch. As soon as I get a chance I am going to go all the way down there and try it out, but in the mean time I would like to know where there are LM bass near Dublin. Ponds, lakes, resevoirs, etc and exact locations, how to get there, where do I park, etc. The fact that I am landlocked makes bass fishing a little more difficult, but not impossible. But if this keeps up where I don't catch a damn LM for weeks on end, then I am going to find something else to do cause it is getting real lame. Hope to hear some good news, thanks guys. Jollygreen68

 

[MLAROSA]

Well I am new to the westside of Columbus (Grew up out east), but I mainly fish up at hoover due to lack of bait stores around here. I catch plenty of crappie above the damn on the east side of the main lake, in a little cove there. Mainly use minnows under a float with heavy (20lb) test line because it's so thick. You'll also catch a few bass on the bigger minnies or tossing a rubber worm.

If I knew of a bait store on the west side I would fish griggs more often, since it's right down the road. I too am land locked, *shrug*.

Anyways, I think I am going to head out, seems to be a break in the weather.

 

[buckeye79]

jollygreen...i have been shore fishing since last year and have caught a ton of bass..lm and sm..from 3-5 lbs.took me awhile to find a successful pattern.i would suggest using big bass minnows with a splt shot 12-18 inches above and hit the boat ramps at hollenback and cheshire when they are not busy..especially early in the morning and drag the minnow up the ramps and area around the ramps...i caught smallies close to 5 lbs and numerous huge saugeye also try antrim lake of 315..throw out a carolina rig with a berkely power worm 6' in natural color like pumkinseed and slowly drag it back...you need to cover alot of water and move often but i almost always catch something..the earlier you go..the bigger fish you will catch and fish the lake from the nw corner around the east side to the sw corner .dont give up..when you finally hook into a big smallmouth..you will freak out

 

[ShakeDown]

I've fished Alum Sat/Sun for the past 4 memorial weekends, rain or shine. It's usually busy, creating a great mudline. I fish mudlines on secondary points, or rocks and they always seem to produce under those conditions, this time of year for me. Keep in mind though, the goal this weekend were numbers to keep it easy and the folks entertained, so I tried sticking with what I thought would keep us busy, and require minimal casting. Drifting harnesses and jigging minnows was the ticket, and I was surprised how many "bonus fish" we caught with the combo. A lot of doubles too, which made it a lot of fun. I was amazed at the size of the eyes though. No hawgs really and we had a fair share of cigars, but most were eaters. Crappie did keep us busy, however biggest was maybe 11". The largemouths all came crappie fishing, and the smallies were hitting the harnesses every now and then. Again, nothing huge, best were 14".

Dfox...knock em out man. I was actually kicking the idea around myself, until my wife found out.

Zilla...I pretty much was a charter captain this weekend...had to bait my mom's hooks, remove her fish, and keep her catchin em'

CL...we were having too much fun to stop man!

Jollygreen...you've got a smallmouth hotspot in your backyard practically, and all it takes is either waders or shorts to fish. That leatherlips park just north of 161 off Riverside Dr, has some nice holes that can keep you busy for hours. If you want specifics, I'll be glad to help.

MLAROSA...I think I saw a post in the Bait/Tackle forum about a shop on West Broad in New Rome?

 

[la2ohio]

Hey there JollyGreen68...I can understand your frustration...I am from California and the bass I have been catching out here are definitely not as beefy as what I am used too. However, if you want a place to catch a fish or two and don't mind the size, but just want to practice..then there is a pond just off of Hwy. 33, right in the back yard of Made From Scratch. Get off at Post Rd. and turn left taking you towards Plain city, turn right at the first light drive down about a 1/2 mi. and turn right at the Napa Auto Parts store follow the road all the way back and park. There is a mattress factory or something like that at the North end of the pond, park there and walk a few yards through the trees and you can fish the shoreline unbothered. Try and keep things clean as others haven't and I think the owners are doing away with the pond...you can see a lot of dirt being pushed in by tractor at the south end. From my last experience there the bass are small (9-11") but plentiful and fun to catch on light line(2-4lb test) and small worms. Bring a baitcaster with 8-10lb. test to throw topwater. Anyhow, small 4" plastic worms or even twister tails with a split shot or drop-shotted will do, try and hook the nose of the worm and not the full body like you would in texas-rigging. This will definitely allow you to let the fish hook themselves. Be sure that you just push the hook from the top 1/8 of the worm to where the hookpoint doesn't poke through the tip of the worm's nose, but where you can slightly feel the hookpoint from the worm's nose. This is how we used to rig in So. Cal. with the sight-spooked bass, if they pick up from the tail they usually give in and swallow the rest, cause they don't feel anything but soft meal and wham you're hooked. When split-shottin' drag the bottom slowly and when it sits shake your rod tip, important to have a graphite rod so you can feel the bottom and any hits. Same goes for the drop-shot. Drop shot, you want to cast out and do the same, except this time shake a lot more than you would with split shot, it helps with the worm's action. Sorry for the long post, but this will work at any of the ponds around central Ohio, just try for yourself you will soon be catching so many, that you will get sick of it and book a flight to Florida or California for some LARGE Bass. Don't get me wrong there are some bigger bass caught out here from time to time, but the practice with the smaller ones(1-3lber's) will put you on eventually with some big ones.

Good luck,
la2ohio

 

[Smallie Chaser]

There is a baitshop on W. Broad its called Fishermans West...pretty nice guy runs it...during the season he opens up fairly early..his scheduled hours to open are 7AM during the week and 6 on the weekends but he will tell you he is usually in there earlier than that...be sure to call first though before you head over so as not to wait in his parking lot...I believe the # there is 614-878-2505.

 

[MLAROSA]

Hey, thanks for the info on the bait shop guys. Now mabe I can get to some fishing out here instead of driving accross town all the time.

Gets expensive with gas being $2.00 + a gallon.

 

[flathunter]

Sounds like some great fishing, keep the reports coming!

 

[dfoxfish]

made alum tonight for the first time this year. chocolate milk! 1 fish(dink) between the two of us. but, got to go in my buds sons new boat. 20', 200 h.p. merc. i've never gone so fast in a boat in my life! 75 m.p.h. some of you are used to that, i'm not. my 35 h.p. rude might do 25 m.p.h. man, what a rush! and windy and w/white caps. i gotta try this on a smooth sunday morning glass top alum!!

 

[ShakeDown]

Last nights storm must have really chewed the place. The water was real clear by the dam the last 2 days. North of Cheshire was pretty dirty though.

 

[TightLine]

Jollygreen68,
If your not looking for something to stick on the wall there are a few other places that are right in your back yard that I like to take the kid to for some fun.
The park on Cosgray Rd. has been pretty good we typically just throw Pop-R's (surface bait) pull quick a few times and then twitch back to you.

The other place I found last year is the pond behind (brain farted the name) It's the big sports facility off Post Rd. (Mid Ohio) I guess they stocked it a few years back lots of fun.
You could almost throw anything in there and pull one out.
Hope this helps and good luck!

Dan

 

[Net]

Nice going Shake. Shoot me a pm if you're free for an encore this week. My treat.

 

[ShakeDown]

Sweet! Will do Terry! I'm foaming at the mouth to get back there.

 

[Fishzilla]

Captain Shakedown-baiting hooks-you know there's an easy joke in there...

 

[ShakeDown]

If it helps, I told a buddy today that I prefer a stiff rod to penetrate the mouths on bass hooksets. I won't hear the end of that one

 

[Fishzilla]

Very nice. ROFL!