Hey. Do any of you fellows fish the actual alum creek south of the dam? I know it like the back of my hand, just wondering if anyone else wants to talk about it.
I just wished those precious Musky would stay home in the lake and not run through the dam and subject themselves to the fillet knifes
I've thought about trying it out but I don't know where to park or where to start. Do you do any good?
Alum creek has its problems. They are exagerated by the general public though. This may be a blessing to the stream and people currently fishing it. In a 5 mile stretch I have never witnessed anyone other than myself wading, or fishing this stream (except a lowhead dam). The fish have probably never seen lures in their lives and are extremely eager to bite. There are also a very large and strange variety of fish calling this stream home. I have caught smallmouth, largemouth, kentucky spotted, saugeye, walleye, many suckers, channel cats (largest 15 pounds), bullheads, drum, yellow perch, all sunfish, gar, white bass, seen muskie (survivors of Alum Creek Spillway), and have heard reports of people catching nice shovelheads. Oh yea, CARP LIKE CRAZY. The streams structure is very different from other central ohio streams. I have found THE deepest holes in this creek for its small size. Some I guess to be 12 feet or deeper. I would recamend fishing north of Airport road near Ohio Dominican or south of Livingston Avenue on the south side of bexley. The areas in between are pretty silty other than a few wild areas south of Main Street, and two roller dams located at Wolfe and Nelson Park. Some of the expertise on this website could really pull some nice fish out of this untouched watershed.
I have fished this area since I was a kid. I am sure after this thread you will not be alone for long.
Hey wetnet-that what this site is about. Anglers helping each other out. Mushijobah- I do love a roller dam. I'm not familiar with Wolfe park but Nelson doesn't seem to be in the best neighborhood-if in fact it where I think it is. You may run into me one of these days- Scioto has been a disaster all year. Thanks for the info
Hey Fishzilla, thats not all this site is about. Some people like myself do not like to see some of their favorite places advertised on the web in very descriptive terms. I just made the point that if you advertise the place then he will not be alone for long. Don't make more out of it. Don't get me wrong, I believe in helping people out and giving advice. I just think the main part of fishing is discovering your spots and developing them yourself. Its called fishing, not catching for a reason. I have seen spots mentioned on the web when previously there were no more than a few people, afterwards it was no fun fishing them anymore. Tightlines.
has anyone fished the creek from the spillway south to the low dam in westerville??also..has anyone fished the lake on the other side of the westerville low dam?when i was a kid i used to pull 5lb + largemouth and huge crappies from there but now i never see anyone fishing there and the bass are so overpopulated and small
Alum creek, like Big Walnut, has always been a great smallmouth fishery, along with spots, crappie, channel & flatheads, plus all the sunfish species. It never got talked about a lot, and it's really been an accidental best kept secret. I've waded it for years, at least 20 years. I've caught tons of beautiful fish from that creek, wading. Mostly smallmouth, but lots of nice rockbass & catfish. Since the Alum Creek reservoir was created it has changed, but only for the better. You can add Muskie & Saugeye to the mix, and they all seem to be doing well. In fact, Alum Creek (the Creek itself), has more fish in it than ever before.
I just wanted to add a story line to this. Points made by wetnet and buckeye79 are actually related more than most would think. Wetnet, if people would fish any area more, and selectively keep fish, buckeye's point would be mute. If the lake south of the dam in Westerville were fished more, and more fish were kept, then the population would change dramtically. Bigger fish, and better year classes. Yes, there can be overfishing, but let's give the ODNR some credit. They set up slot and creel limits to avoid overfishing. And let's not forget, fines for overfishing are a deterrent (sp?). So, if you want better fish in a pool, you have to keep fish as well. And that means more fishermen. Unfortuantely, we have grown up in the era of catch and release. It was good 20 years ago, but keeping a few fish 13 inches, won't hurt unless you're at Tycoon in southern Ohio (18 inch limit, I think). I routinely give short fish to others who will eat them. think about it, and respond.... Eric
I live almost right on the creek along westerville and cooper. They have put in a very nice walking path that extends, to my knowledge... from the east side of 161 (270) to Polaris parkway along the water. So, no matter where you want to fish there is access at some point. Take a walk along the path, there are holes everywhere to fish. One thing I have noticed is that size of the smallmouth are not quite as great as the Olentangy or the Darby. The creek is also not as wide and deep as those two places. Might have something to do with it. With all the water being dumped one would think there would be a lot more saugeyes down there as well. Have fun and pick up some trash along your wading trip. The rivers up north really let you see how fishermen can make a difference when they start to clean up an erea. ying6
