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105476 Views 410 Replies 79 Participants Last post by  codger
I want to begin a new thread about what is working here in our area. No need to give away your hot spots. Just identify the body of water and the general description of the situation that day and explain how you caught fish. Any species. I will start by telling about my recent trip to Alum Creek lake. It is 12-24-19. The last few days, the air temps were in the 40s with almost no wind. I had to see if I could catch a few. I did. I will attempt to post the pics. I usually don't take fish pics, but I hope this might stimulate some participation in the thread. Photos are from 12-22-19. Searching with the Hummers revealed that the best concentrations of fish were all in 30 -35 feet of water. I found a couple of spots that were in what I call drains. That is the mouth of a cove. Where does the fish have to go if the water drains out of it? They were also close to natural sharp breaks into deep water, with shallows close by. Maybe to feed at night? I tried blade baits. Jigging Raps worked best. Orange and Gold was my best colour. The best action was snapping it up a couple of feet and letting it hit bottom. Then, holding it still really close to the bottom. Maybe even letting it lay on the bottom. The fish would grab it while it was barely moving most time. Water temps on the surface were 37 to 39 degrees. Ice was covering a couple of spots I would have liked to fish. The main lake was open. A portion of the middle section north of Cheshire was still covered with ice about a 1/4" thick. It was an absolute pleasure in the afternoon. Moths were hatching somewhere. Tiny moths were on the surface as it got towards evening. The gulls were all over them. I did not fish unless I saw fish and bait nearby. I caught Saugeyes and Smallmouth with a few crappies and white bass mixed in. I think the baitfish in the area I did best in were White Bass. I caught five inches on a chrome sonar. There must be other ways to see them when facing those conditions.
What is working for you?
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Ok. I tried to post the fish pictures but it did not work. Operator error. Maybe someone can help?
Great thread! Also, I'd like to know what everyone's top three saugeye lakes are in central Ohio.
I've been checking on opinions of Indian Lake and found a lot of disappointment this fall.
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Trying to upload photos. Hope this works.

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Alum has been good in 2019. Hoover is coming back strong for Saugeyes. Buckeye and Indian are always good but I have not seen any posts about Buckeye in some time.
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Normally you don’t see post for some until well after the bite is over.
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Another attempt to load photos.

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Great thread! Also, I'd like to know what everyone's top three saugeye lakes are in central Ohio.
I've been checking on opinions of Indian Lake and found a lot of disappointment this fall.
Alum Indian and Hoover are my picks,,,could anybody tell me if Hoover is froze over or open?
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Hoover is open in the south pool. Everything north has enough ice to make boating a challenge unless you have an ice breaker. The ice is thin but it would be difficult to fish. Water level is as low as I can remember. Perhaps the warmer days will get rid of the ice. If you want to launch a boat Red Bank and Walnut St. ramps are the only ones that are deep enough. All of the other ramps the concrete runs out before you get to the water.
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Very nice fish. Are the fish hanging out under big schools of shad? I fish caesar creek and have been catching some real nice crappie using blades,jigging spoons and jigging raps fished under big schools of shad. Those smallies sure look like alot of fun.Hope the weather stays nice .
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With Hoover you get quanity but larger fish are few and far between. The other central ohio lakes have better numbers of larger fish. Hoover is probably another year away.
Very nice fish. Are the fish hanging out under big schools of shad? I fish caesar creek and have been catching some real nice crappie using blades,jigging spoons and jigging raps fished under big schools of shad. Those smallies sure look like a lot of fun.Hope the weather stays nice .
There were baitfish in the areas I was jigging. I caught a small white bass while jigging in a bait ball. I am guessing that is what they were, young of year white bass.
I was also at Alum on Sunday 12/22 with a buddy. Fished mainly 25-30 fow where we found decent marks. We were using jigging spoons, jigs, blade baits, Jigging Rapala and basically ice fishing. Caught a few different species in morning. Finally got a few saugeye at dusk. They were on bottom lock. Bite lasted 15 minutes then it was over.
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I was also at Alum on Sunday 12/22 with a buddy. Fished mainly 25-30 fow where we found decent marks. We were using jigging spoons, jigs, blade baits, Jigging Rapala and basically ice fishing. Caught a few different species in morning. Finally got a few saugeye at dusk. They were on bottom lock. Bite lasted 15 minutes then it was over.
30 feet has been the depth where the most fish have been the last few days at Alum. I have not figured out how to get them to bite consistently. I have caught fish each day but it is a grind. Lots of looking with the electronics. Losing baits to snags. That kind of thing. The warmer night helped get rid of more ice. There is still ice in the coves. The surface temp got almost to 40 today and then it got cloudy and windy. 7/8 oz. Jigging Raps are still working best for me. Bright colors.
I am getting better at the photo thing. Here's today's catch.

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With the warmer weather there should be someone fishing Buckeye, Indian Lakes and other Central Ohio waters. Any reports ? Driving over the County Line bridge I could see that a lot of ice has left Hoover. A couple more days of warmer weather to go.
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Nice work! Caught these in 4 FOW off a rip rap today with a Joshy's. Surprised to find them in Alum! Marked some in 20-30 FOW but no takers jigging a vibe. Still - can't believe it's December! Anyone find any bass?

Fish Perch Bass Tail Fishing
Fish Perch Bass Fish Trout
Fish Fish Perch Bass Bony-fish
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Normally you don’t see post for some until well after the bite is over.
I wonder why that is :p
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Nice work! Caught these in 4 FOW off a rip rap today with a Joshy's. Surprised to find them in Alum! Marked some in 20-30 FOW but no takers jigging a vibe. Still - can't believe it's December! Anyone find any bass?

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That's a surprise for sure!
Nice work! Caught these in 4 FOW off a rip rap today with a Joshy's. Surprised to find them in Alum! Marked some in 20-30 FOW but no takers jigging a vibe. Still - can't believe it's December! Anyone find any bass?

View attachment 335099 View attachment 335101 View attachment 335103
What color joshy were you using?
With the warmer weather there should be someone fishing Buckeye, Indian Lakes and other Central Ohio waters. Any reports ? Driving over the County Line bridge I could see that a lot of ice has left Hoover. A couple more days of warmer weather to go.
I have not been to buckeye in a while,but thinking about hitting it saterday nite after potentially chasing smallies.
It should be ice free for the most part. But it is extremely low again. It seems the new winter pool is the same it has been the last few years with the dam repair. I was excited back in lateNovember. Tgey dropped it just a couple feet and stopped. But then the forcast called for some heavy rain we never really seen,an they dropped it another foot or two. Oh well,is what it is,gonna try an find some soon! Goid reports and thread,great to see nice fish coming from alum.
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