Although I've been wetting a line in the Great Miami River for forty years, my average annual visits have been relatively infrequent and my angling skills are relatively undeveloped. Consequently, I cannot reach a realistic assessment of any change in fish numbers over the years. However, I am curious about whether to river is better or worse than it was in the past. So, I'm soliciting input from those better fishermen who have consistent and reliable first-hand knowledge as to whether the populations of saugeye, catfish, bass and panfish have increased overall or decreased in the GMR. Please weigh in on as many of these species as you can gauge .
Bohanan66
I have only been fishing it about 15 years and it seems cyclical by species.
Smallmouth - numbers have been fairly consistent for me, but average size has varied significantly. This year has been good for size... I have 2 fish Ohio’s in past 10 days.
Saugeye - numbers have been fine but average size the last 2 years has been way down for me.
Pike - kind of rare this far south so numbers have never been great. Not sure sample size is large enough to see clear trends.
Smallmouth - numbers have been fairly consistent for me, but average size has varied significantly. This year has been good for size... I have 2 fish Ohio’s in past 10 days.
Saugeye - numbers have been fine but average size the last 2 years has been way down for me.
Pike - kind of rare this far south so numbers have never been great. Not sure sample size is large enough to see clear trends.
Just don't let them see you wading,got run-out of a spot i used to fish some nice fish in the creek
The northern waters are way to small to support such a fish.How come some guys can catch 22" smallies there ??
Good luck and good fishing !
I fish up north, vandalia to troy area. Lots of smallies of all sizes, pike are hit and miss. There is a lot of big crappie, rock bass and gills.
I've caught a few eyes but dont really know how to target them in the river. Cats well there are plenty and some big ones too, yes there are flatheads that far north.
My best bait has always been love minnows or redworm/wax worms under a slip bobber. For the cats any sort of small live gills or shad. Cut bait works but picks up the turtles
I've caught a few eyes but dont really know how to target them in the river. Cats well there are plenty and some big ones too, yes there are flatheads that far north.
My best bait has always been love minnows or redworm/wax worms under a slip bobber. For the cats any sort of small live gills or shad. Cut bait works but picks up the turtles
I've fished the Miami County area for over 20 years now and the smallmouth quality and numbers keep getting better over the years. I've noticed quite the decline in numbers of rockbass personally. The saugeye is decent most of the time. It's nothing compared to numbers of the years past when the river was stocked with saugeye instead of relying on washouts. Channel cat are plentiful and there's more flatheads north now too. When I was a kid you didn't hear much of flatheads up where I'm at but they're here now in decent numbers. I catch an occasional flathead when I'm after saugeyes. The wipers are in there too. I caught a 28" wiper a couple falls ago and we had been catching the occasional one. This is just my observations from over the years. I mainly target saugeye and I have very good years in the Miami and some mediocre with numbers. The fishing pressure on the river in my area is pretty dang high and it still produces.
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When I was teenager you could catch a basket full of rock bass at times. Now you're lucky to get a dozen. Sometimes I'll stumble across a location holding them but nothing in numbers like it was in the past. I think fishing pressure may have something to do with the little guys. They're not shy about hitting anything and possibly the ridiculous amount of flooding over the years has washed out suitable habitat for
them, but who knows.
them, but who knows.
A wiper is also called a hybrid bass and is the result of crossing a white bass and a striped bass.
Been fishin the GMR in the vandalia area since I was fifteen. Back in the 90's we would catch a boat load of rock bass but the small mouth rarely ever topped a pound and once in a great while a two pound fish had us freaking out. Started hitting the river again hard a few years back and the quality and quantity of the small mouth has improved drastically. Not uncommon to have a double digit day on a wade or kayak trip with some real quality fish. Seeing bald eagles and osprey on a regular too which has to be a good sign for the health of the river. Rock bass do not seem as plentiful but I would imagine the small mouth population has something to do with that. Occasionally hook into a cat or small pike but never really target them so I can't speak to any change. Here's a few nice examples from earlier this week from the north side of the river.
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The smallmouth in all the rivers around southwestern Ohio have been fantastic over the last 6 years. It’s awesome to see.
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