Don't forget about Beach City. I haven't been there for years. but it had good parking and easy access.

 

We moved down here to Holmes county 6 years ago in January. Other then the lake we moved to I had zero places to fish. Went to wall mart and bought a map book. Delorme atlas and gazetteer. It's a book map of Ohio with detailed topographic maps plus all the small back roads and recreation sites. It will show you all the rivers, creeks and streams in Ohio.
Spent over a month, off and on just exploring different places to fish and hunt. Mostly fishing spots. I didn't even take a rod with me, just that map book. I'll be truthful, within an hours drive of Millersburg you can find more places to fish then you can fish in a year. Most all right on state lands.
Tuscarawas, Walhonding, Muskingum, Mohawk rivers, Killbuck creek. Darn near perfect for what your looking for.
I've post a few times about details on some of these places. Don't know if a search will pull those threads up or not. Check that map book out. It's well worth the little effort it will take. Good luck to you.

 

Highly recommend the Walhonding near but east of Warsaw is a knee dam,good place to start. Suggest looking for a used canoe or kayak also. Good luck and the mentioned Atlas is an exceptional tool to have.

 

Could also rent boats from most state owned lake and some reservoirs of your just looking for ideas.

 

Isn't it pretty expensive to rent boats?

 

I am not exactly sure on the price, but usually it isn't a whole lot… less then $100. get a few buddies together and make a day of it. Also try looking on craigslist for small boats, you can get a deal.

 

Some of my favorite spillways are Pleasant Hill, Charles Mill and Wills Creek in Coshocton. All offer pretty good fishing for Saugeye with jig and twister tails, jerk baits and small crankbaits. Pleasant Hill has good fishing below the spillway on the Clearfork river for everything from saugeye to trout to bass.

 

From what u have seen Charles mill has been tough this year to meany quillback

 

Highly recommend the Walhonding near but east of Warsaw is a knee dam,good place to start. Suggest looking for a used canoe or kayak also. Good luck and the mentioned Atlas is an exceptional tool to have.

What John Boat & Skippy said x2!
Start at/ on the Walhonding, hit everything down to Coshocton & then 'learn' all the dams & feeder creeks down to Zanesville. That should keep you busy for a while,,,,,
Smallies, sauger & huge cats.
Use that search box,,,, it's ALL in there.

1 more tip,,,, read, listen & do everything 'Foxbites' has to say!

 

I'd like to find out more about the Walhonding and Wills Creek. I'll have to check them out. Anyone have anymore info they could share?

 

I know wills spillway had the ohio record saugeye of around 8lbs for a long time, may still be. Walhounding is an excellent smallie river, as is the kokosing and Mohican rivers.

 

Ok one more question if you all don't mind . Last summer had a blast fishing the tusc river with a canoe that I borrowed from a friend and actually ended up catching my biggest pike to date and a good amount of small mouth. One thing I noticed was there is almost no way to fish the tusc. river from shore or by wading due to the fact of all the private properties. For rivers like the Kokosing, Muskingum, and Walhonding is there a way to find maps that show where your allowed to travel along the banks to fish? Last thing I want is to have someone upset because I was fishing my way down the river and ended up on there property. I know a canoe is a good option for this but it's not always available. Thanks!!

 

That map book WILL BE YOUR BEST FRIEND !!!!!!! Thats the best advice I can give you.

 

That 8lb saugeye record fell about 5 or 6 years ago when some guy pulled one a little over 14 lbs through the ice on Antrim Lake. Wills creek has some big catfish in it I know this for a fact! I've never fished below the spillway there though just in the main River/Lake part.

 

Mohawk dam on the Walhonding is a very good spillway. Good smallmouth fishing. The entire Walhonding is good for smallmouth for that matter. Wills creek is good for Saugeye...can be hard on tackle though....take lots of jigs. Better fishing when the water is high. Check the flow charts online.

If you can get your hands on a plat directory for the county you are fishing in that will give you the landowners and you can ask permission. I have rarely been turned down for fishing permission.

You can get a plat book at any counties OSU extension office.

 

Thanks for the info.

 

Ok one more question if you all don't mind . Last summer had a blast fishing the tusc river with a canoe that I borrowed from a friend and actually ended up catching my biggest pike to date and a good amount of small mouth. One thing I noticed was there is almost no way to fish the tusc. river from shore or by wading due to the fact of all the private properties. For rivers like the Kokosing, Muskingum, and Walhonding is there a way to find maps that show where your allowed to travel along the banks to fish? Last thing I want is to have someone upset because I was fishing my way down the river and ended up on there property. I know a canoe is a good option for this but it's not always available. Thanks!!

From the mouth of a Park Ranger directly to me… if you are in a boat or watercraft that is not touching the bottom or edges of a creek, stream, or river… you are not on private property and cannot be cited for trespassing… as long as you are not touching their land. Don't know how true this is, and not sure that I would trust this completely.

 

That's true! Totally different if wading though.

 

Probably a little drive for you,but may be worth it. I've fished greenup dam a few times on the Ohio river with great success. Also there's one called pike island dam I think. Its on the Ohio river too and probably a little closer. I know both have great access for shorebound fishermen