[senoy]

Heh, if you were fishing either of those places back in the 70s I'm surprised that your hooks didn't melt off before you could pull them back. The Cheat was a complete mess (It's still not great, but it's a heck of a lot better) and the Mon was pretty much dead. Now though, things have rebounded quite a bit. They've really done a lot of good work on dealing with the acid mine drainage that had just wiped out both fisheries. It's really amazing to see how just in the past decade things have improved so much. Cheat Lake is a solid though not remarkable fishery. It has a decent black bass population, holds good amounts of perch, sunfish and various cats (mostly channel) and it's starting to have a bit of walleye, but I don't think they've completely taken hold yet. They're selling it as the next big bass destination in the area, I'm not completely convinced, but you can certainly pull them out. When conditions are right, I've had days where you can't keep the bass off your hook. A couple of years ago, the perch population was so large that you'd hit your limit of 15 in an hour and a half. Its biggest problem is that there's so much recreational boat traffic and drunk college students on the water that you pretty much have to stay off the lake after about 10 or 11am during the summer.

The Mon is actually a pretty decent fishery these days. Good walleye and sauger populations, decent number of wipers and whites, lots of catfish (channel and flathead mostly), various black bass are floating around, enough musky that you can fish for them without wasting your time, some crappie and various warmwater fish mixed in (gar, carp, mooneye, drum). It's not a destination fishery or anything like that, but I'd say in the spring and fall if you know the river and the conditions are good, it's the kind of place where you can pull a couple of decent fish an hour.

Here's a 17.5 inch walleye I got last time I went on the Mon for any length of time. I got two that day in about an hour and a half of fishing, would have been early January. The last time I hit the Mon(last week), I got a 15 inch sauger in about 45 minutes (You can do a lot better on sauger than I do, I fish bigger baits since I like slightly bigger fish and generally I'm targeting 17-20 inch walleye, if you're willing to catch 12-inch and smaller sauger and small walleye, they're a lot easier to find.) I only go for short periods because I'm always stealing fishing time where I can fit it in. Those two boys and that pretty wife are still my priority. In 30 years, I get to retire and then we'll see about actual long fishing days.

I haven't touched Cheat Lake since last fall. It's iced in, too thick to boat, but not thick enough to ice fish.

 

[Doboy]

Hey Back-at-cha!
Thanks Good Read, on a CRAPPY day.

BTW,,, is that primitive State campground still up on that hill? If you know where I mean?
It would be a good summer one-night-lay-over,,, I'd like to get down your way on my scooter, just to see what's new,,,, It's been a l o n g time. (hah, another flashback)
Ya, I even muzzeloader hunted down around there somewhere,,, more South, but near rt79.
The friend of a friend owned a big beautiful 'A'frame way up on a hill ,,, he was the owner of a huge junk yard back in those hills,,,,big bucks. Lots of deer, and TONS of good food!!!
ok, that's all I got,,,
Later

 

[senoy]

I think all of the legal primitive sites around Cheat Lake are gone. Cooper's Rock (a state park on the east side of the lake) has regular camping as well as Chestnut Ridge Park (a county park also on the East Side.) whose sites are a bit more primitive for tent camping. Both of them run 20-ish a night. You should come down. Things have changed. Morgantown has grown like a weed these last ten-fifteen years.

 

[Guest]

Thanks for the info guys! I am always trying to extend my fishing season through out the year. I fish Wills Creek in Coshocton for saugeyes in the spring. I fish a lot on the rivers in my area...Mohican, Clear Fork, Walhonding, Kokosing. Mostly for bass but saugeyes some too.

I do have a boat and would love to put it on the river. I may make a scouting trip and fish from shore just to check out the area and see whats around.

Doboy if you would want to go out on my boat some time that would be great! I will gladly pack some extra junk food!

What would be the boat ramp to use in the New Cumberland Area?

 

[buckeyebowman]

Wow Kip,,, I looked up Millersburg. Your a LONG way from everything.
Your the 3rd person to ask those questions in as many days!
Feb, March & April good, for the spawn. November & December they seem to put on the feedbag. High water, all gaits open, good on lock wall side. Low water, gaits #10 or #11 closed, good on the opposite side of lock,,, USUALLY! Wait for 40*+ water.
If I were you, I'd go to Wills Creek dam, Ellis lock & dam, & the 2 dams around Zanesville,,,, Anywhere on or near the Muskingum River. Our hunting camp is near Dresden and I've seen a bunch of sauger, walleyes, smallies and some huge cats come out of there. Fish & learn those spots till mid Feb.or March and when we start posting limits again,,,, COME-ON-OVER.(or head down to Greenup?) "Search" New Cumberland or Greenup sauger.
Save that ton of gas,,,, it's still pretty iffy right now,,,
unless your retired like us and can hit the perfect day? Ya Right! lol

True that! Great advice Doboy! There's lots of great fishing in the Muskingum if you'll take the time to scope it out and learn some spots. My BIL has a place to hunt in SE Ohio near the Muskingum. I went down with him for spring gobbler a couple years ago. We'd hunt the morning, break for lunch, and then hit the river. We were fishing below Devols dam, which is the first low head dam above the Ohio River, I believe. He told me the saugeye might be up. I was casting a Reef Runner Lil Ripper shallow runner in Fire Tiger and caught some really nice walleye! My BIL came fishing down toward me and asked if I was doing any good. Told him I had caught a bunch of nice walleye. He asked if they weren't saugeye. I held up the stringer and he said, "I'll be damned, those are walleye!" Had a lot fun down there! Good luck.

 

[Doboy]

I do have a boat and would love to put it on the river. I may make a scouting trip and fish from shore just to check out the area and see whats around.
Doboy if you would want to go out on my boat some time that would be great! I will gladly pack some extra junk food!
What would be the boat ramp to use in the New Cumberland Area?

Junk Food,,, Did I here Junk Food!? We NEED TO TALK!

Below the dam,,, Cumberland city launch, West Virginia side rt2.
Ohio side, Toronto, rt7.
Above the dam,,,, WV side, cross rt30 bridge, Go South on rt2, Chester city launch, behind the McD's. (Hopefully, we'll be able to launch there in a weekend or two!) There's also a launch at a campground South of Newell.
Ohio side,,,, small city launch in Wellsville. Another in Liverpool and after March the one on rt68 at the Beaver Creek is open.

Check 'em out on 'Google Earth' or PM me your email (with pic of boat & list of junk food!!! ) and I'll send you my Google maps with parking spots, launches & fishing hot spots.

 

[Doboy]

True that! Great advice Doboy! There's lots of great fishing in the Muskingum if you'll take the time to scope it out and learn some spots. My BIL has a place to hunt in SE Ohio near the Muskingum. I went down with him for spring gobbler a couple years ago. We'd hunt the morning, break for lunch, and then hit the river. We were fishing below Devols dam, which is the first low head dam above the Ohio River, I believe. He told me the saugeye might be up. I was casting a Reef Runner Lil Ripper shallow runner in Fire Tiger and caught some really nice walleye! My BIL came fishing down toward me and asked if I was doing any good. Told him I had caught a bunch of nice walleye. He asked if they weren't saugeye. I held up the stringer and he said, "I'll be damned, those are walleye!" Had a lot fun down there! Good luck.

Wow, you like to travel,,, I always wanted to check out Wayne NF East. If you ever need a seat filled, aka split costs, maybe on a 3-dayer hunt & fish, look me up.
I'm just about ready to give up on my hunting camp near Dresden,,,
I can't find anyone who would like to go down for more than a day,,, To hunt AND FISH! Cabin & Trailer on private land, on the North side of Tri-County 15,000 acres,,,, right on the Muski River.

 

[pppatrick]

my pb saugeye and sauger were both in june and july, whilst bass fishin'. who says there is an off season for em'. ha.

well i'll be, there is a new WV boy on here! yeah boooy!

my pops and i fished cheat in 97', in september, didn't get but a few dink crappie and dink lm bass and headed south to tygart that night, and found it much better. cheat was dropped about a foot from what it must have been, and the banks were lined with beer and pop cans everywhere. we were out on what i called the "I-79 bass hunt of 97". in the end, we were over ran by the jet skies at cheat. good to hear its gettin better. from tygart to stone coal, stonewall jackson, burnsville and finished up at sutton. best week of fishin i've ever had. so many good lakes and rivers within 2 hours of you up that way.

 

[senoy]

my pb saugeye and sauger were both in june and july, whilst bass fishin'. who says there is an off season for em'. ha.

well i'll be, there is a new WV boy on here! yeah boooy!

my pops and i fished cheat in 97', in september, didn't get but a few dink crappie and dink lm bass and headed south to tygart that night, and found it much better. cheat was dropped about a foot from what it must have been, and the banks were lined with beer and pop cans everywhere. we were out on what i called the "I-79 bass hunt of 97". in the end, we were over ran by the jet skies at cheat. good to hear its gettin better. from tygart to stone coal, stonewall jackson, burnsville and finished up at sutton. best week of fishin i've ever had. so many good lakes and rivers within 2 hours of you up that way.

Walleye and sauger get real strange in the summer. You'll see them sitting in two feet of water acting like a bass sometimes. Sometimes you'll get them biting in the middle of the day. They'll sometimes be hiding in weed beds right up next to docks. In summer, they're just really unpredictable. I've even heard of people taking them on spinners in the summer. They can still be caught, but they are tough to target.

Always glad to meet a fellow mountaineer. Tygart is still good fishing. If I were walleye fishing in the summer, that's high on my list. It's not so crowded with rec boaters as to be unfishable. Stonewall Jackson is supposed to be off the hook for black bass (though it's C&R only). Cheat Lake is still likely to get you run over by jet skis, so it's real early morning fishing only.

 

[pppatrick]

Stonewall is just flat out fun to fish. The first time we went there i thought i was dreamin. Not as deep as the other lakes up that way, tons of flooded timber. And chalk full of fish. Easily my favorite lake in the state.


Posted using Outdoor Hub Campfire

 

[snake69]

Don't you know it Doboy! It can be feast or famine from one day to the next, and I DO mean that!!
Senoy, I agree, good first post and let me welcome you to the site! This is a great place/thing we have here! Lots of great people and also plenty of good advice too! Take a little and leave a little. And someone...maybe Senoy mentioned bites can be a little hard at times, one thing I know about 'eyes, they have a predatory nature and will bite most often because of this nature, they will also often bite out of instinct! And of course, there are times you can't seem to get them to bite regardless!! Jerry, I'll be seeing you this weekend. I'm thinking it will be Sunday....

 

[Guest]

Weeds can be very productive in the summer. Especially weeds close to deeper water. The weeds hold the key....FOOD! I like to slow troll the edges of weed lines with inline spinners in the early morning and evening. However, I have found that weeds can and do hold walleyes all day long. One of my favorite summer patterns is fishing slip bobbers on points and flats at night.

Like senoy mentioned it is amazing just how shallow they will go at times!!

 

[Daveo76]

Late summer at Greenup dam you can see them swimming right along the sidewalk with the Shad and the Sheephead. We actually saw some of the birds dive bombing and getting them. Guess if I were a bird and had a choice between a Shad or a Sauger , I'd take the Sauger too

 

[richardcheslick]

You seem to have the cycle down pretty good but you missed the fact that December and February are the months that give up the biggest heaviest fish mostly females of course. Another thing you assume is that they have a spawning ground like bass do they do not! They get several males covering over top of one female and all jettison their milt and the eggs then flowed downstream fertilized! That's one reason they have a very low survival rate thank goodness the state has stepped up in some Rivers and taking over and stocked saugeyes and walleyes! I fish mainly Winfield Lock and Dam and Robert C Byrd sometimes greenup! And always hit the tributaries along the way like the guyandotte,coal!

 

[9 LEFT]

fyi... you are replying to a thread that's almost 12 years old

 

[Doboy]

fyi... you are replying to a thread that's almost 12 years old

Yes lol,,,, but isn't it nice to have a newbie on here, who is actually talking RIVER!?

WELCOME Richard! & please keep 'em coming. (reports that is ;>)

 

[DFSCreekgeek]

The information is still relative, so reply and keep it going.

 

[richardcheslick]

The information is still relative, so reply and keep it going.

Thank You Rivermen!

 

[Doboy]

RIGHT ON!! ;>)

Just a TAD more info added, & I would'a given you 2 THUMBS-UP!

Maybe,,, give us a where-a-bouts? Even a feeder, a dam, a pool or a state would help us understand.
AND,,,, what simply tells us a whole bunch of the story, without typing,,,,,, just throw the LURES that worked into the pic, next to those beautiful River fish!
Then, we'll be able to figure the rest of the story out!

THANKS again.

 

[Snookhunter52]

Thank You Rivermen! View attachment 545204

You don't have to divulge too much information. All the dams from Pittsburgh to Portsmouth are fire right now. I'm worried the meat hunters are going to undo all the hard work WVDNR has worked so hard to produce a trophy walleye fishery that makes Lake Erie fish look like guppies. ODNR does not care about Ohio River fish stocks. That is my main complaint about the ODNR. Sauger are stupid silly right now and the Amish are already hitting them pretty hard.