Thread: Ohio River - Catfish & Crappie

Originally Posted by ekySlabber

BTW How did that blacknose get mixed in there, are they stocked or just hybridize

... they very well could have come out of KY Lake. Then again, they could have come from several different places. :p
I could even imagine them coming from Cedar Creek Lake .... but, they'd have to go thru the drain at Cedar Creek, make their way down the Dix River, the length of Herrington Lake, pass thru the dam turbines & continue on down the Dix River, into the KY River, then on into the Ohio River. :D (possible, but not likely ... LOL !! )

They're not a Hybrid .... just a Black Crappie with a genetic marker (pigment gene) that causes the black stripe. They could have originated in the White River, in Arkansas (where they occur naturally) ... and have been used for brood stock & stocking studies, in many bodies of water around the Southeast.

I catch them at Watts Bar Lake, in E Tenn ... which is one of the chains of lakes on the Tenn River. I've caught some out of Cedar Creek Lake, too. And I've heard that they're stocked in Ky Lake, Dale Hollow, Weiss, & Center Hill. One of the Tenn F&W Officers, that I met at our tournies, said that Center Hill is full of them ... and they're huge (2+lbs). They're just a little hard to catch, there ... but, only because of the very clear/deep water, and not because they're any more elusive than the others.

.. cp

Good looking mess of fish and looks like lots of fun. I was curious about the black nose also. I've never seen or heard of anyone catching any in the Meldahl pool. You must be catching them all before they can swim upstream. :D We don't have the sandbars anymore either. They have all been dredged out. But I can remember when I was a small child one in particular.
I hope to go soon if it doesn't rain me out.

The crappie werent exactly jerkin the rods outta your hands today. I ended up sauger fishin' for a while and ended up catching some along with a nice walleye thrown in. Thats only the second walleye Ive ener caught out of the river. There is a lot of fry around the stumps and brush but not many fish. Here is a pic of a good eating grand slam.

On a side not, I bet there were 50 boat trialers in Maysville parking lot, there were people bass fishing a lot of the creeks (about every good stretch had a boat on it) and apparently this weekend would be a bad weekend to try for some fall fishing solitude, I think a 100+ boat tourney is goin out of maysville this weekend so beware, I may end up below meldahl this weekend

Slabber, nice picture! You caught some of the best eating fish in the river,WTG!! If the rain would let up (don't look good) I would like to catch some sauger! Last year I was able to catch some nice sauger - hopefully this year will be just as good. I have caught 3 walleyes below Smithland Dam over the years, they are a tough catch. So congrats on catching a river walleye!

Some fish from last November

http://www.crappie.com/crappie/attac...1&d=1256263536

What do you usually catch em on down there Huck. Ive seen folks who fish some of the tva tailwaters for em' w/ heavy hair jigs tipped w minnows, I usually just use a jig and twister tail, some times tipped w/ minnow. Drop-shotting works well for sauger when current isnt too bad. I used to always fish for em' below the dams but past couple years ive finally figured out a few ways to always scratch out a few once the water cools down into the 50's and high 40's. I enjoy fishin' for em' a lot tho, theyre neat fish.

Originally Posted by ekySlabber

What do you usually catch em on down there Huck. Ive seen folks who fish some of the tva tailwaters for em' w/ heavy hair jigs tipped w minnows, I usually just use a jig and twister tail, some times tipped w/ minnow. Drop-shotting works well for sauger when current isnt too bad. I used to always fish for em' below the dams but past couple years ive finally figured out a few ways to always scratch out a few once the water cools down into the 50's and high 40's. I enjoy fishin' for em' a lot tho, theyre neat fish.

Slabber, we use a 1-1.5 oz hair jig (or plastic jig). Will usually tip that with a minnow or shad. And I always use a stinger hook. My favorite line is 10lb fireline. The braided line is thin which makes it great for fishing in deep water with current and the line has no stretch. No line stretch helps you feel the bottom and get a good hook set on the fish.

I heard last week they were catching some sauger below Barkley dam. I usually fish below Smithland dam but the water needs to be about 75,000 cfs or less. Right now the water is flowing about 125,000 cfs.

Originally Posted by ekySlabber

What do you usually catch em on down there Huck. Ive seen folks who fish some of the tva tailwaters for em' w/ heavy hair jigs tipped w minnows, I usually just use a jig and twister tail, some times tipped w/ minnow. Drop-shotting works well for sauger when current isnt too bad. I used to always fish for em' below the dams but past couple years ive finally figured out a few ways to always scratch out a few once the water cools down into the 50's and high 40's. I enjoy fishin' for em' a lot tho, theyre neat fish.

They are starting to catch them at Meldahl inside the wall using jig or minnow all kinds of colors, and the hybrids are still being caught. Both species are being caught early morning and one hour before dark. With this rain I dont think its going to hurt the saugers.

EKYSlabber,
I fish below Meldahl dam. I use a 1/2oz to 3/4 hopkins spoon or a ultravibe, silverbuddy type lure. Drop to the bottom and jig it up and down. When they are in there, you can catch a bunch of em. 1/4oz jighead, 3" chartreuse or white curlytail with a minnow works too if they are slow. Crankbaits and jerkbaits do a job on them too.
Bassky