Editor’s note: As we hit mid-January winter is starting to tighten its grip on the Tri-state area. Fishing on all our reported lakes is slow; however, fishing the methods we have covered continues to have limited success. The Ohio River is the only exception. The below the dam fishing has been good at times using the method we have listed in the Ohio River report.
Did you have a good day on the water or in the field? Send me your pictures. I will include as many as I can in the fishing reports each week. I am also looking for hunting stories. Did you bag a buck, elk or other game? Please send us your pictures or story ideas to: chris@ashlandbeacon.com or trimmer308@windstream.net
Cave Run Lake: The lake is unchanged this week holding just one foot from winter pool as of the writing of this report. The lake is clear. The Licking River and Beaver Creek are stained. Water temperatures have been falling this week to around 37 degrees with some fluctuations according to the daily weather pattern. While the lake is just a little over winter pool, you need to stay in the channel; normally, open lanes may not be deep enough to run your boat in. Musky: fair. As the water temperatures continue to fall, the Muskie fishing has still been fair on the main lake and has been improving in the river. Fishing the heads of creeks in the middle of the day has been the most active. Old weed beds have produced some good catches; however, laydown trees in the river were the most successful pattern this week. Hot baits have been large crankbaits and in-line spinners. Square bill crankbaits have also been hot the past few weeks producing some good fish. Largemouth Bass: Slow. The water temperatures have continued to drop and bass are starting to use winter patterns. The fish caught this week have been on jigs and spoons and slow moving swim baits. Smallmouth: fair. Smallmouth are always spotty on this lake; however, this week some fish were caught in the dam area fishing jigs. Crappie: fair. These fish continue to hit small 1/32-ounce jigs dressed with twister tails or minnows along with live bait. The fish have staged in channel trees moving under shad where they become active for short periods. Catfish: Slow, fishing backwater areas with live bait. White Bass: We had no activity reported on White Bass this week. Bluegill: Fishing has been slow with no reports this week.
Grayson Lake: Grayson Lake has also returned to just above winter pool. The creeks and main points have produced this week. The water is 38 degrees. Bass: slow. The bass has started to relate to deep-water structure, jigging spoons and A-rigs have produced some catches during the warmest part of the day. Crappie: Fair. Fish downed timber and brush in 14 to 25 feet of water. Jigs, live bait and small crankbaits have been successful this week. Hybrids: We continue to have some reports that the hybrid bass are active on the main lake. Fishermen have been locating shad and then backing off and throwing swim-baits and big spoons. Fish have been in eight to 10-12 feet of water. Catfish: Slow, fishing live bait from the heads of coves near discharge areas along with bluegill spawning areas. Bluegill: slow. As they leave the bank for deeper water, live bait fishing the first break was reported to be the most successful method for good numbers.
Greenbo Lake: Greenbo Lake this week has reported good success on blade baits. Greenbo is clear and stable. The lake is near 38 degrees. Bass: Slow, the bass are beginning to be more active during daytime periods as the water temperatures continue to fall. Jerk-worms proved to be the best bait this week producing fair numbers. Blade baits and crankbaits also produced using bright color’s fishing points and flats. Fishing at night with plastic worms and bootleg jigs have also produced. Trout: fair. Using Berkley sparkly orange Powerbait rigged using a small treble hook with a split shot about six to 12 inches up the line. Catfish: fair. They continue to be taken near points and in the dam area. Fishing with live bait or chicken liver has produced good numbers. Bluegill: Slow, Bluegills are disappearing from the banks and are suspending in 10 to 12 feet of water. Live bait and worms were reported to be the most productive bait this past week.
Ohio River: The Ohio River has been returning to normal levels, some creeks and backwater areas are stained from recent rains. However, good catches continue to be reported. Below the dam, the tail-water pool was 20.19 feet while the Greenup Locks and Dam pool was 12.70. The Ashland pool was 34.65 at mid-week; rain may impact the Ohio River this week. Largemouth Bass: Slow to fair. Fish have been taken near old spawning areas and backwater areas along with the heads of some creeks using spinnerbaits and jerkbaits. Some smallmouth bass continue to be caught this week using jig & pig baits fishing rocky areas. Some bass have been taken on ¼-ounce jigs. White Bass: Some white bass above the dam have been hitting blade baits and inline spinnerbaits. Look for schooling fish. Walleye on the upper side of the dam have been active fishing Silver Buddies (Blade baits) in the mouth of creeks and on weed covered banks.
Below the dam: Fishing below the dam has been good and should continue improving as water levels return to normal. Water levels have been returning to normal levels this is expected to improve fishing in the tail-water area of the Greenup dam; as the temperature continues to fall the Sauger fishing will improve. The old standard method of twin tail grubs on ¼-ounce ball jigs is still the best producer of Sauger and Walleye. Use bump-the-bottom retrieves while running a two-jig setup produces better strikes. One of the two baits needs to be a little off of the bottom. Some Walleye have also been taken on crankbaits near sand bars and discharge areas. White Bass: Good, fishing inline spinners and blade baits. Look for breaking fish. We had no reports of Hybrid Striped Bass catches this week. Bass: Slow fishing jigs. Catfish: Slow, using live bait in backwater areas. Minnows, cut-bait and worms fishing on the bottom have all been successful.
Yatesville Lake: Yatesville has returned to winter pool with water temperatures near 37 degrees. Bass: Slow, reports this week have confirmed that the bass are moving into a winter pattern. Reported success has been fishing ledges using plastic worms and jigs. Bass have moved into a winter pattern. The key to success is to fish slow using jigs around deep-water structure. Standing trees have also produced some success. We also had reports of some bass being caught fishing areas that receive sun all day using spoons and vertical jigging the area. Crappie: Fair, some success has been reported using Road Runner spinners fishing the edges of flats in channel bends and old fish attractors using 1/32-ounce white crappie jigs or lives bait. We have seen some anglers improving their odds drifting across fish attractors using both live bait and jigs. Catfish: Slow, fishing back water areas continues to produce using live bait and chicken liver. Bluegill: Slow, fishing shallow area using live bait and 1/64-ounce jigs.
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