To expand on the river information I was already going to post I figured a good addition would be to actually fish all four rivers within the eligible sections of the tournament and fish them within days before the tournament. Ultimately, I was able to fish the Little Miami, Great Miami, and Mad Rivers and not making it up to the Stillwater. Aside from the small amount of rainfall we might see later this week the rivers should be pretty similar to the conditions I recently fished.
Before I start here are the eligible waters for Saturday:
Before I start here are the eligible waters for Saturday:
*Great Miami River - MAP
Twin Arches Reserve, Miami County Park District north of Troy (GM 108.8 on the map) downstream to Crains Run Park (GM 62.0 on the map)
*Little Miami River - MAP
Narrows Reserve at Indian Ripple Road Bridge to Riversedge Canoe Rental located at 3928 US 42, Waynesville, OH PH (937) 903-6468
*Stillwater River - MAP
*Stillwater River - MAP
The entire river from State Route 718 (SW 27.0 on map) downstream
*Mad River - MAP
Entire river South/downstream from SR 41 (MR 27.1 on map)
***There are lowhead dams throughout sections of the eligible fishing waters! Be sure to know what is on the section of water you are fishing!
Stillwater River
Description
The Stillwater River has the appropriate name, so if you plan to fish it you are sure to hit some long flat sections. The upside is that in my experience the Stillwater has the largest concentration of largemouth bass than the other rivers. This could be an advantage if you are able to get them to bite. Certain sections will also have quite a few shallow riffles you will need to drag through.
Recent Trip
Since I wasn't able to fish the Stillwater in the last couple of weeks I will give you some information from my past experiences there. There are some very, very large bass in the Stillwater. I have witnessed a 5 lb. largemouth caught in the Stillwater as well as a 20" largemouth that I lost boatside this spring. The larger pools hold the bigger Largemouth and can be tempted with the typical lake lures (jigs, plastics, spinnerbaits, etc). Don't be suprised if you land a big largemouth in some swift current at the upstream side of a big pool or right before the next riffle on the downstream side of a big pool. The water will be slightly stained, so color options are endless. The primary structure you should fish on the Stillwater include the numerous laydowns (ones in current are fish magnets) and above/below any and all riffles. If you don't fish rivers often and don't have confidence in smallie fishing this might be the river for you. Most of the areas in the northern stretches of the eligible water hold quality fish. Catch rates seem to dwindle the closer you get to the GMR confluence.
Trip Recommendations
The Miami Conservancy District Map has shows your best put-ins/takeouts.
If you are looking to put-in/take-out at the same location there are several areas in the northern stretches that are just large pools with small riffles in between, so getting back upstream is very easy.
Little Miami River
Description
All of the eligible waters on the LMR have canoe livery traffic, but it usually dies down this late in the year and shouldn't be a problem. As far as the fishing goes you will want to target the several lay downs and especially the ones in deeper moving water. Also not to be overlooked is any rocky structure you can find even if it is as shallow as a foot deep and especially if it is before or after a riffle. Since there are very few rocky areas on the LMR smallies tend to hold to them. Good lures to use are plastics and bass jigs flipped into the laydowns, stickbaits or square bills to run through current and rocky structure, spinnerbaits, and buzzbaits.
Recent Scouting Report
Last weekend I floated about a 3.5 mile stretch of the Little Miami River and the water level was low and the water clarity was pretty clear. Having fished this section several times over the years I knew the water level wasn't out of the ordinary for late September. Unless we get a decent amount of rain this week you will have to drag through the occasional shallow rocky riffles. As far as how the fishing went I caught a total of about 7 bass in about 3 hours. My top 3 were 16.5", 15", and 14". Of the 7 fish caught all were Smallmouth except for one; the 15" Largemouth. There are Largemouth in the LMR, but the smallies reign supreme in the eligible sections for the tournament.
On a side note, about 6 or 7 years ago I caught my personal best smallmouth of 22" on the LMR in the eligible waters, so you may get your photo taken with a true Ohio football!
Trip Recommendations
There are several put ins and take outs along the eligible waters. Most of them are fairly easy to access. You can also contact one of the Canoe Liveries (Bellbrook Canoe Rental or Riversedge Canoe Rental) to arrange for a shuttle. If you are looking to just put-in and take-out at the same location about the only spot to do so easily would be at the Indian Ripple Road bridge (The Narrows). From that point you can easily drag your kayak upstream to a small pool or go downstream to the larger pools about a mile or so. Getting back upstream from this point is fairly easy with easy drags through shallow riffles.
All of the eligible waters on the LMR have canoe livery traffic, but it usually dies down this late in the year and shouldn't be a problem. As far as the fishing goes you will want to target the several lay downs and especially the ones in deeper moving water. Also not to be overlooked is any rocky structure you can find even if it is as shallow as a foot deep and especially if it is before or after a riffle. Since there are very few rocky areas on the LMR smallies tend to hold to them. Good lures to use are plastics and bass jigs flipped into the laydowns, stickbaits or square bills to run through current and rocky structure, spinnerbaits, and buzzbaits.
Recent Scouting Report
Last weekend I floated about a 3.5 mile stretch of the Little Miami River and the water level was low and the water clarity was pretty clear. Having fished this section several times over the years I knew the water level wasn't out of the ordinary for late September. Unless we get a decent amount of rain this week you will have to drag through the occasional shallow rocky riffles. As far as how the fishing went I caught a total of about 7 bass in about 3 hours. My top 3 were 16.5", 15", and 14". Of the 7 fish caught all were Smallmouth except for one; the 15" Largemouth. There are Largemouth in the LMR, but the smallies reign supreme in the eligible sections for the tournament.
Trip Recommendations
There are several put ins and take outs along the eligible waters. Most of them are fairly easy to access. You can also contact one of the Canoe Liveries (Bellbrook Canoe Rental or Riversedge Canoe Rental) to arrange for a shuttle. If you are looking to just put-in and take-out at the same location about the only spot to do so easily would be at the Indian Ripple Road bridge (The Narrows). From that point you can easily drag your kayak upstream to a small pool or go downstream to the larger pools about a mile or so. Getting back upstream from this point is fairly easy with easy drags through shallow riffles.
Mad River
Description
The Mad River is not like the typical river in Ohio. It is spring fed and has a much cooler water temp in the summer than surrounding rivers. This cool water is why the upper sections of the Mad is one of only a few rivers or streams in Ohio that can harbor trout year round. The river levels downstream of Buck Creek can also fluctuate due to dam releases from CJ Brown Reservoir. These releases occur every weekend during the fall and rises the Mad a small bit, but sometimes enough to trigger a very good smallmouth bite. If you are able to catch the river on a rise under perfect weather conditions you can catch a lot of quality smallmouth and the occasional largemouth. The eligible waters on this river can flow pretty quickly and you will need to know how to maneuver your kayak well to target some of the best spots. If you don't have very good control of your kayak I would look at fishing another river because chances are you will float by most spots too quickly to fish it properly. This river also flows right through the Midwest Outdoor Experience where registration and measure-in will take place. Since a majority of this river flows fairly fast it is primarily a rocky bottom river with very clear visibility.
The Mad River is not like the typical river in Ohio. It is spring fed and has a much cooler water temp in the summer than surrounding rivers. This cool water is why the upper sections of the Mad is one of only a few rivers or streams in Ohio that can harbor trout year round. The river levels downstream of Buck Creek can also fluctuate due to dam releases from CJ Brown Reservoir. These releases occur every weekend during the fall and rises the Mad a small bit, but sometimes enough to trigger a very good smallmouth bite. If you are able to catch the river on a rise under perfect weather conditions you can catch a lot of quality smallmouth and the occasional largemouth. The eligible waters on this river can flow pretty quickly and you will need to know how to maneuver your kayak well to target some of the best spots. If you don't have very good control of your kayak I would look at fishing another river because chances are you will float by most spots too quickly to fish it properly. This river also flows right through the Midwest Outdoor Experience where registration and measure-in will take place. Since a majority of this river flows fairly fast it is primarily a rocky bottom river with very clear visibility.
Recent Trip
This past Saturday I floated a section of the Mad River with Amanda Jones, Sean Stone, and Brad Lehman (with a shout out to Jeff Scrader for the shuttle!). None of them had floated this section of the Mad before so they were both scouting and looking to land a YAK Ohio smallmouth. With only a few days left a 19" smallmouth would earn them a top 3 YAK Ohio. I even felt a little pressure in finding a 19" smallie for one of us, but not because of anything they said or did but because I knew the rivers in Dayton could provide one.
At the put-in I guided everyone to a certain spot I had done well at in the past. Sean and Brad paddled up to one bank as Amanda and I paddled up to the other bank. As soon as we got into place I landed a 15.25" smallie within 5 or 6 casts.
After I landed my smallmouth I told Amanda to slide into the spot I was fishing in and pointed to a specific current break I wanted her to cast into and with what lure. Within 5 or 6 casts she landed a 15"+ smallie!
Soon after, I landed a couple of little smallmouth until I hooked into a smallmouth that I was able to put the Kayak Wars stretch on (mouth open, tail pinched) and get it to 15".
After a few more small fish caught by Brad we decided to float further downstream where we picked up some smaller fish, but nothing to speak about. I ended my day on the Mad River with a 3 fish total of 43.75".
After a few more small fish caught by Brad we decided to float further downstream where we picked up some smaller fish, but nothing to speak about. I ended my day on the Mad River with a 3 fish total of 43.75".
As far as fishing tips on the Mad, natural shad color imitations work best. Let me repeat that: natural shad color lures work best! Leave the chartreuse, red, orange, black, blue, or any other dark colors in your tackle box. The water is very, very clear, so scaling down a bit won't hurt either. In my experience, I have caught some of my largest fish on smaller baits in the Mad. If you do your best with bass jigs or plastics this isn't your river. The recommended lures would be any shad imitation such as square-bills, shallow running cranks and stickbaits, lead heads with twister tails, and any variety of minnow imitating top water baits. By the way, the Mad River had the record smallmouth bass in Ohio stand for 51 years!
Trip Recommendations
Harshman Road (right at the entrance for the Midwest Outdoor Experience) is an easy access put-in. From there you can float down to Whitewater Warehouse on Valley Street. This trip is just over 3 miles, but fast flowing so it only takes 3-4 hours to fish it thoroughly. If you want to float a bit further you can go down to the GMR confluence and take out over near the Kettering Fields softball diamonds. This take-out requires dragging kayaks up a tall levy and isn't easy. Another option is once you hit the GMR confluence is to paddle upstream past the Kettering Fields and portage upstream around Steel Dam (easy portage on left side facing upstream) and then paddle up to Triangle Park. The water above Steel Dam is a bit deeper and you can spend several hours fishing just this sections that includes the Stillwater Confluence.
Great Miami River
Description
The Great Miami River is by far the largest river in the eligible waters and sometimes stretches several yards wide. Some stretches (usually upstream of the lowhead dams) have a mud bottom and other stretches have a rocky bottom. This river offers the greatest variety of structure out of the four and if you have a "go to" bait this river will offer a situation that the bait would work. Structure includes current breaks, bridge pilings, laydowns, riffles, submerged weed beds, weed beds along the shore, etc, etc....
The Great Miami River is by far the largest river in the eligible waters and sometimes stretches several yards wide. Some stretches (usually upstream of the lowhead dams) have a mud bottom and other stretches have a rocky bottom. This river offers the greatest variety of structure out of the four and if you have a "go to" bait this river will offer a situation that the bait would work. Structure includes current breaks, bridge pilings, laydowns, riffles, submerged weed beds, weed beds along the shore, etc, etc....
Most of the river is only 3-5 foot deep with an occasional deep hole (some as deep as 20' in spots, but that is not the norm) or a deeper flat water section above a low-head. The water clarity is typically pretty stained in the summer and fall while maintains a brown algae tinge to it from the slower moving current in the low water months. Recent Trip
After Amanda, Sean, Brad, and I hit the Mad River we decided to hit the GMR for one last attempt at landing a 19" smallie. Once we hit the water we noticed a major difference from the super clear Mad we fished earlier in the day. The water had its typical brown stain and was a bit lower than it normally is in the fall. It did still have a decent flow to it, so we knew fish would still be active. As soon as we hit the river we paddled to the swiftest moving water we could find. After about 20 minutes we only found one small bass that Brad landed in some pretty swift and shallow water. We decided to move downstream a bit to some slower moving, but deeper water and it immediately paid off. I hooked up on a big fish and as soon as it bit it ran straight to the surface and jumped. Brad was fishing nearby and saw the smallmouth jump and knew it was a big fish and started paddling my way. After I set the hook I didn't notice any weight on the other end of the line and figured I just didn't get a good hook set since the fish went straight to the surface. Once he dived down again I tried to get a good hookup on him again and found the drag on my baitcaster was set to nearly the lightest setting from moving rods in and out of cars and kayaks all day. I immediately tightened the drag down as fast as I could and set the hook for the 3rd time and realized I still had the fish hooked up. I got the smallie to the boat and recognized he had that nice long tail that larger river smallmouth in Ohio tend to get. I laid him on the board and he measured out at 19.5"!
As for what works on the GMR, pretty much anything goes because it has so much structure and so many types of structure. Due to the brown stained water I would use the typical colors recommended for that type of clarity. What worked for us on the GMR Saturday were chartreuese shallow diving crankbaits. I landed the larger fish on a KVD chartreuse squarebill.
Trip Recommendations
There are several sections of the GMR that can be easily accessed. Using the Miami Conservancy District map will show your best put-in/take-out spots.
If you are looking to put-in and take-out at the same location an easy spot would be the East River Road boat ramp. This area has a large flat water section downstream (around a mile or more) that features a few bridge pilings, steep dropping banks, and a large feeder creek. The section upstream has more moving water, but if willing you can paddle upstream as far as the dam (around a mile upstream). Many sections north of Dayton on the GMR are also popular and a shuttle service can be obtained by Adventures on the Great Miami.
Sponsor Challenge
Now that I have completely ruined whatever plan you had or have you completely
Smallie Stix has laid out a sponsor challenge....The FIRST person who measures-in a Fish Ohio
Smallmouth Bass (20"+),
Largemouth Bass (21"+),
Northern Pike (32"+), or
Saugeye (21"+)
will win a custom Smallie Stix fishing rod!
Here are your best waterways for landing a FISH Ohio:
Largemouth Bass: Stillwater (Best), GMR (Good)
Pike: GMR Only
Saugeye: GMR (Best), Stillwater (OK)
Smallmouth Bass (ALL OF THEM!!!!)
Well, I hope this information helps out....
Good luck and while I am working the Buckeye Kayak Fishing Trail booth during the Midwest Outdoor Experience festival I sure will be wishing I was out on the water with you!
-Neil
PS: Be sure you give yourself time to walk around and check out the Midwest Outdoor Experience on Friday or after the tournament on Saturday. It is a pretty cool deal. Also, if you qualified for Angler of the Year the prizes are going to be EPIC including a Wilderness Systems Ride 115X!
Thanks for all this information. It gives me more confidence fishing in a river!!! Go BKFT!!
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