Thread: Ohio river crappie?

Has anyone here ever tried crappie fishing in the river itself? I have lived on the bank of the Ohio my whole life and never saw anyone actually doing this. The crappie have to be there in the hot summers. What do you think ?

Hey Kycreekboy,
I have also been on the ohio river all my life. Grew up campin every summer since i was born. The crappie fishin that i have heard of has been really few and far between. Bout the only fishin that i have heard of is back in white oak creek past the old iron bridge if ya know where thats at. Also in bull skin creek down river a couple miles. I didnt grow up on crappie fishin there mostly cat and bass. But now im perdy much just a crappie angler. My tourney partner ( specwick) and i are gonna try and get some crappie fishin done on the river this year. But gettin time seems to be what everyone allways needs. As far as them being in there in the creeks, i dont doubt that one bit. Thats why we just gotta find time and get on the river and get some fishin done. Wish i had some more info for ya. Good fishin to ya Ky.

I caught some decent crappie below Markland Dam in December while sauger fishing . i was jigging a Paddlefry around brush in the mouth of some feeder creeks . I'm defently going ot try crappie fishing there this spring . I talked to a fellow who fishes it a lot . He said there are a lot of slabs in it . Well worth a try !!
Norm

Hi guys, I'm not talking about the creeks feeding the river but the river itself. I have fished White oak many times and it as many of the local creeks are full of crappie at the right time. You are talking about my neck of the woods now. I actually live on the river across from Ripley and fish these creeks more than anywhere. But what about in hot weather where do these fish go? They have to be in the deep water. (SOMEWHERE) Ohio crappie boy, I have read some of your partners post. You guys fish East Fork a lot ? I have been there once and would like to go back.

Hey Ky,
Yes we fish at east fork alot. We both live perdy close together and eastfork is not even 5 minutes from his house so its very easy to get over there. We fish all the crappie tourneys there and plan on fishin 2 or 3 buckeye trail tourneys this summer to. Durin the summer we try and make it out at least once a week or maybe more durin the summer. That is our home lake. Actually we got out today and run the boat for awhile. Everything worked great. Thats a big plus for him since he's headed down south next week. Felt perdy good to get out on the lake. As far as the river goes, yes they would have to go out to the deeper water, but just finding them out there on the main river will be a challenge in itself. Prolly be alot different then bein on a lake goin to deeper water. I hang out at snappers alot durin the summer, i also have a pleasure boat and we take it up there. I camp on the river about a mile down from the agusta ferry. Who knows maybe we could catch up this summer and try and find them slabs on the river. Well till later, good fishin Kycreekboy.

Just got off the phone with my buddy and we are going to White Oak tomorrow and fish the slough on the left hoping to find some stained and warmer water. The creeks on this side are clear and cold. But it won't be long now. Couldn't stand it had to have a 3 day weekend. SEC tourney and crappie fishing, it doesn't get any better than that.

OUCH MAN!! I hope the crappie fishing turns out better for ya than the UK game did kycrappieboy! I'm not gonna rag on UK. I am a UC fan, okay stop laughing, and at least UK got to go to their tournament. Just one Tubby remark though....How does Randolph Morris NOT get that ball at the end of the game? He was the man today, they should have rode him till he failed 'em.
Anyway, I have always heard the crappie on the river run pretty big, probably because they aren't really targeted all that much and because they have plenty of shad and whatnot to eat. I'm sure you could find them on drop offs, sharp bends in the channel and around current breaks. I would have to say the stuff that stacks up around docks and barge ties would be full of slabs come spawn time. I plan on getting out on the river a time or two this year to find out myself. If you do get into them, let us know.

We do real well in the winter in the back bays of the Ohio River near Steubenville. Once the warmer weather comes it seems like the crappie head out to the main river and disappear till the next winter.
I never caught one out in the main river.

We used to fish the Ohio river creeks from above Meldahl to below Markland, almost every creek on both sides of the river have produced large crappie. One year I remember in Dec. we were fishing below Markland towards the bank at Vevay and were catching crappie, smallmouth, and white bass on about every other cast using white spinners. We stocked some ponds with 1/2 to 1 lb. crappies from early spring fishing in Laughery Creek.

Dobetter in the creeks but have only caught crappies behind the dam like greenup my neck of the woods but never really tried fishing the big O. Will have to give it a chance though!!