ohio river bass

[Stevens]

So im still fairly new to the ohio river even tho ive lived by it my whole life. I really do enjoy the challenge of it. I was wondering tho what to look for during the prespawn. Waters still plenty cold now so when do they start making there way to the tributaries? Should i treat a big river system similar to a place like ky lake?

[fishhound]

it is simular to big lakes.but flooding in the spring is a factor to deal with in the river and muddy water.but if we get some good warm rains plus afew good days of sunny warm days it will jump those temps. bass will bite in creeks that run in to the river. i like useing a spinner bait by far in those condtions seems like the water is always stained to muddy at this time of yr. late march in to april look out bite should turn on

[jfw]

14 mile creek and harods creek are both good .I like #5 jointed shadraps

[davidsa]

Great Thread!

I notice the ohio is almost always high and muddy in the Spring. Do you fish it anyway?

Right now it is higher and dirty but certainly not flood level. I'm not certain what the bite would be like in these conditions.

[MsgMills]

Early to late April the river should really start to warm up. The bass should be moving towards their spawning beds and a 1/4 single Colorado Bladed spinner bait in white should be the bomb for them. But can't over look an RC5 shad Rap in shad pattern. Pig & Jig combo should work great also around woody cover. I agree also a great thread for peeps top respond to and help each other out.

[riverrat12]

Don't forget Rebel crawls around rock piles for the smallies!

[davidsa]

Thanks for the sharing! I won't try launching on the river until mid-April then will focus on cranks, small blades and jigs.

[jollyroger]

Is it a good bet to fish tributaries or the main river? I've always thought a river system in the heat of the summer would be better than a lake due to cooler water temp. but I have never fished "the River".

[Stevens]

thanks alot for the advice guys, ill be sure to put it to use

[fishhound]

Great Thread!

I notice the ohio is almost always high and muddy in the Spring. Do you fish it anyway?

Right now it is higher and dirty but certainly not flood level. I'm not certain what the bite would be like in these conditions.

i fish the main river if its some what high but if its got alot of current i will fish creeks instead of the main river. i also luv to catfish the river and thats what i mostly fish for latewinter earlyspring ive seen those blues bite even in the dead of winter. as the the water warms ill start bass fishing.

[TeamHotShot]

We live in Carrollton so point park is right around the corner . . . we find hot water discharges, fish the ky river and the lil kentuck as well. . . We are going to start looking for some humps and such on the river this year as its hard to find cover and we need to find a "hidden" honey hole for tourneys

[slowjamcdub]

Man if I could fish the Ohio the last thing that I would be fishing for would be bass! Id be after the huge blue cats that come out of that place! Ive seen so many pics of 50 and 60 pounders its crazy! I think they all are catchin the same 5 fish over and over again! lol j/j