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:confused: I have a Championship tournament next week out of Carrollton Kentucky, on the Ohio River. I have never fished the river before, and will be down to prefish on 5/12. Can anyone share locations, techniques, and baits that are working for bass (lg mouth, sm mouth, spots) this time of year.
run as far as you can away from carrollton. either down to louisville, lock up into kentucky river and run to 2nd lock fish your way back, or go upriver lock thru and fish craigs creek or any of the other creeks up there. dont know how big the tournament is but i bet it wont be won near the launch.
I vote for locking up the Ohio River. If you have never fished the river keep an eye open for big wakes and debris..We had allot of rain last week and have more headed this way. I fished out of Rocky Point last weekend and we had some 4-5 ft waves due to high wind
Thanks for the info all. If you have anything else please send it my way. I am looking at maps trying to set up a game plan to pre-fish for the tournament. I will keep an eye out for rough water and debris too.
One word of warning if you go down towards Louisville (which is a good area to fish). Stay out of the marinas. The marinas are posted "No fishing" and they will call the police if you do. It is a trespassing charge (private property) and a $200 (?) fine if I am correct.
Areas I would suggest: The KY river at Carrollton can be awesome, lots of brush, stumps, etc. Go upstream and lock thru Markland. There are several creeks on both sides of the river that can be productive. There is one on the IN side immediately after locking thru that can be deceiving. It is narrow and shallow at the mouth but opens up after you go up a little ways.
Go downstream towards Louisville. I am not familiar with anything until you get below 18 mile island. Again, hit any creeks. 14 mile creek (IN side) can be feast or famine, as can the riprap directly across from it. Topwaters early near the mouth and crankbaits later. Harrods Creek near Louisville is very popular/productive, but receives a lot of traffic pressure. Definitely stay out of Captain's Quarters marina. They will ticket you in a heartbeat. Further downstream on the KY side are several docks and the Water Tower art museum. Crankbaits and T-rigged tubes have worked for me here.
Good luck and be careful if water is high.
Joe
This is the first I have heard about not being able to fish in the marinas? Here at home they don't like you in there, but there is nothing they can do about it. Looks like I am going to spend a day up the Kentucky River, then hit the creeks down toward Louisville the next practice day.
How has the fishing been at Rocky Point this year?
I fished a Indiana Bass Federation Top 8 out of Rocky Point last weekend. I believe the best bags were caught on the main river near Owensboro.
If the marinas are posted "No Fishing", it is best to stay out, at least around Louisville. Majority of the marinas are man-made (created by digging out an area), which means that they are private property. The marina owner can set his own rules. I believe Craigs Creek is an exception because the marinas were built in a naturally formed area. Maybe someone else can clarify.
This has been a hot topic in the past. My understanding is if someone dug out the area for the marina, they own the land and the water. The Craigs Creek area is naturally occurring and someone added the docks. However, I believe they can restrict the fishing around the docks. If any public $$ was used to build the marina, it is supposed to be open to the public. It can get confusing sometimes.