Can't Miss Fall Fishing Tip & Tricks on Charles Mill and Pleasant Hill Lakes

The leaves are starting to turn, the air is getting chillier, and the fishing is heating up on Charles Mill and Pleasant Hill lakes. Read below for our favorite tips & tricks on how to catch a variety of fish before winter arrives.

How to Catch a Crappie

Crappies are one of Ohio’s easiest fish to catch and are great for trips intended to get kids hooked on fishing. Common in Charles Mill Lake, count on crappies for fast action using basic techniques and equipment. They are also as good to eat as they can be to catch and are a long-standing favorite for the table.

• Tackle Tip: A fishing rod with moderate-to-fast tip action and rated for lure weights of 1/16 to 1/4 ounce is good year-round for crappies. Attach to this a light to moderate-sized reel spooled with 4- to 8-pound test fishing line. Minnows are frequently used to catch crappies. All you need for this technique are small hooks (sizes 4, 6, or 8), small split shot weights and a bobber. Other baits that work well are 1/16 to 1/8 ounce jigs with feathers, synthetic hair, plastic curly tails, or tube bodies. Jigs come in a multitude of colors. Some people use long crappie poles or cane poles (9-14 feet) to place jigs and minnows between submerged tree limbs.
• Crappies are usually situated around structure-including points, drop-offs, creek beds and covers such as brush piles, fallen trees and stumps.
• Crappies are moving back into shallow water to feed. Cover and baitfish are key to locating schools of crappie.In smaller lakes, crappie may be very close to woody structure all year long.
• If fishing deeper than four feet a slip bobber is very helpful.
• If crappies are in the area and the bite is slow, a change in jig color may increase the bite rate.

How to Catch a Saugeye

Saugeye are a hatchery-produced hybrid made from a cross between a female walleye and a male sauger that are particularly well-suited for Charles Mill and Pleasant Hill Lake. Each year, the Division of Wildlife stocks more than 7 million saugeye in more than 70 reservoirs. Saugeye grow rapidly and most fish caught by anglers are 12 to 18 inches.

• Tackle Tip: Medium spinning tackle with 6-8 pound test line for fishing jigs and baitcasting tackle with 10-12 pound test line for fishing crankbaits. Minimize the use of terminal tackle.
• Fall fishing tip: Saugeye can move extremely shallow at sunset & sunrise, so try rip-rap areas and large points with a gravel silt make-up.
• Although saugeye is a cross between walleye and sauger, they often behave differently than walleye, so methods can vary. Saugeye are not likely to suspend off the bottom, unlike walleye, so present lures close to the bottom.
• Consider water color when determining how deep to fish. In clear water, fish deeper. In darker or muddy water like Charles Mill Lake, fish shallower. It is not uncommon to catch saugeye in less than six to eight feet of water. It’s never too muddy for a saugeye, but in dark-water conditions, try black jigs and twister tails.
• Checking good overhead cover is important, too. Saugeye are known to hide underbrush or lily pads like bass.
• From “ice-out” until water temperature reaches about 55 degrees, try a stop-go method when casting and retrieving crankbaits and don’t be surprised if saugeye inhale the lure on the pause.

How to Catch a Bass

Few experiences are more thrilling than watching a bass leap through the air at the end for your fishing line. Catch rates are often higher in streams because bass are more common in streams than reservoirs like Charles Mill and Pleasant Hill lakes and the stream fish are often concentrated in specific areas.

• Tackle Tip: Crayfish imitating baits still work but fish are switching back to fish. Use inline spinners, tubes and jigs in lighter colors. Cast baits across pools and runs retrieve at medium rate with twitching action.   
• Bass use pools to rest and feed and will move to runs and riffles below pools when most actively feeding.
• When a bass strikes, raise the tip of the pole to prevent the fish getting to cover.
• Cast past your target and retrieve bait to intended area.
• Light-to-medium spin-casting outfit with 4- to 10-pound test fishing line or a 5 or 6 weight fly rod.

How to Catch a Hybrid Striped Bass

Hybrid striped bass is a cross between white bass and striped bass, and pound-for-pound, one of the hardest fighting fish swimming in Ohio’s waters today. Hybrid striped bass can grow considerably larger than a white bass and are more tolerant of Ohio’s warm water than striped bass.

• Tackle Tip: A long bait-casting or spinning rod (6 to 8 feet) outfit with some flex (medium to medium-heavy action) helps absorb the shock of a hybrid’s hard, initial strike and keeps the hooks from pulling out of the fish’s mouth. Reels should be spooled with 10- to 14-pound abrasion-resistant monofilament. The heavier lines should be used for river hybrid striped bass. Be sure to have your fishing rod firmly in your hand or hooked into the boat.
• Cast spoons into schools of bait fish, troll shad-type crankbaits, cast flashy metal lures onto flats, or bottom fish cut bait or chicken livers. As water cools, fish will move shallower.              
• Use cast nets to catch gizzard shad for bait.
• Hybrid striped bass hooking mortality increases greatly when water temperatures exceed 70 degrees Fahrenheit. Increase survival on released fish by landing fish quickly, reducing handling time, keeping fish in the water as hook is removed and cutting the line on deeply-hooked fish. Try using a circle hook if using live bait.
• If you plan on keeping some hybrid stripers, place them on ice to maintain flavor and firmness of their flesh. Remove all the dark reddish meat from the centerline of the fillets to reduce the strong, fishy taste of larger fish.

How to Catch a Catfish

Catfish can be found widely across Charles Mill Lake, varying in types and sizes. Whether it is bullheads, channel catfish, or flathead catfish, many anglers seek catfish not only for their fight but for their table fare as well.

• Tackle Tip: Anglers use a variety of scented baits since a catfish’s sense of smell and taste is excellent. The most effective baits include cut shad, prepared blood bait, chicken livers, shrimp and nightcrawlers. Keep tackle simple. When fishing on the bottom, use a fixed or slip sinker and when fishing the surface or suspended, try either a slip or fixed float. Hook sizes range from size 4 to 6/0 depending upon the size of fish you are seeking and the size of bait that you are using. Having a strike indicator is a good idea for catching catfish. Catfish do not “hit and run” like other fish, instead, they move very slowly away with baits.
• Rods and reels should be matched for the sizes of catfish that you anticipate catching. Standard tackle for channel catfish or bullheads includes medium spinning or baitcasting outfits with 10-12 pound line, whereas for flathead catfish or blue catfish, heavy rods and reels with 20- or 30-pound line may be required. Reels used for catfish should have a good drag system.
• Catfish school tightly in the fall in preparation for winter. Fish areas next to deeper waters, especially areas near flats that cool down rapidly at night, or are located near feeder streams.