Early Fall Fishing on the Ohio River
Nice Weather Keeps Lines Wet
by Robb Hoff
October 4, 2012
With temperatures in the mid-70's and a steady10 mile-an-hour wind funneling upriver, fishing is almost an afterthought as you stand on bank of the Ohio River, squinting into the glare and cascade of sparkles that glisten across the river surface of a nearly cloudless early Fall midday.
Almost an afterthought.
The fishing is changing, like the season, but the fish are still there in droves, waiting for the angler to present the temptation that is too much too resist.
I went fishing last Sunday for a couple hours and didn't catch a fish. It was the first time in the last couple dozen or so times fishing on the river that I can remember coming up empty-handed. With a limited selection of lures left, the zero output aggravated me enough to leave straight from the water for the store, where I bought the lures I know fish will hit no matter what: Rapala Shad Raps, Mepps Agalia and twister-tail grubs.
Happily, the lure binge worked, even if the volume of fish seems to be declining.
Thinking like a fish is part of fishing and the temperature change and recent rash of rain has me thinking beyond the environs immediately downriver from the Markland Dam. Soon, temperatures in the mid-50's will seem warm and the wind will not seem so welcome as it did today.
All the more reason to fish as much as possible in the days ahead.
