Fishing the Columbus Rivers

The big water of Central Ohio. Below O'Shaughnessy and Griggs dams the Scioto fishes like a proper tailwater — smallmouth bass, saugeye, and hybrid stripers stack below the releases, and the downtown-to-south stretches hold quality channel and flathead catfish. Watch the release schedule: flows can jump fast.

Key species: Smallmouth bass, Saugeye, Hybrid striped bass (wiper), Channel catfish, Flathead catfish, White bass

Columbus's neighborhood smallmouth stream. Wadeable riffle-pool water through Worthington and Clintonville with willing smallmouth, rock bass, and spring saugeye — a legitimate after-work fishery minutes from downtown.

Key species: Smallmouth bass, Rock bass, Saugeye, Channel catfish

Below Hoover Dam the Big Walnut runs cool and steady — smallmouth, largemouth, and a strong spring white bass run. The lower creek toward Rees has deeper holes that fish well when other water is skinny.

Key species: Smallmouth bass, Rock bass, Largemouth bass, White bass, Channel catfish, Saugeye

The tailwater below Alum Creek Lake is a saugeye factory in the cold months and holds smallmouth through the warm ones. Quick access, consistent flows, and a short float to the Big Walnut confluence.

Key species: Saugeye, Smallmouth bass, Largemouth bass, Channel catfish, White bass

Ohio's premier coldwater stream — a spring creek an hour west of Columbus with ODNR-stocked brown trout, sulphur and caddis hatches, and year-round midges. Fly anglers treat this as the trout water of Central Ohio; handle fish gently in the warm months.

Key species: Brown trout, Rainbow trout, Smallmouth bass, Rock bass

Ohio's premier coldwater trout stream. Browns are ODNR-stocked (put-grow-take, ~11,500/yr) with limited natural reproduction — this is a fragile, spring-fed fishery, so keep trout wet and handle them gently.

A State & National Scenic River and one of the most biodiverse streams in the Midwest. Classic clear-water smallmouth fishing among endangered darters and mussels — catch-and-release country with a light footprint.

Key species: Smallmouth bass, Rock bass, Channel catfish, Largemouth bass

A State & National Scenic River and one of the Midwest's most biodiverse streams (~40 mussel species, several endangered darters). Please catch-and-release smallmouth and tread lightly on the streambed.