Charles Mill Lake bass fishing reports

[River Walker]

A buddy and I took my boat out this morning on Charles Mill Lake for a couple of hours.Originally,we intended on (hopefully)catching a few saugeye's,but ended up with a pleasant surprise.We were limited on the areas where we could fish,due to the horsepower restrictions on this lake,but that didn't matter anyway,my motor isn't running anyway at present(oil pump is shot).We pulled up right out in front of the beach area and spotted a lot of nice marks on the Lowrance,so we set the anchor and started jigging.We tried Vib-e's,and jig/minnow combo's with only one small saugeye caught,and 2 decent crappies.So,Floyd started casting a shad rap and hooked into a 14" bass on about the third cast.Obviously,we both figured it was just a fluke thing,until he caught two more around the same size.It didn't take us long to put the eye' fishing on the shelf,and switch to the bass.We both started throwing around crankbaits,but had no further action off the beach.We then cruised on over to the marina area and started fishing the deeper water there around the dock pilings,and the wood cover in water around 10' deep.I caught a couple nice fish on a jig,and one on a senko,one of those bass went 15".Floyd caught the fish of the day on a gold Hopkin's Spoon off the deep end of one of the remaining docks,it went 17" on the nose.He caught one other short bass,and 2 more crappies from the same general area,he caught those fish on the jig and minnow.I'm still pretty amazed that we caught 7 bass today,and a couple of good ones at that! The air temp was 30,and the water temps were averaging around 40.I still can't figure the saugeye's out off that beach area,but I'm so glad that we were able to switch tactics and get into some (very)late season bass.There was one other boat working the beach area,and we seen him get into a couple of fish of size,but for whatever reason,he wasn't willing to talk,we asked him if he was having any luck,and he just shrugged his shoulders and said "nope"-some people! There was a couple people fishing brushpiles from shore for crappies,but after the rude reception we received from the first guy,we didn't bother to ask them how they were doing.Going to head down to Columbus tomorrow morning and fish a couple of spillways for saugeye's,maybe the luck will hold on for one more day!

[Buzzman]

Definitely a nice day! Is Charles Mill a 10 HP restricted lake?

[River Walker]

Yes it is,there's an ongoing battle with the MWCD regarding that very issue.I hope what they end up doing is going with an unrestricted horsepower limit,and a 10mph speed limit lakewide,same as Clear Fork.CM is one heck of a good bass lake,and it's way too large to explore with your bowmount.After my "discovery" earlier today,I only wish that I had a few more weeks to fish it.There were several places this morning where we had to cruise through skim ice,and it looked like the ice was even thicker in a few small coves we passed.However,I heard there's a big warmup heading our way the first of the week,so I may be able to put the boat in down there a couple more times yet.I'm so glad that we've added C.Mill to our tournament roster next summer,I love that lake!

[Phil Carver]

I love that lake ! Sure miss liveing close to it . I prefer it just as it is . Keeps alot of the presure off of it . It is definatly one of the best lakes up in the area .

[River Walker]

If you know it well,it's quite possibly the best lake in the area.That's saying a lot considering Clear Fork and Knox are in the area.I'm still somewhat shocked that we were able to get into the bass like that as cold as the water temps are,guess you just never know unless you try.

[River Walker]

Just checked out the spillway about 3:30am this morning returning home from a run.It's PERFECT,all the generators are running full blast,and the water is up just right.I've been waiting for this all winter! I'll definitely be there first light Saturday morning,anybody else want to give it a shot?

[MotherNature]

Sounds like the place to be... I will be looking to see how you did come tomorrow Afternoon.....

[Jerry Holston Jr]

See ya there sunday and lets get some fish cause i will proably have a hang over.

[River Walker]

 Fished C.Mill yesterday with Jerry for about an hour or so.The water level couldn't be more perfect than it is now,and the weather yesterday was real nice considering the time of year.Unfortunately,we couldn't get anything going,Jerry foul-hooked a carp,and surprisingly,I caught about a three pound quillback that actually inhaled my jig,I had to reach way down into it's gullet to retrieve the jig.I had one other good hit,and a couple little taps here and there,but that was it.Probably wasn't a good idea to be fishing for saugeye's at high noon with a bright sun out,but oh well.There was 2 other guys and a young boy fishing there also,I don't think any of them had much luck either.The only dude that seemed like he was having any luck was the usual snagger that frequents the dams in winter.He was pretty much constantly into fish,I'd rather go home skunked any day!

[River Walker]

Fished Charles Mill Spillway this morning from 8:30am until about noon.I caught quite a large variety of fish,even though I was unable to locate any keeper saugeye's-again.I caught 2 decent sized sheepshead on jigs,caught 1 good sized channel cat and 1 wiper on a Vib-e.The cat went prolly close to 3lbs.,the wiper wasn't all that big,maybe a pound or so.I caught 3 dinky saugeye's on the Vib-e as well,none would've went over 10".I foul-hooked 2 carp,and at least 6 quillback suckers,plus a bonus pair of sunglasses with the lanyard still attached to the frames.It's kind of puzzling,the water level is totally perfect,and only somewhat discolored,they should be hitting a lot better than what they are.I know there's a lot of fish in there,because the idiot snaggers are nailing them one after another.May try a little meat next time,go with a jig/minnow,or jig/crawler-something's got to work!

[Jerry Holston Jr]

wish i could have gotten out with ya man.  Iam going to hit a farm pond  monday morning after work for some bassin.

[Warpath]

RW,

Glad to see you onboard, hope everything is well!!!

Uhhh, those were my sunglasses, can you mail'em back to me?   

Busy week ahead but buzz me when you get a chance.

Eric

[OHbassaholic]

Glad to see you back in here posting, RW.  Catch some bigguns!

[River Walker]

I still won't have much time to fish or post for awhile due to an illness in the family.I couldn't take it any longer yesterday,I had to get out for awhile.Jerry,I picked up the scales from Dusty,and getting a room at Mifflin Inn on the 28th won't be a problem.You didn't really miss out a lot on the fishing,had a lot of action,but not on saugeye's.My dad's condition had improved somewhat on Saturday,it worsened again late last night.Most likely,I'll be spending the better part of today at Grant in C-Bus again with family members.They managed to get his lungs up and going again after they collapsed,but now he has a real high fever,and is still in a coma.It's been a real emotional roller-coaster for everybody since the holidays.We think it's going to be alright,then we get a call to rush right down to Columbus,this has happened 6 times now.I know I've missed a few e-mails,and a couple of instant messages from you guys,I'm sorry that I haven't been able to respond to everything,I just wish everything could get back to normal.I really appreciate the support you've all offered.

[Buzzman]

RW-

Our thoughts and prayers are with you. Let me know if you need anything.

Take care.

[Jerry Holston Jr]

good deal man i posted the meeting info and will give somepeople calls.

[Lipripper]

River Walker sorry to hear about your Dad an dMy thoughts and prayers go out to you from Illinois also.

[River Walker]

 It appears as of right now,everything is going to be alright.They told us late last night that they're planning on moving him from the ICU to the stepdown unit.He's made a pretty remarkable recovery considering his age,and everything he's went through since this came about.Thanks for all the words of support from everyone,definitely appreciate it.I'll give it a few more days to make sure things are alright,then can get back to a fishing mindset again.It's amazing what the human body can endure,even at an advanced age,but you still have to have the will to survive,and he certainly does!

[Warpath]

RW,

That is great news, and we will continue to pray for your father and a fast recovery.  Like I said before, give me a ring if you need anything.

Eric

[Lipripper]

That's good news RW  and thanks for the up date.