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Alum Creek Report - May 14, 2011

jagermeister

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Ohio
My dad and I met up at Alum Creek over the weekend for a crack at some slab crappies. I've only been down there once before, about two years ago, and it was a riot. My dad sold the 24' Ebbtide last summer and bought himself a new 16.5' Smokercraft, so he was pretty fired up to trailer it down to Delaware.

We were on the water by 8:45 a.m. and started out fishing the shallows in the cuts along shore. Armed with minnows and slip bobbers, we hit all the submerged cover in the area. We managed a couple keepers (9" slot at Alum) but all in all, the fishing was pretty slow. They just didn't seem to be congregated in the shallows like they normally are during the spawn, so we figured it must be a little early yet. With that in mind, we made a move to deeper water at the opposite side of the lake. Near the opening of a cut, we anchored over 16' of water, and focused on a submerged fallen tree. My first cast with a red/white crappie jig landed me a nice 12.5" slab crappie. We managed to pull 6 or 8 nice keepers from that spot, then the incoming weather chased us off the lake.

Having radar on my phone was a curse for us. We looked at it, agreed that the forecast looked incredibly shitty, and decided to pull the boat out and fish from shore until the storm arrived. Well, the storm never arrived at Alum like we thought. The heavy rain missed us to the west, and everything to the south broke up as it got closer to Columbus. In hindsight, we should've stayed on the water... but hindsight is of course 20/20.

It was a good day on the water, but the crappie fishing has not peaked yet, IMO. The cold, rainy spring seems to have delayed the spawn just like it has delayed so many other things. I'd say in a week or so, the crappie fishing should be dynamite down there. My dad and I are already talking about a return trip in the coming weeks LOL. That was his first ever trip to Alum, and he really had a great time. If you've never fished there, do yourself a favor and check into it... it really is an amazing fishery.
 

Curran

Senior Member
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7,971
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Central Ohio
Better luck next time!

I wish I could give you some pointers on hot spots, but even though I'm within a few miles of the New Galena boat ramp, I hardly ever fish there. I hardly fish anywhere for that matter. That's gotta change...
 

jagermeister

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18,060
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Ohio
Well, just got off the phone with my dad and it sounds like we're gonna meet down there again this weekend. I'll give another update on the fishing once I get back.