Ohio
River Fishing Opportunities
The Ohio River originates in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania at the confluence
of the Allegheny River and Monongahela River. It flows 981 miles
southwest and inters the Mississippi near Cairo, Illinois. It serves
as a boundary between the commonwealth of Kentucky and the states
of Illinois, Indiana, Ohio and West Virginia.
The Illinois portion of the Ohio River begins at the mouth of
the Wabash River near Uniontown, Kentucky and flows 133 miles to
its confluence with the Mississippi River at Fort Defiance. This
portion of the Ohio is made up of three lock and dams with three
river pools and an open river area. The pool areas, embayments,
and open river areas provide diverse habitats which provide a diverse
fisheries. Over 150 different species of fish have been recorded
from the Ohio River with many of these being sport species. The
river level is regulated by the Army Corps of Engineers for navigation
and has a navigation channel marked by buoys that runs it's entire
length. Water depths in the channel run from 9 to 90 feet.
Smithland Pool is the largest pool and is formed by the high lift
dam near Smithland, Kentucky. The pool runs from near Uniontown,
Kentucky 72 miles to the dam. Smithland Pool is over 27,000 acres
in size and contains many small embayments that provide many fishing
opportunities. These embayments are actually small tributaries that
were impounded when the dam was built. Major embayments on the Illinois
side include Lusk Creek, Barren Creek, Big Creek, Big Grand Pierre
Creek, Bay Creek, Dog Creek, Alcorn Creek and the Saline River.
Bluegill, white and black crappie, channel catfish and largemouth
bass can be found in lower portion of these areas. The main channel
borders and island borders of the Smithland Pool provide excellent
fishing for spotted bass, white bass, freshwater drum, flathead
catfish, channel catfish and blue catfish. Smallmouth bass are also
beginning to found along portions of the main channel border. Areas
of stronger current in the upper portion of the pool above Old Shawneetown,
Illinois provide anglers opportunities to catch additional sport
fish such as sauger, striped bass and hybrid striped bass. The tailwater
of Smithland Dam provide excellent angling opportunities for many
different sport fish. Blue cats, channel cats, flatheads, white
bass, striped bass, spotted bass and freshwater drum are some of
the fish that can be caught in the tailwater. Anglers can also expect
to see the exotic bighead, silver and grass carp in Smithland Pool
and it's tailwater.
Access to Smithland Pool can be found at it's many public and private
boat ramps. Public ramps can found at Old Shawneetown, Cave in Rock,
Tower Rock, Elizabethtown, Rosiclare, Golconda Marina, Golconda
and Barren Creek. Access to the Smithland tailwater can be obtained
by locking through the Smithland Dam or by utilizing boat ramps
at Smithland Kentucky.
The smaller pools on the Ohio are Pool Number 52 and 53. These
pools are formed by older wicket dams which tend to vary water levels
and flows on a daily basis. Dam's 52 and 53 are to be replaced in
the near future when the dam located at Olmstead, Illinois is completed.
Pool 52 starts at the Smithland tailwater at flows 21 miles to Dam
52 located above Metropolis, Illinois. Pool 53 runs 24 miles to
Dam 53 located above Olmstead, Illinois. The open river portion
of the Ohio begins at Dam 53 and flows 18 miles to the Mississippi
River below Cairo, Illinois. These smaller pools and open river
areas provide anglers opportunities to catch channel cats, blue
cats, flatheads, striped bass, hybrid striped bass, white bass and
sauger. Access to these areas can be found at the many public boat
ramps. Public boat ramps can be found at Brookport, Fort Massac,
Metropolis, Joppa, Pulaski County, Mounds City, Cairo and Fort Defiance.
The Ohio River has an excellent sport fisheries which does and
will continue to provide many angling opportunities to the Illinois
angler.
