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Columbus Rivers
September 21, 2019
Presented by:
Registration
To sign up and pay for this event go HERE.
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Cost
The $35 entry fee includes:
*$5 Tourney X fee
*$5 50/50 raffle (click for details)
*$5 goes to the angler with the longest fish
*$20 goes to the top placing anglers
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Rules Changes Specific to this Tournament Only
*This event has no captain's meeting and anglers can go directly to eligible water, but fishing won't begin until 7:30AM.
*This tournament is a 3 fish limit.
*This tournament is black bass only (Largemouth, Smallmouth, Spotted)
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Rules & Format
The other Rules and format for this event can be found HERE
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Tournament Day & Identifier
Identifiers can be printed off HERE. The code for the identifier will be released at 9PM on September 20th on Facebook, Tourney X, and Twitter. An identifier with no code, the wrong code, or codes in the wrong boxes will not be accepted. If participating in multiple tournaments you can combine codes on a single identifier, but they must be correct and they must be in the correct boxes.
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7:30AM - First cast; Anglers may begin fishing. Any fish caught prior to this time will be DQ'd.
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12:00-3:30PM - At some point during this time frame the Tourney X standings will disappear to add a little drama to the final standings. Once they go dark you will still be able to submit fish. If you want to verify your fish have been uploaded check the email address you signed up with for Tourney X. DO NOT CALL OR MESSAGE US. If you don't receive an email letting you know the fish was submitted then you need to keep trying. The main reason a fish submission won't upload is because there is no cellular service where you are uploading. Anglers need to be aware of that and head to a spot with service in enough time to upload.
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3:30PM - Fishing ends and no submissions will be accepted. If you are unable to upload fish you are required to be back at the measure-in location BEFORE 3:30PM. If you arrive after 3:30PM the fish will be disqualified.
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4:30PM - All anglers are required to be at:
3124 Kingsdale Center
Columbus, OH 43221
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If you do not attend the measure-in:
*You forfeit all rights to the 50/50 cash drawing you entered
*You forfeit all rights to all the raffle prizes that are awarded to anglers who didn't finish in the top 2 (or won big fish).
Eligible Fishing Waters
*Over 185 miles of eligible waters to choose from!
See maps below :
Scioto River: Red
Olentangy River: Orange
Big Walnut Creek: Green
Little Walnut Creek: White
Alum Creek: Purple
Big Darby Creek: Blue
Little Darby Creek: Yellow
***Listed below are only eligible waters and are not meant to necessarily be a put-in or take-out location. Be sure to refer to the maps and ask someone if you are unsure of a possible launch/take-out location. Posting a question to the Buckeye Nation Kayak Anglers Facebook group will receive a pretty quick response.
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Scioto River
Map:
http://watercraft.ohiodnr.gov/where-to-boat/rivers-streams/sc/scioto-river
BEGIN:
Access below dam just south of Marion and Delaware county line off Gast Road
south of Prospect, roadside access river left
END:
Elmon Richards Fishing Access at S.R. 22/56 bridge in Circleville, roadside access river right
Olentangy River
Map:
http://watercraft.ohiodnr.gov/where-to-boat/rivers-streams/sc/olentangy-river
BEGIN:
Hyatts Road north of Powell off S.R. 315, roadside access river right
END:
Scioto River Confluence
Big Darby Creek
Map:
http://watercraft.ohiodnr.gov/where-to-boat/rivers-streams/sc/big-darby-creek
BEGIN:
S.R. 38 bridge in Bridgeport southeast of Milford Center, roadside access river right
END:
Scioto River Confluence
Little Darby Creek
Map:
http://watercraft.ohiodnr.gov/where-to-boat/rivers-streams/sc/big-darby-creek
BEGIN:
S.R. 42
END:
Big Darby Creek
Alum Creek
Map:
http://watercraft.ohiodnr.gov/where-to-boat/rivers-streams/sc/alum-creek
BEGIN:
Alum Creek State Park lake dam tailwater area off Lewis Center Road and Big Walnut Road north of Columbus, access river leftAlum Creek State Park lake dam tailwater area off Lewis Center Road
and Big Walnut Road north of Columbus, access river left
END:
Big Walnut Creek Confluence
Big Walnut Creek
Map:
http://watercraft.ohiodnr.gov/where-to-boat/rivers-streams/sc/big-walnut-creek
BEGIN:
Hoover Dam tailwater access off Central College Road in Westerville, access river left
END:
Scioto Confluence
Little Walnut Creek
Map:
http://watercraft.ohiodnr.gov/where-to-boat/rivers-streams/sc/big-walnut-creek
BEGIN:
Richardson Road
END:
Scioto River Confluence
Prizes
Outdoor Source will be donating $300 worth of prizes to raffle off at the measure-in! Prizes will be raffled off to all anglers who didn't win 1st place, 2nd place, or win big fish. It is the goal of the Trail to give all participants who attend a shot at prizes and not just those who take the top spots, so be sure to attend the measure-in even if you had a tough day locating fish!
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Lodging/Camping
Resources
This has most of the rivers with a detailed map of access points: http://watercraft.ohiodnr.gov/paddlesouthernohio
Google Earth, and Google Maps are amazing tools when trying to plan a stretch. Google Earth allows you to draw paths along rivers to get an idea of distance. It’s a good rule of thumb that you will travel on average 1 mph on a river so keep that in mind while planning your trip.
*Keep in mind that just because it says access points, it does not mean the take out will be easy and may require steep banks or highly wooded areas.
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River & Creek Descriptions
The Scioto River will be the largest river at RotR and flows right through the competition area from north to south. This river is also going to have some of the easiest put ins/ take outs of any of the rivers selected due to the public parks dotted along the river banks.
The Olentangy River is going to be one purely controlled by the Corps of Engineers, so the waters can be stable, yet unpredictable at the same time. This river has numerous small low heads dotted along it that require portaging. Again with this being in the center of Columbus the access points are relatively easy in comparison to the other stretches.
Big Walnut Creek is located to the southeast, starting below Hoover Dam and ending at its confluence with the Scioto River. This creek is known for its thick grass beds the further south you go and its high muddy banks. This creek's access points go from easy to downright horrid. The high muddy banks play a huge role in this, and should be thought of accordingly when estimating float times.
Little is known about the Little Walnut Creek, but fell within the boundaries of the tournament, and people last year asked about it.
Alum Creek is a very small urban creek. Starting at the tail waters of Alum Creek Reservoir, and ending at Three Creek Metro Park, where it joins Big Walnut, and Blacklick Creeks this creek has numerous small mouth, but size may be hard to find. This creek has a rather nice rocky bottom, but keep in mind you will be fishing urban structure, more than natural structure, and depending on the rains, you could also be doing a lot of dragging through riffles.
Big Darby Creek is the gem of central Ohio, with it being both a National and State Scenic River. With that said this river also has a very big livery on it , which floats people through most of the Battelle Metro Park, just something to think about on a hot weekend. This river winds down the western portion of the tournament area, with access points ranging from really easy to very hard. This river also has a wide mix of very slow stretches, and moving water. Do not bite off more than you can handle tournament day and miss the check in.
Little Darby Creek is another small creek which could require a lot of dragging if the water isn’t higher than 120 CFS. This little creek is most likely the most technical stretch of water, with numerous log jams, tight water ways, and strainers around every corner. With this being such a small creek, size may be hard to find to win the trail.
