Douglas or Melton Hill ??

[jpierce111]

Got the itch to go try some bank fishing for crappie.
Thinking about trying some jig fishing below either Douglas dam or Melton hill dam. Directly below the dam.
Not being familiar with the area and never been to Douglas dam, am I wasting my time or would
one or the other be a better idea?

 

[Tenntrapper]

Admittedly, I haven't been to either one in a long time...late 80's. However, there used to be a parking area on the right, after you crossed the bridge below Douglas dam. You could walk back up the river (in the woods) to the dam, on the opposite side of the generators. Used to be good fishing in there. If you want on the generator side, I believe you can drive right to it.

 

[mike243]

I use to fish Melton on the lock side, had pretty good luck.They closed down my short cut so don't go very often any more

 

[Biggun4214]

I would fish Rankin across from Leadvale on the upper end of Douglas. There is a backwater pocket between the roadbed in Rankin and the railroad track.

 

[Crow Terminator]

Briefly, what I know about Melton Hill below the dam is that it seems to be extremely hit or miss. The river is so narrow right there, that if they are running just 1 generator, it can almost make it unfishable due to so much current. If they are running 2, then you can have an 8 oz sinker and it will still blow it down river in no time flat. If they aren't running anything at all, you can see just how clear the water actually is. To me, it is super clear and you can see fish swimming everywhere....carp, catfish, stripers, bass, etc. I've never actually caught anything when they weren't running water but there does seem to be a happy medium to how much and which generator they are running. I've been up there some mornings and absolutely wreck the white bass and smaller stripers, but when the sun tops the trees, I have no idea where they go but they vanish. Never fished it from a boat and never fished it in the evenings either; just talking about fishing from the bank. I have been there and caught nothing, while people in boats over at the wing wall were catching fish nearly ever cast. I haven't caught a crappie there but did catch my PB walleye there. If you keep your eyes peeled, you can spot several bald eagles that nest and hang out there at the dam; mostly on the lock side. I've never been on the actual lake itself either; just fished there from about the beach to the dam from the bank, and then below the dam from the boat ramp up to the dam itself.