Hoover Reservoir earns reputation as top spot for big catfish

An angler claimed to have pulled a 53-inch blue catfish out of Hoover Reservoir one year ago today. That, it turned out, was the largest blue recorded in Ohio during 2019 and was only a tad shy of the longest ever.

Hoover surrendered 41 blue catfish a year ago that met the Fish Ohio standard of at least 35 inches, more than any other water body in the state.

The Ohio River, where in 2009 the 54½-inch, 96-pound state record was caught, surrendered 38 Fish Ohio blues in 2019. The river produced most of the biggest blues, two being 50 inches, but Hoover proved a bit more consistent.

Blue catfish, natives to the Mississippi River drainage that can grow to 65 inches and 150 pounds, defaulted to Hoover after an earlier stocking attempt went bust at Dillon Reservoir in Muskingum County. The Ohio Division of Wildlife was looking for sites where blues might thrive and persist long enough to provide anglers with a super-fish experience.

The hope, it appears, was not misplaced.

The second-largest Hoover blue — listed No. 16 overall — was taken Aug. 18 and measured 41½ inches. One Hoover blue measured 40 inches, and 38 others ranged from 35 to 39½ inches.

At almost a foot longer, the 53-incher seems like such an outlier, and it’s hard not to wonder what it was doing in Hoover.

It’s not impossible that 53 should read 35, which would fit the profile of an impoundment where stocking of blues didn’t begin until 2011 with the hope that Hoover could become a preeminent catfish factory.

That first year, almost 22,000 young blues were released in the 3,272-acre impoundment near Westerville and Galena, followed in 2012 by 17,600 and in 2013 by 10,500. When it appeared the catfish might be sticking around, the stocking numbers jumped to 62,600 in 2015 and remained in the 49,000 to 58,000 range for several years.

The blues have proved so persistent and their growth rate so rapid that the stockings now take place every other year, which includes this one after 2019 was skipped, said Wildlife Division fish biologist Nick Radabaugh.

Hoover’s ample forage base of shad and other creatures suggests that in time, numbers of hefty blue catfish in the 50- to 60-pound class will be playing tug of war with anglers. Still, that shouldn’t shake Hoover’s reputation as a top channel catfish lake.

Among the 1,917 Fish Ohio channels reported last year, 74 came from Hoover. The total easily surpassed several hard-fished area impoundments, including Alum Creek’s 29, Buckeye Lake’s 23, Deer Creek’s 19 and Delaware Lake’s one.

Hoover also surrendered the longest channel among area lakes, a 33¾-incher taken Aug. 12.

Another native catfish to central Ohio waters is the flathead, the region’s unrivaled king of cats until the blues arrived. The state record, taken from Clendening Lake, has stood since July 28, 1979, at 58 5/8 inches and 76½ pounds.

Hoover produced more Fish Ohio flatheads last year, six, than did Deer Creek, Alum and Buckeye combined. Hoover’s longest, 46½ inches, was modest by flathead standards.

With its boat motor restrictions and therefore minimal wake, noise and general mayhem compared with unrestricted lakes, Hoover keeps idiosyncratic catfish bag limits.

While a single flathead longer than 35 inches may be kept, and no limit is in place for keeping flatheads shorter than 35 inches, blues understandably get a bit coddled at Hoover. No blue or channel catfish between 18 and 28 inches may be kept. A single blue or channel 28 inches or longer may be kept daily, as can a combination of three blues and channels less than 18 inches.

outdoors@dispatch.com