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Fishing in Ohio
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Fishing regulations in Ohio
Disclaimer: Always check local fishing regulations, water access rights and land ownership before fishing, regardless of any catches logged in that area by the Fishbrain community. Fishbrain has mapped millions of acres of government-owned land across the USA to help you identify potential fishing access, but you are responsible for ensuring compliance with all legal requirements.
Fishing regulations in Ohio can change throughout the year. Make sure to check this page before fishing for the most up to date rules and regulations for the current season. Local regulations govern when you can fish, the max size of the fish you can keep, how many fish you can keep, and more.
Below you will see fishing regulations for catching Black crappie as of July 10th, 2026. To view regulations for a different fish species, please click on your preferred species in the drop-down.
Seasons
Restrictions & requirements
Additional information
Crappie (black and white) regulations for the Ohio River - Western Unit (Ohio/Kentucky) Regulations. The following are the ONLY unified regulations in this agreement and must be followed when fishing on or within a quarter mile of the Ohio River on its embayments and tributaries to the first riffle or dam in the Western Unit.
bag limit = 30; no size limit.
Kentucky regulations apply to boat anglers fishing beyond the 1792 low water mark, identified at wildohio.gov. WildOhio.gov.
Crappie (black and white) regulations for the Ohio River - Eastern Unit (Ohio/West Virginia) Regulations. These Ohio regulations apply only to shore anglers when fishing on the Ohio shoreline and all anglers in Ohio embayments and tributaries within the Eastern Unit.
bag limit = 30; no size limit.
West Virginia regulations apply to boat anglers fishing the main stem of the Ohio River, shore anglers fishing the West Virginia shoreline, and boat and shore anglers fishing West Virginia embayments and tributaries within the Eastern Unit.
Crappie (black and white) regulations for Pymatuning Lake:
bag limit = 20; min size = 9-inches.
Additional site-specific regulations for Crappie:
Alum Creek; bag limit = 30; Minimum size = 9-inches.
Berlin; bag limit = 30; Minimum size = 9-inches.
Buckeye; bag limit = 30; Minimum size = 9-inches.
Caesar Creek; bag limit = 30; Minimum size = 9-inches.
Deer Creek Lake (Fayette and Pickaway counties); bag limit = 30; Minimum size = 9-inches.
Delaware (including the Olentangy River upstream to the Waldo dam, and Whetstone Creek upstream to State Route 229); bag limit = 30; Minimum size = 9-inches.
Dillon; bag limit = 30; Minimum size = 9-inches.
East Fork; bag limit = 30; Minimum size = 9-inches.
Ferguson; bag limit = 30; Minimum size = 9-inches.
Grand Lake St. Marys; bag limit = 30; Minimum size = 9-inches.
Hoover; bag limit = 30; Minimum size = 9-inches.
Indian; bag limit = 30; Minimum size = 9-inches.
Killdeer Plains; bag limit = 10; No size limit.
Kiser; bag limit = 30; Minimum size = 9-inches.
Lake Milton; bag limit = 30; Minimum size = 9-inches.
Loramie; bag limit = 30; Minimum size = 9-inches.
Mahoning River, from the dam at Lake Milton to the Mahoning-Trumbull County line, and between Berlin Lake and Lake Milton (Mahoning and Portage counties); bag limit = 30; Minimum size = 9-inches.
Metzger; bag limit = 30; Minimum size = 9-inches.
Mosquito; bag limit = 30; Minimum size = 9-inches.
O'Shaughnessy; bag limit = 30; Minimum size = 9-inches.
Oxbow; bag limit = 10; No size limit.
Paint Creek; bag limit = 30; Minimum size = 9-inches.
Piedmont; bag limit = 30; Minimum size = 9-inches.
Pleasant Hill; bag limit = 30; Minimum size = 9-inches.
Pymatuning Lake; bag limit = 20; Minimum size = 9-inches.
Portage Lakes (East, North, Turkeyfoot, and West); bag limit = 30; Minimum size = 9-inches.
Rocky Fork; bag limit = 30; Minimum size = 9-inches.
Salt Fork; bag limit = 30; Minimum size = 9-inches.
Seneca; bag limit = 30; Minimum size = 9-inches.
St. Joseph River Wildlife Area; bag limit = 10; No size limit.
Tappan; bag limit = 30; Minimum size = 9-inches.
Veterans Memorial; bag limit = 30; Minimum size = 9-inches.
Edibility
Synonyms
Black Crappie, Pomoxis, Pomoxis annularis, Pomoxis nigromaculatus, White Crappie
Regulations for
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