About & disclaimer

The Night Bite is a personal, unofficial Hoover Reservoir fishing hub with a night-dock look: species pages, water maps, trip log, and gear (Delaware / Franklin County, Ohio). Night is especially useful for channel and flathead cats (blues too); it is not the best approach for every species.

Not official

Not the Ohio Department of Natural Resources (ODNR).
Not the City of Columbus.
Not USGS. Gauge snapshots are provisional and labeled; optional refresh never invents numbers.
Depth contours linked from Water are ODNR 2001 / 894-ft pool, for reference only and not for navigation. No Garmin/Navionics.
Example log trips are fiction for layout demos, marked Example.
Tournaments listed only when submitted. This site is not a tournament director.

Hub scope

Hoover Reservoir only (Delaware / Franklin OH).
Public access names only: no secret GPS, no private property tips.
10 hp / drinking-water / safety notes stay on Water, gear, and species pages.

Safety

Fishing after dark can be dangerous. Storms, lightning, heat, cold, slick ramps, and low visibility are real risks. Turn back when weather turns. Use lights, tell someone your plan, and wear a life jacket when appropriate. Hoover is a drinking-water reservoir. Pack out trash and follow posted rules.

License

An Ohio fishing license is required for anglers 16 and older (confirm current rules before you go). Buy and manage licenses through official ODNR / HuntFish OH channels, not through this site.

ODNR licenses / HuntFish OH · mention the HuntFish OH app for phone-side regs checks.

Regs reminders (verify 2026–27)

Plain-language reminders from the statewide inland pattern in ODNR Fishing Regulations 2026–27 (verify current). Confirm on HuntFish OH before you keep fish. Some waters differ (e.g. Hoover crappie 9″ note).

Channel cat: under 28″ no daily limit; 28″+ daily 1
Blue cat: under 35″ no daily limit; 35″+ daily 1
Flathead: under 35″ no daily limit; 35″+ daily 1
Largemouth / smallmouth / spotted: 5 combined, 12″ min
Striped / hybrid striped / white bass: 30 combined; no more than 4 over 15″
Walleye / sauger / saugeye: 6 combined; no minimum size at Hoover (a 15″ minimum applies only on six other lakes)
Crappie at Hoover: 30 a day, black and white combined, 9″ minimum (Hoover site-specific rule). ODNR has proposed dropping the 9″ minimum from March 1, 2027
Bluegill / sunfish, carp, gar: not on the statewide limits table, and Hoover has no site-specific rule for them

Privacy on The Log

Personal trip entries you add are stored in your browser’s localStorage only. Do not type secrets, card numbers, SSNs, or home addresses into notes.

Whisperwood Vale

Whisperwood Vale is a cozy pixel fishing game beside this notebook, fiction, not a map of Hoover. Play in the browser.

Build notes (log)

Community list reads data/community-log.json; submit by mailto or GitHub issue. No account needed to read.
Text trip notes only for now: no photos, likes, Instagram, or logins.
Private log key: nightbite-log-v1 in this browser only.