A better-than-average crappie from Salt Fork Lake in Guernsey County, one of the state’s best, and most versatile fisheries to the public. (Photo Provided)
If fishing is your happy place, don’t let stories of bigger and better fishing discourage your passion for the relaxing thrill of doing what you like. I learned recently that someday – many days – fishing is not to be confusing with catching.
By Ray Reilly for Press Pros
For those of you who live in Miami and Shelby County, I will share with you a personal success story experience a few days back on my way to northern Ohio to visit friends and relatives along the lake…or, ‘The Lake’. Some of the older folks from Sandusky and other lakefront communities are funny about proper respect for Lake Erie and its shared majesty.
The personal success part of this story was my driving north on I-75 and stopping in the Piqua area to visit with Press Pros publisher Sonny Fulks and fish a bit in a couple of the local waters. Last summer when I was in Miami County I experienced Greenville Falls, west of Covington, and had a great time for an afternoon catching smallmouth bass – as good a smallmouth fishery as I’ve been on in some time. I’m always looking for more places like that to fish.
But coming out of the South where I’ve been fishing for panfish in some of the country’s more noted lakes and rivers, I wanted to see what some local waters would be like in March so I spent a couple of hours on Echo and Swift Run Lake, about two miles apart…and on the following day a little time on Lake Loramie, in Shelby County, outside of Fort Loramie. Not Fort Laramie, mind you, but Fort Loramie. The locals there are probably a stickler about their own community majesty.
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It could have been the day, it could have been the change in weather, it could have been a number of things…but fishing from the bank and along the levy around Echo Lake I didn’t catch a lot of fish – some bluegills – and not very big. And on a beautiful 60-degree day, I was surprised to be on the only person I saw with a fishing rod. One thing that stood out about Echo Lake was the amount of residential building that surrounded that body of water. My immediate concern in cases like that is runoff from lawns – nitrogen and herbicides – that can cause excess algae growth and oxygen depletion. Both are tough on fish.
Ten minutes north on route 66 is Swift Run Lake, a beautiful fifteen-acre body of water that’s accessible primarily by boat, but I fished from the south bank along the levy. I caught a few crappies, mostly small ones, but I wouldn’t be surprised if there weren’t some pretty good fish in that pond.
The following day I fished in the morning at Lake Loramie, farther up route 66 in Shelby County, and ran into a friendly guy outside the bait store there.
“I’ve read your stories on the internet,” he said, cordially. “I enjoy them. A lot of us like to fish.”
Lake Loramie just looks like a place to fish, although with the traffic that I saw on that day I’m sure it gets fished a lot. The nice thing about it is that so much of it is accessible from the bank.
Did I catch fish? Yes, in a couple of hours I caught some bluegills with jigs and wax worms, and some 6-inch crappies on some baby shad soft jigs.
But what I enjoyed was seeing other people enjoy fishing in a day where there’s so many other things to do that require less time and preparation than fishing.
And with that comes an appreciation for bodies of water and the commitment on the part of the state, communities, and private land owners to take the time and expense to create such an addition and improvement to the environment. And the state of Ohio is rich with such properties from Lake Erie to the Ohio River.
I’d hesitate to guess how many private ponds there are over 88 counties, but I’d bet that 100% of them have been stocked, and a very high percentage are accessible to fish if you have a good relationship with the landowner…and if you don’t take out more than you put in. And it’s important to understand that fisheries, like every other natural resource, require population management.
But the point is, imagine life without fishing if you don’t have a place to fish!
My first experience was on one of those farm ponds in eastern Ohio where my uncle took me when I was eight years old. I was hooked (pun intended) from the minute the bobber disappeared under the water. And regardless of how many, how big, or long you fish, that thrill never goes away. It’s always good to have a place to fish.
‘Til next time, I’ve enjoyed it.
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