Discovery 2015: A Multi-State Journey

Ohio

Quick recap: I decided to drive and fish in every state between MA (where I live) and IL (where the CCC is hosted). I had a great time in New York (check the story here) and in Pennsylvania (check the story here). Now onto Ohio!

Ohio. Hm. Where to go? When I made my last-minute decision to do this big road trip, I also planned to go to Michigan for a few days after the CCC. Swapping a few e-mails with Andy Sprinkle, he suggested that I explore the Bay View Park in Toledo when traversing Ohio. Well, why not. A few hours of driving brought me there, and I have to say I wasn't quite excited over the bay (seemed bland to me, with very limited access), nor impressed by the Fort Knox of a marina nearby.

Also, I was a bit in troubles, as the room I booked by Airbnb last night was never confirmed, and I had to frantically search for something else at the last minute. I finally found a whole house for $60 a night, seemed like a good deal, and I drove there to meet a very nice gentleman owning the property. I explained my quest, and although he's not a fisherman, he suggested a few areas to explore on the Maumee river.

A deck he referred to ended up quite private, in the midst of giant silos where a mountain of corn and wheat was probably in storage.

Then I received the strangest phone call from Bob Giordano telling me he was ALSO in Toledo, or close. I really thought he was pulling my leg, but no, he was driving with Barry Howard and stepson Bob towards the CCC (from NY), and decided to follow on a text message I had sent the day before! They had no hotel reservation, I had a full house for myself, CAG says "share with others", seemed like a match. Totally unexpected. And we agreed to meet for dinner.

While they were driving, I kept exploring, found a decent spot on the river (plenty of space, little structure), erred in several private areas, even tried the back of the local casino, followed train tracks, etc.

I finally struck gold when checking the back of the Museum of the Great Lakes (which I would have loved to visit, but no time), connected to a marina. A couple of local anglers weren't too clear if carp were there or not, but I had a great feeling about it, there was enough space for Bob and friends, and I decided to come back and prebait after dinner. A giant tanker boat was anchored on the side of the river, as an extension of the museum, and I also reasoned that this could provide great fish shelter.

After connecting with the rest of the crew and enjoying a slow moving but good dinner, we came back and found a bunch of catfish anglers who were crowding the place. Darn it. All we could do was prebait the area close to the big boat, so I did. One local sent me on a goose chase towards another possible spot, I didn't find it at night, and we all went back to rest & sleep in our rented house. Oh, and to do some research about the next step (Indiana), where I really had zero clue on where to go.

The day after, 7:30am, wakey, wakey. I had settled last night on a plan for Indiana, and was hoping to not linger too long in Ohio, but first, I needed to catch a carp or two. I left Bob and friends to pack up more slowly, and went straight to our selected fishing spot. Nobody there, that's good. I threw some bait here and there, planning for a full 4 CAG members fish-in. And of course, I picked the best spot, right behind the big boat. Sharing is ok, but I was the one with a high bar for my discovery story!

It took a little while, but I did get my first run. And as usual (see previous stories), I lost it. You have to be kidding me. Fact is the fish were waiting for the rest of the crew to arrive, and I was playing another fish when Barry showed up. And did land this one. YES, MADE IT, THREE STATES IN A ROW!

After that, Bob and Barry set up their own rods, I landed a 15b, and I kept having one run after another, I had created quite the hot spot. So I started to share runs with my buddies, and we had diverse outcomes... Barry got the biggest carp (upper teen, forgot the exact weight), Bob#1 got a catfish, and Bob#2 lost a fish at the net. Oh, and I also landed a very crooked fish.

I think this qualified as a rather successful discovery... I left for Indiana around 10:30am, while Bob and friends fished a bit longer (Bob did land a carp afterwards) and then drove straight to Illinois. Good time! Now the pressure was on for the next step, Indiana, here we come.