The 1999 Ohio fish-in once again proved to be both productive and
peculiar at the same time. This year record overnight low temperatures
plagued the weekend (in contrast to last year�s record highs). The days
though were mid 70's and very pleasant fishing weather at least when the
fish were biting anyway.
Fishing got going Thursday evening with the arrival of Bruce Franke, Gary
Marshall, and the KY /IN Chairman Richard Somerville (English transplant
angler). Some of us fished till 3am. At that hour the air was a whopping 44
degrees and the fish were emerging from 83-degree water as steaming slabs.
One of these smoking carp managed to wrap my line around some over-hanging
roots badly enough it would not come free without the assistance of Richard
who maneuvered through the thick brush and unsnarled my line despite the
carps efforts to keep me there. Returning to the swim the next morning it
was hard to believe he was able to get through the thorny thicket of
blackberries and scrubby trees in the middle of the night! Later that
evening Gary Marshall took a dive to save a rod and fish that had actually
jerked his pole from the rod pod. This event seems to have been a
foreshadowing of the next day�s loss of a rod for Gary's son earning him the
dreaded "Greatest Misfortune" award.
Friday the carp were on all day till around 6pm when they rather
suddenly stopped biting. Unfortunately this was also about the time that
several other anglers arrived at the Fish-in. The true spirit of the carp
angler came to light over the next 48 hours as the new arrivals refused to
take no for an answer. They rebuffed the carp�s despondence with a series
of marathon style fishing sessions. Steve Lojek fished non-stop (and I do
mean non-stop) for 16 hours landing carp to 9 lbs. Mike Grumblatt brought
along a novice carper ( Jerry Graham his son in law ) and fished an
unrelenting 12 hours. They landing several carp including a PB 10 lbr to
Jerry and lost plenty of rigging to the zebra mussels as we all did. Even
though the pace was slow Saturday the carping was exciting enough that after
a long day on the water Jerry declared his intent to join C.A.G. If it
wasn't the carping that caught his interest it might have been the thong
clad swimwear model in high heels that graced our venue with a lengthy photo
shoot. That said, it would be remiss to not report she has no affiliation
with C.A.G. and was not invited (though she may be next year! HA! HA! ).
Bruce Franke exhibited the greatest sense of fishing as a leisure
sport. While most of us where wringing our hands and scratching heads
trying to get the fishing to pick back up, Bruce found a nice sandy spot in
a shady cove with a cool breeze rolling in off the lake. He set up his gear
and pulled out a thick novel ( a �slow fishing for slow fish� approach ).
The Woolery�s, Tom and Jenny, came and selflessly cooked a fine
breakfast for all that were hungry. Needless to say, next year the fish-in
will be based at their house. Morris McKean took a break from his ongoing
carping in southern Ohio to drop in on the fish-in and see how we were
doing, and seeing how we were doing he headed back to his spot on the
Muskigum River. Mike Tarbox fished an all-nighter landing some nice fish
and Dick Laubscher participated in a local carp derby during his visit to
the fish-in on Saturday.
Richard Somerville bested the Fish-in with a 14.7 lbr. Other nice fish
include a 14+ to Paya Marshall and a 14.1 to Paul Binkley. Next year we
are hoping to schedule at least two fish-ins with one up North on or near
Erie and the other in the South or Central region.
If you have any suggestions or would like to help please give me a call (614) 848-4449 or
e-mail.
