I was out on a low-gradient stream about a half mile from my apartment in Bowling Green, OH yesterday in search of Northern Pike. The stream is a branch of the Portage River which is in the Lake Erie drainage. Water levels were low, but still the water was cloudy from rain a few days earlier. It takes awhile for this stream to clear up after a rain. There are lots of fallen trees in the stream and the upper reaches are grass-lined with lots of grass-lined ditches flowing into it. I went to the ditches and seined the pools in search of Creek Chub and Striped Shiner (which I think may have been Common Shiner...they both occur in this area and although I was sure these fish were Striped Shiner, I wasn't 100% sure.). When netting in the ditches I found a whole bunch of this year's hatch of Northern Pike. I didn't bring proper photo equipment with me, so I only took some quick hand shots:
After netting a bunch of chubs and shiners for bait, I went downstream of the grass-lined areas and fished fallen trees throughout the lower stretch of the river. Although fishing only a short amount of time, we (me and a few buddies) saw plenty of Pike and hooked up with quite a few. Here's a few pics:
I like the "release" shots
:
All in all, a fun Sunday afternoon.
(Looking at that release shot, I've got a Good Luck Caterpillar on my Cubs cap, that must be why I was catching the majority of the fish)
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