Clendening and Piedmont lakes are only a few miles apart, and offer outstanding fishing for largemouth bass, saugeye and muskies.
A largemouth bass fights to shake the hooks of a surface plug as it dances on the water.WHAT
Clendening and Piedmont lakes in Harrison County are fishing favorites from among the 10 reservoirs that make up the Muskingum Watershed Conservancy District. The MWCD lakes were constructed for flood control on the Muskingum River Watershed.
The lakes are close neighbors in southeast Ohio, but feature different types of fishing. Clendening Lake is known for its outstanding largemouth bass fishery, and offers good angling for saugeye, catfish and panfish. Piedmont Lake attracts muskie fishermen, but the majority of the anglers who launch there are eager to cast for saugeye, a walleye look-alike.
PEACEFUL FEELING
For peace and quiet - and beautiful, uncluttered shorelines - Clendening and Piedmont lakes are just right for small-boat fishermen. Both lakes restrict boaters to small 10-horsepower motors. Noisy jet skis and high-powered bass boats are not allowed. Pontoon boats filled with fishermen and happy families cruise leisurely around the lake pushed by pint-sized outboards.
The lakes are are a feast for weary urban eyes. The wooded shorelines have minimal development, wildflowers, shore birds, the occasional glimpse of white-tailed deer and turkey, and hiking trails abound.
POSSUM LODGE RULES
To enjoy an almost wilderness experience, but in complete comfort, sportsmen can book a stay at Possum Lodge. It's located on a gravel road just minutes from Clendening and Piedmont lakes. The spacious log cabin overlooks 64 acres of woods. Owners Chuck and Nancy Slusarczyk have a small feeding station behind the cabin to lure wildlife into view in the evenings.
Rustic in decor, the cabin boasts air conditioning, satellite television and a modern kitchen. It's conveniently perched on a ridge that receives cell phone signals. The well-appointed cabin rents for $175 a night, $125 in January-March. Guests can enjoy hikes, with the Buckeye Trail meandering past the cabin. Deer and turkey hunting are available. Visit www.possumlodgecabins.com or call 440-537-2026.
PIEDMONT'S PROWESS
Piedmont Lake's muskie fishing is legendary because of a muskie boated by local resident Joe D. Lykins on April 12, 1972. Still Ohio's state record, the muskie stretched 50-1/4 inches and weighed 55 pounds, 2 ounces, and hangs on the wall at Piedmont Marina.
Saugeye and catfish are just as popular, though almost a couple of hundred big muskies are still caught each year. A saugeye is a hybrid of a male saugeye and female walleye that is more temperature tolerant than walleye.
PIEDMONT TACTICS
Clinton Smith at Piedmont Lake Marina said the majority of saugeye are caught on jigs tipped with one-half of a nightcrawler. Smith marked a lake map with likely fishing spots and sent us on our way. The jig-nightcrawler rig worked, though we did not catch a saugeye longer than 15 inches, the length limit in place at Piedmont Lake starting March 1, 2011.
Veteran anglers also troll small spinners and nightcrawlers, diving plugs and small spoons for saugeye. Muskie lures can range from medioum-sizs long a your forearm.
CLENDENING BASS
Rated as one of Ohio's top lakes for largemouth bass, Clendening doesn't get the pressure other lakes with unlimited horsepower experience every weekend. There is a lot of shoreline vegetation and woody cover where anglers can cast plastic worms and lizards, pitch a jig, toss a Carolina rig or buzz bass with a top water lure.
It always seems to be as hot as blazes when we visit Clendening Lake, so fish early and late in the day. Tie on a topwater lure at dawn or dusk and cast it to the shallows. On this trip, the bass were willing to gobble a Yum Lizard in late afternoon. Pitching the green plastic lizard along the shoreline, a 3-pounder snapped it up when it swam past its shoreline lair on the eastern end of the lake.
A PLACE TO STAY
Both Clendening and Piedmont lakes have rental campsites, cabins and docks. Motels are in short supply in this neck of the woods.
GET THERE
To get to Clendening or Piedmont Lake, take I-77 to Rt. 250 East. Just past Urichsville, turn right and go south on Rt. 800 until you see the signs for the lake marinas and boat launches.
INFORMATION
For maps and descriptions of Clendening and Piedmont lakes, contact the Muskingum Watershed Conservancy District, 1319 3rd St., New Philadelphia, OH 44663-1305. You can call for maps and information (330-343-6647) or get it all online (www.mwcd.org)