FREEPORT Are you looking for a little vacation, somewhere not too far away, but off the grid, out of the way, and with the possibility of catching some fish? Well then, consider Piedmont Lake Marina and Campground, one of the many Muskingum Watershed Conservancy District properties in Ohio.
Piedmont Lake sits at the corner of three southeastern Ohio counties - Belmont, Guernsey and Harrison - and was constructed in 1937 as part of the MWCD's flood control program. The lake is long, with many bays and fingers, and encompasses 2,270 acres of water.
MWCD also owns an 4,416 acres of land around the lake, so you won't see many houses dotting its shoreline.
Piedmont is known for its saugeye fishing and musky population, with the lake home to some of the biggest muskellunge ever taken in Ohio, including the state-record 55.13-pounder caught by Joe Lykins in 1972. In fact, you can see the mount of the fish in the Marina and Campground office, right above the bait tanks. It is impressive, to say the least.
All sorts of fish, three kinds of catfish
The muskies grow big in the weedy waters because Piedmont also has nearly every other fish that swims in Ohio in its waters. You may run into both largemouth and smallmouth bass, crappie, bluegills and perch, not to mention three different kinds of catfish - bullheads, channels and flatheads.
It's the saugeye fishing that attracts a lot of fishermen, though, and the lake seems to offer up plenty, although most are hammer-handle 14 inchers.
The chance to catch any and all of those species, as well as to get away and camp for a few days, attracted my wife, Jean, and I to spend three nights this past week at Piedmont. While RV camping has taken off since the pandemic and finding spots to vacation at are at a premium, mid-week is the perfect time to find a campsite at the newly renovated Piedmont Campground.
Part of the MWCD's system-wide improvement plan, Piedmont Campground now features 48 full hook-up sites with level concrete pads and paved roads. The campground is small and the lots are close to each other, but it does also feature a playground and group pavilion, as well as a brand new, modern bath house. About half of the sites are seasonal, so don't expect to book a lot with a lake view.
You might be able to still get a weekend site, but your best bet this late in the summer is booking during the week, from Sunday night through Thursday. Campground sites, with 50-amp hookup, are $53 a night, with discounts available for seniors, veterans and active duty military.
Piedmont also has six Park Model Cabins to rent at $125 a night or $750 for the week, including two cabins that are ADA accessible.
Water is a haven for pontoon boaters
Piedmont, which has a 10-horse power limit, is a haven for pontoon boaters, with the marina slips filled with seasonal boats. If you don't have a boat, that's no problem as the marina rents pontoons, fishing boats and kayaks for as little as four hours to as long as a week.
Bring your wallet, though, as a daily pontoon (10-person maximum) will run you $294 and $794 for the week, plus gas. Weekend and holiday rates are even higher.
As far as our time at Piedmont this past week, Jean and I enjoyed the clean, new campground, although it lacked the "woodsy" feel we usually look for in a campground. As for the fishing, the possibilities are endless as the lake goes on and on forever.
However, it's a tough lake to fish if you have no history, and as much as I like to bass fish, I couldn't find them anywhere. I fished many stretches of lily pads and weed beds, and only managed one largemouth and not even one blowup in the pads. I even tried the rocky shoreline at the dam for smallies, but could only get green sunfish to hit.
We did best catching saugeye, but didn't get a keeper in the bunch, and we didn't try for muskies, as no net and fishing out of a tandem kayak is a recipe for disaster with those big, toothy critters.
As much as he tried, the bass were hard to find
We even drove to the southern end of the lake to look for bass, the last part down a gravel road that had us thinking we'd be the only fishermen at the Reynolds Road launch ramp, only to find 10 trucks and boat trailers in the grass parking lot. It's weeds and lily pad heaven down there, but once again, small saugeye were all that were biting our presentations.
One windy night we stayed off the lake and decided to hike part of the state-wide, 1,444-mile Buckeye Trail, which runs past the campground and along the lake to the dam. While I doubt we were the first two to hike that section this year, it sure seemed like it as the trail was not maintained, overgrown, and a bit monotonous.
On the other hand, if you're looking for some alone time deep in the woods, that section is a great choice.
Maybe the highlight of our trip was a drive through the Egypt Valley Wildlife Area, which encompasses over 18,000 acres of land. If it's not MWCD land around the lower section of Piedmont Lake, it's probably Egypt Valley acreage, reclaimed strip mine land now owned by the state that is open for hunting, fishing, four-wheeling and wildlife viewing.
While there's no actual hiking trails in Egypt Valley Wildlife Area, there are many four-wheeler trails, places to park and hundreds of strip mine ponds to fish. We enjoyed the stunning views and the fields of wildflowers.
For more on Piedmont Lake camping and boating, go to www.MWCD.org, or call the marina at 740-658-1029.
Outdoor correspondent Art Holden can be reached at letsplabal@yahoo.com
June 20, 2021 at 03:15PM
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Mid-week is the time to fish and camp at Piedmont - Wooster Daily Record
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