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When would the rain stop? Torrential thunder storms, one after the other, continued to unload on us here in the Guernsey, Noble and Tuscarawus counties of East Central Ohio. Here in the Guernsey County area where I reside (only 3/4 of a mile from the Salt Fork spillway as the crow flies) waters were beginning to rise quickly. As best as I recall, the storms began late Thursday or early Friday of July 2nd, 1998. The relentless pounding from above didn't immediately seem that threatening but as the days progressed and the monsoon continued, it soon became apparent we had a problem in the making.

Muskie fishing at Salt Fork had been rather good in the early Spring but became a bit more disappointing as we entered into the Summer season. We took some fish but had to work diligently for them between sometimes hectic schedules at home. I think a lot of the problem with the Summer season was the fact that this may very well be an off year for Muskie. I have had numerous "veteran" Muskie and Walleye fanatics complain about this up and down fishing year. Your assessment may be different but from my own experience this season, I couldn't disagree with them too strongly. Fishing has literally been a series of major peaks and valleys this season for me. When the fish were on, they were hot but when they were off, man they were really off. Blame it on El Nino or something or other! But to add insult to injury, then came the flood!

My brother Mike had come over from Columbus on Saturday to hopefully fish a little bit and spend some time with our dad, as he routinely does every few weeks. But fishing obviously wasn't going to be in the cards, so Saturday night we fired up our usual Canasta card game in an attempt to inoculate us from the boredom. Come Sunday morning we received an early morning phone call from some folks at our church telling us that Sunday services were canceled due to high and still rising water. I 70 East and West along with I-77 were soon to be closed. Still not realizing the seriousness of what was happening around us, we decided to finish up our card game from the previous night before Mike headed back home to Columbus. We finished our last hand about 12:30 PM and Mike got packed up and left. He ended up fording high water in several places while towing his boat, as well as being rerouted several times by the highway patrol. Had we played one more hand of Canasta, Mike would have undoubtedly spent the next 8 days with us, surrounded and held fast by high and fast moving, chocolate water. Our contacts with the outside world were about to be severed for a few days.

By Sunday evening the fast moving torrent of Wills Creek was slowly marching ever closer out it's banks and setting it's sights on my house (or so it seemed). First the water began creeping across our road, then ever closer to our drive way, then surrounding my mail box. This liquid demon obviously had no intention of retreating anytime soon. I began placing markers inside our driveway and up toward our house, trying to get some idea as to how fast the water was rising. It didn't take long to establish a rise of about 6 to 8 inches an hour. As the swirling, murky waters rose ever higher, we received our next big shock. Now with no electricity or telephone service, our battery powered radio began spewing routine warnings that the Salt Fork Dam was about to give way and for everyone in the Wills Creek area to get out. Now with high water entering our basement and almost touching our lower front porch step, we were handed insult on top of injury that a 3,000 acre reservoir was about to unload on top of us! At that moment it appeared we just couldn't win for losing that weekend. Prayers from family and friends were very much felt during this time of intense uncertainty. My wife Melissa and I stayed up all night Sunday night keeping a continuous vigil on the water levels. Fortunately by the wee hours of Monday morning, the rate of rise seemed to be slowing. By now we had over 3 feet of water in our basement, but fortunately we were able to remove nearly all of the contents to our pole barn on higher ground. By Monday night the water seemed to level off but those aggravating reports of the Salt Fork Dam giving way kept lighting up the radio. We learned later that the TV news reporters in Columbus were repeatedly giving out this warning, which put some of our relatives over there in a near panic for us.

Being faced with the uncertainty of a potential fresh water tidal wave washing down through our little valley at any moment, I tried to weigh our options. We would spend another sleepless night, not watching for rising murk so much as a supposed roar of an oncoming wall of water. Evacuation by car or truck was now no longer an option. The only safeguard I could think of was to launch "Ole Green", my faithful Muskie boat right in my drive way. I figured if the water came upon us, I could at least get everyone into my boat and motor safely out of harms way. Fortunately, the "dam breaking" reports began to diminish as the rains began to slowly move out of our region. But the next three days would contain numerous situations, the likes I personally had never experienced!

Monday afternoon we saw the first evidence of human existence remaining on our road when a couple of our neighbors came marching through the woods up to our house. By this time my home looked more like a resort cottage on a lake than a typical residence. My youngest son Joseph, who caught two nice Muskies this year (a 25 and a 29 pounder) fished for the big Carp that were thrashing around in our front yard. They were somewhat surprised we hadn't evacuated and were anxious to check on our well-being. After a few minutes of small talk, they noticed I had "Ole Green" launched and tied off in the driveway. Immediately the possibilities began racing through their minds. Their homes set up on higher ground than ours, so the risk of serious loss was not likely to them. But they did have some other problems. With our electricity down, they had freezers full of meat that would soon be at risk if the power didn't come back on soon. The only option would be ice. But where and how could you get any ice? Well, "Ole Green" came to the rescue! For the next three days we would utilize my boat to travel our flooded valley and accomplish everything from getting people to pick up areas for work, transporting groceries, rescuing baby deer and surveying the extent of the flooding.

On our first day out on the water with "Ole Green", we crossed rather precariously the fast moving current of Wills Creek in order to commute over the submerged roads and clear cuts. On subsequent trips we became quite proficient at finding the best and safest routes of travel and were able to navigate almost effortlessly through the flooded terrain. But it was on this first day that I would observe something the likes I have never witnessed before. From radio reports we knew by now that I-77 just below the Salt Fork Spillway was closed, so we decided to float on over and have a look. I literally tied "Ole Green" to the I-77 guard rail as we went over the top to take a look. What I saw next was nothing short of amazing. Coming down the inside berm of  I-77 for at least 3/4 of a mile, was a stream of water about 15' wide, probably 3 to 5' deep, running at the pace of and resembling a Rocky Mountain Trout stream. Across one side of  I-77 was a "water slide" shooting across both of the North bound lanes. As I observed in amazement, I witnessed Carp and Catfish scooting across the lanes following the relentless current to yet a lower pool of standing flood water. Along the North bound berm were literal rows of stranded Carp with their noses facing into the current. Other less fortunate "finsters" were pinned against the freeway fence by the fast moving drainage of water.

As I began walking alongside this misplaced "Trout Stream", North bound toward its source, I witnessed endless numbers of fish, primarily made up of Carp, working the calmer edges of this fast moving water. But I was not so interested in the Carp as I was diligently looking for large swirls or the high riding fin of stranded Muskie. As any avid Muskie fisherman would be, I was concerned my nearby Muskie lake was being drained of its toothy predators. After walking both North and South along the stream, I didn't see anything I was now convinced was a Muskie but I am just as convinced that many Muskies must have been captured in the flow. There was just too much water and too many other fish for it to have not contained any of our Muskellunge. In the week(s) that would follow, there were dozens of reports of Muskie being taken out of Salt Creek below the spillway. Myself and others have documented that many of these catches came as a result of snagging. How unfortunate. To me, an intentionally snagged Muskie is not a trophy, regardless of size. Many of the "snag masters" denied their intentions but a few minutes of casual observation would convince most that these "self proclaimed, pseudo sportsmen knew exactly what they were doing. A jig feathered to the bottom and then "yanked" briskly upward in a continuous ongoing repetition, totally lacking any angling finesse, has but one intention; to imbed a hook in an unsuspecting fish that cruises by. You have to understand that high water fish taken out of their normal environment, rendezvous in concentration. For example as in our case, the eddies and calm spots along the fast moving main stream. During high water times, such locations can hold ten times the number of fish that would naturally inhabit such places. This makes for a "snaggers" dream. I don't believe that everyone who participated in this less than sportsmanlike act had bad intentions. But as the word spread about the effectiveness of this "strong arm" jigging technique, more joined in and conscience was cast to the wind. In my best estimation from my observation and reliable sources, in excess of 75 Muskies were taken out of Salt Creek below the dam in the weeks that followed the flood. Most were undoubtedly snagged.

As I continued to follow this "trout stream" to it's source, it was flowing as a result of water coming over the emergency spillway. Even though the depth coming over the emergency spill over was only about 3 to 4 feet deep, this is a tremendous amount of water to be flowing night and day for over a week from a 3,000 acre impoundment. The water proceeded down over the hill directly to I 77 at a width of about 100'. The drainage tiling at the interstate couldn't begin to handle the volume of water coming through the gap. At Salt Fork, the emergency spill is located on the Westerly side of the lake, just a couple of hundred yards from the main dam itself. As in other lakes, this "emergency spillway", just as the name implies, was designed to relieve dangerous water levels and extreme pressure against the dam itself. Thus, in theory, lessening the possibility of washing out the dam. I would find out later that therein is where the false reports of the Salt Fork Dam giving way originated. To the best of my inquiries, I was told by reliable sources that this emergency spillway had only been utilized one other time, back in 1980, when the water rose just high enough to seep over the top. But the concern for dam failure originated from the act that never before had this high of water, much less this much volume, ever come through the "ES". The "fear" was, "Would it hold?", a mere fear of the unknown. Well I'm glad to report the emergency spillway worked just as designed and as I viewed it from the bridge above after the waters subsided, it showed little or no visible evidence of erosion, much less wash out.

This is a question that has bothered me since my first glance of water rushing across I 77 that first day and has continued to haunt me ever since. Although I did not witness any Muskies in the flooded medium strip of the interstate on that first day out, the volume of Carp, Catfish and especially huge numbers of Shad and other bait fish captivated my concern for our local Muskie fishery. My eyes were saying, "Don't worry, no Muskies are mixed in with this bunch of scavengers", but my heart was saying, "Salt Fork, we've got a problem!" As the days and weeks have unfolded since the flooding, large numbers of Muskies have been taken from the Salt Creek area below the dam, as I said earlier. God only knows exactly how many Muskies were lost in the high water, but I do know for a fact there was a significant loss of fish. Having spent many hours on Salt Fork this Spring and up to Mid Summer, I am definitely noticing a great reduction of large marks on the graphs since the flood, especially in the general area of the Morning Glory boat ramp. It may seem unbelievable but even as far up as Sugar Tree Marina I have noticed a significant drop in marking Muskies on the electronics. To make matters even worse, others are giving me similar reports from their graphs. I am still not convinced of the severity of our Muskie losses but my friends there has definitely been a loss. My last several trips to the lake have not only revealed fewer marks on the depth finder but also far fewer Muskie fishermen trolling the lake. Others are obviously coming to a similar conclusion as I have. That's a sickening feeling in the stomach of a guy who just moved over here and in his first season gets hammered with, as I call it, "The Salt Fork Flood".

Of course Salt Fork will be back. The DNR will continue stockings and may very well give us some extra fish. But the Salt Fork that many enjoyed last season may well be a few years in getting back up to par. Folks, I hope for all of our sakes that my assessment is wrong, but in my gut I fear I'm right.

I want to personally invite any of you that may be fishing Salt Fork yet this Summer or into the Fall, to email me and give me your feedback on your fishing success as well as what you are discovering on your electronics as you scan Salt Fork's underwater habitat. Your feedback throughout the rest of this season can help us get a better handle on just how severe our losses have been. Some local game officials here in Guernsey County are telling me there were little if any Muskie losses due to the flood. I don't know how far up the ladder that opinion goes but it is definitely not an accurate opinion. Here's why I say that:

1. There has been a significant drop in Muskies caught in the lake since the flood.
2. Unusually large numbers of Muskies were caught in the creek below the dam immediately following the flood.
3. There is less evidence of large bait fish schools.
4. A significant drop in Muskies marked on the graph since this unfortunate weather incident.

See you on the lake, somewhere!
Danny Wade

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Entering Our 8th Year of Operation On Salt Fork Lake

30 Years Experience

Danny Wade

P.O. Box 673 Cambridge,

Ohio 43725

Cell 740-517-5569