# Grand lake



## williamonica0214 (Aug 1, 2006)

HOW the bass fishing at grand lake ? What colors of soft plastics work best there . I will be fishing it early nest summer . thanks in advance


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## williamonica0214 (Aug 1, 2006)

man you central ohio guys sure are tight lipped lol


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## Net (Apr 10, 2004)

Are you talking about Grand Lake St. Marys in SW Ohio? I've never been there and not sure I want to go after reading a dispatch story recently on the amount of pollution there.


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## auglaizewader (Aug 30, 2007)

Grand Lake SM in northwest Ohio? I live within 10 miles of it, but don't fish it much anymore. Good cattin', Used to do good on crappie and perch. Don't fish it for bass. I can tell you that the water color will be brown to pea green. Nutrients are really high.


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## williamonica0214 (Aug 1, 2006)

that is the lake thanks i thought it was in central ohio


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## Orlando (Apr 12, 2004)

The reason you aren't getting any responses is because no one hardly fishes it anymore for largemouth. There is a real water problem there. That used to be a great Bass lake. I remember years back it was nothing to get a 4 or 5lber on a good day with many keeper size fish mixed in


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## Ranger06 (Sep 28, 2006)

Best colors are black and blue or purple. water is dingy all year but the bass don't seem to mind


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## Orlando (Apr 12, 2004)

The lake is dead compared to 15 years ago


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## Net (Apr 10, 2004)

APPEAL FILED OVER EPA PERMIT FOR ETHANOL PLANT
Published: Thursday, October 25, 2007
NEWS 04B
BY SPENCER HUNT
THE COLUMBUS DISPATCH

An environmental group has appealed a pollution permit the state granted to a proposed ethanol plant on Grand Lake St. Marys. 
The Ohio Environmental Protection Agency said the plant can dump 323 million gallons of wastewater each year into the lake, which the state considers among the filthiest in Ohio. 
The Findlay-based Protectors of Air and Water Sources filed the appeal with the state Environmental Review Appeals Commission on Monday, asking the panel to reject or tighten pollution limits that the Ohio EPA granted Mercer Energy on Oct. 5. 
The company plans to build the plant a quarter-mile from the lake, which straddles the Mercer-Auglaize county line about 85 miles northwest of Columbus. 
The Ohio EPA considers the lake one of Ohio's most polluted watersheds. Fertilizers, manure and human waste flow in from nearby farms and homes. 
Many area residents were surprised the EPA approved the company's plan to dump wastewater used to cool its plant. 
"They are using that lake as an industrial settling pond, basically," said David Breidenbach, attorney for the group. 
The permit allows the plant to dump as much as 4.1 million pounds of mineral particles each year and for the wastewater to reach 85 degrees in the summer and 70 degrees in winter. 
The appeal asserts that the state didn't consider all potential sources of air and water pollution. It also argues that the wastewater could have been piped to a sewage treatment plant. 
Dina Pierce, an Ohio EPA spokeswoman, said the lake and nearby residents will be protected. Ryan Schwieterman, Mercer Energy's CEO, declined to comment. 
The appeal process could take several months. 

[email protected]


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## Orlando (Apr 12, 2004)

Not good, that certainly wont help matters. The condition of that lake is a real shame. It used to be one of my very favorite bass lakes. Yes there are still some fish in it but not even close to what it used to be.


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## Spence88 (Feb 23, 2006)

_Here's an article I found on ODNR website. Sounds like 1 step forward, 2 steps back..._


11/9/2007 9:55 AM 

ODNR APPLAUDS FEDERAL EFFORTS TO HALT POLLUTION IN
GRAND LAKE ST. MARYS
Lake watershed included in the 2007 Farm Bill as a &#8220;conservation priority area&#8221;

COLUMBUS, OH &#8211; The Ohio Department of Natural Resources (ODNR) applauds and supports the efforts of U.S. Senator Sherrod Brown to tap federal funding for clean up of Grand Lake St. Marys in Mercer and Auglaize counties. 

Brown&#8217;s office announced Wednesday that the senator had succeeded in inserting language into the 2007 Farm Bill that would make federal funding available to local farmers for measures that reduce agricultural runoff into the lake. The 13,000-acre lake, Ohio&#8217;s largest inland body of water and home to a 500-acre state park, has long faced water quality issues stemming from excess fertilizer, sediment and manure runoff in its 112 square-mile watershed.

Staff members from the ODNR Division of Soil & Water Conservation worked with Brown&#8217;s office in recent weeks to include Grand Lake St. Marys as a &#8220;conservation priority area&#8221; in the federal Conservation Reserve Program (CRP). The lake is one of three such areas designated in the 2007 Farm Bill, which is now pending before Congress. Passage of the legislation would help area farmers obtain federal funds over the next five years to establish 40-foot buffer zones around tributary streams in the watershed. These buffer zones will reduce soil erosion and fertilizer run off &#8211; two major sources of pollution in the lake.

Support of Brown&#8217;s legislation is part of ODNR&#8217;s continuing effort to improve water quality in the historic lake. Most recently, the agency has worked with both the Ohio Department of Agriculture and the Ohio Environmental Protection Agency to support clean up of the watershed on the local level. Over the last five years, ODNR has provided $207,813 in grants to the Grand Lake Saint Marys Joint Board of Supervisors for Mercer and Auglaize Soil & Water Conservation Districts to hire a watershed coordinator and develop a comprehensive Watershed Action Plan for the region. The OEPA and ODNR have fully endorsed the action plan, which is now serving as a guide for improving the lake&#8217;s water quality. The agency also dredges the lake on an ongoing basis to improve boating and other recreational use. Since 1992, ODNR has spent about $6.5 million to dredge the lake. More than $1 million of that amount was spent in the last two years. The proposed Farm Bill could help reduce costs for that dredging over time.

Grand Lake St. Marys was hand dug in the 1830s and 40s as a water source for the Miami & Erie Canal. In many ways, its history reflects the history of Ohio from the era of canal boats, through times of economic boom and bust, to the challenges of modern farming. Today, it is valued as both a local water source and as a recreational destination. Grand Lake St. Marys State Park hosted about 735,000 visitors in 2006.


For Additional Information Contact:
Jane Beathard, ODNR Media Relations
(614) 265-6860
-OR-
David Hanselmann, ODNR Soil & Water Conservation
(614) 265-6618


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## Columbusslim31 (Sep 1, 2007)

I'm glad I read this before going to Grand Lake to search for perch!


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## littleking (Jun 25, 2005)

used to be one of the best crappie lakes around... not anymore!


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## WalleyeJones (Feb 15, 2006)

Yep, remember the Crappiethon???

Although they did dredge a 16' deep hole, most of the lake is extremely shallow. It's a real shame what's happened to it. It hasn't been the same since the new spillway was put in many years ago. Although raw sewage hasn't been dumped in from any municipalities for many years, there's still a problem with stagnation.


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## auglaizewader (Aug 30, 2007)

The sewage problem from the South side of the lake was a big problem. That has been fixed for years now. It is time for the farmers to work on their end. Mercer county has an extremely large livestock population. Chickens, turkeys, pigs, dairy. The lake is also all open water now. It gets churned up by lots of skiers, pleasure boaters, and of course jetskis. All of them + shallow water = muddy mess. I used to bank-fish that lake 80-120 days per year.


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## Orlando (Apr 12, 2004)

I'm not arguing and I agree that run off could be the problem but why did it not used to be this way ? Has there been some big farming operations move in , in the last 15 years?


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