# Old School Ohio Power Pics



## Bherrick (Mar 15, 2006)

Hello

Here is a couple Old Ohio Power pics.

1) Big Muskie - it took my brother and myself over an hour to cross the pits to get close enough to get this pic and we were still very far away, notice the little vehicles in the background

2) My dad and a 5 1/2 lb bass from lake D in the early 80s

3) Old Man's Money, not the quick exchange

4&5) Mining operation behind site "E"


----------



## Fishing-Miller23 (Jul 16, 2005)

Where is the pic of the muskie at?


----------



## MAKtackle (Mar 29, 2005)

Cool pics! Alot of memories from hunting there. Havn't seen Big Muskie in about 8yrs? Heard it was gone. Also when the keg at camp would float would buy alot of beer from old mans. Wonder if Army surplus still connected to the building??? Where was campsite E? D,C,A can picture, just can't place E. Remember a camp across from D but closed year after I started to hunt there. Remember seeing Muskie back there and eventually worked across the road alongside D and ended up behind A.


----------



## lg_mouth (Jun 7, 2004)

He isn't talking about a fish, Big Muskie is that huge earth mover that AEP used to mine the area. 

lg_mouth


----------



## saugeyeslayer1 (Oct 9, 2004)

wasnt the big muskie the biggest earth mover at its time?


----------



## pitdweller (Sep 16, 2004)

Whoa,what a pleasent blast from the past,i'll bet Bob wishes the strore front looked like that today.
I have several 8mm films from family trips in the late sixties to "the pits" that I am trying to put to disk.
Some show big muskie in action just a few hundred feet away, we even some footage with me and my sister standing in the bucket,I can just hear the liability concerns today,it was a much different world then.
Does anyone remember the Steam Locomotive and pullman cars that sat at Prentis station along 83?.
I am doing research on the MERR any photos or info would be appreciated.
I imagine there are several families with similar fond memories of Ohio Power or AEP as it is known today.


----------



## Fishing-Miller23 (Jul 16, 2005)

My bad about the Muskie, Sorry!


----------



## BottomBouncer (Jan 20, 2005)

lol......I was wondering about the muskie too 

AEP is great...

Are ATV's allowed there? I lost my permit/papers...don't remember if they are permitted?


----------



## MAKtackle (Mar 29, 2005)

Big Muskie WAS the biggest for a long time! Heard upkeep was to much and it was dismantled. Always saw the substations and large electrical cables going to Muskie, was it all electric or diesel also? 

ATV's are NOT permitted on AEP grounds. We use to hunt AEP and private land in the area but always camped at D. We always had atleast 1 ATV with us where we used on the private land. AEP, Sheriff, Warden all would stop at our site every year and inform us ATV's aren't permited.


----------



## River Walker (Apr 7, 2004)

I started going down there in the late 60' and early 70's.It was so awesome back then,you could 4-wheel back into faraway ponds and spend a day or a week,didn't matter.Yes,I vividly remember Prentiss Station,you could 4-wheel back behind there and head back into a whole chain of some of the best smallie and largemouth ponds you could ever hope for.The big lake at campsite Q was our usual base,and across the haul road from Q was a series of awesome ponds,especially the old horseshoe lake back in there,that pond had so many monster bass in it.Another great series of lakes was behind the old cemetary on Rt.83,caught a 7lb.+ bass back in there years ago on a spring lizard.Been to the Old Man's Money many times,years and years ago,they had a fish tank along side the building that had an old bass in it that had to weigh close to 10lbs.How about the "Mexican fishing boat" out front-lol! Yep,Reinersville,Renrock,Young Hickory,High Hill names that will live on forever in my mind,why did they ruin this paradise?


----------



## BottomBouncer (Jan 20, 2005)

It would be nice to use, but I can see why they are not allowed. Would be nice if they had a designated area for it...

Would be nice to get a bunch of people together this summer and go fish it!


----------



## jeffgummy (Dec 13, 2004)

I know everything is relative. I have no idea how Ohio Power was in the 1960's or 70's but I hardly think they have ruined Ohio Power. I have been going down there for about 15 years and I have enjoyed every minute of it. I still catch some giant bass down there and I don't think there is anywhere in the state of Ohio where you have a better chance of catching a 5lb + bass on any given day.


----------



## River Walker (Apr 7, 2004)

I guess if you had never experienced it as it once was,it would seem to be a great place today.I'm not only talking about the fishing,there still is some good fishing there.I'm talking about the area as a whole,used to be pretty much totally wooded,you could drive back in anywhere you wanted to and set up camp,made you feel as though you were in some remote location in Canada.I've been on ponds down there that were so off the beaten path,I know for a fact they would go unfished for years at a time.You couldn't walk around in the back areas without kicking up several grouse,and in the spring,you couldn't help but spot sponge mushrooms by the hundreds,seriously.Now I know it's still a very good place for mushrooms(if you like ticks),but seeing as how at least 70% of the forested areas are now grasslands(AEP estimate),it's hardly a shadow of it's former self.Yes,it still is a good place to go to spend a weekend,I'm not saying that it isn't,but had you seen it way back when,you would be able to understand my statement better.I can easily remember at least 2 dozen great,giant bass lakes,and a couple that were also home to some of the biggest slab crappies you ever saw,that are gone forever now.One lake in particular(behind Windy Hill a ways)had this high wall on one side(like most did then),in spring you could look down from that wall and see bass that were bedded up that would make your eyes pop!It's long gone too,but possibly my favorite bass lake ever down there,wasn't even a man-made lake.It was an outlet stream from one of the bigger lakes at that time,that the beavers had dammed up.There were two deep pools on that stream if you hiked back in far enough,and a resident population of refugee bass had taken up residence in these two pools.You could catch 3-4lb. bass back in there all day if you wanted to.In all the years I fished that spot,I never seen one other fisherman there,or any evidence that there had been one.Sadly,that spot is now nothing more than grazing land for antelope,or whatever they call them critters.One last story,a couple guys that worked for some oil rigging company came by our campsite one day,and we chatted for awhile and the topic swung around to mushrooms.I guess neither of them were into shroom' picking,because they told us about an old apple orchard off one of the older,not used haul roads,they had been working by.We scribbled down the directions they gave us to locate this spot(they said they had seen quite a few big yellows).We did find the spot,and all I can say is I've probably not enjoyed a better day of shroomin' in my life anywhere,including Michigan.I'm getting psyched now,maybe come May,I'll take a bath in some DEET,pack along some forceps and rubbing alcohol,and head down to "C" if it's still there, and do a little shroomin'.Anybody remember the little bait shop that the old man and the hot little babe ran down by campsite "C"?If you were heading south on 83,and then made a right on 284,there was a small cemetary on the right,and you turned down a gravel road on the left,their's was the first(and only)house on the right.


----------



## River Walker (Apr 7, 2004)

Forgot to add one thing-don't tell the guys that fish Lake Erie that AEP is the best place in Ohio to catch a five pound bass on any given day!


----------



## jeffgummy (Dec 13, 2004)

Excellent post. I guess the only place we would disagree is that maybe Ohio Power isn't great compared to what it once was, but it is still great compared to the other options available in Ohio. 


Maybe we'll run into each other down there sometime.

Jeff


----------



## River Walker (Apr 7, 2004)

Hook Lake 2nd weekend in May,look for the red ranger


----------



## shroomhunter (Aug 6, 2004)

The blonde with the bright red lipstick  Everything you wrote was so very true about the fishing and shroomin back then. I remember the baitshop and we still talk about the girl and wonder whatever happened to them folks. That whole area that is now open grassland North of Young Hickory had some of the best lakes that are gone forever. We took some photos that last spring before they destroyed that whole area, you're right it was woods as far as you could see. Shrooms were everywhere. We could walk the roadsides and pick them. I wonder how many times we crossed paths back then, I lived down there from April 1st every year and we found shrooms up until Memorial Day weekend for years. It is still a great place but it has changed from what it once was. It'll always be Ohio Power and Old Mans' Money to me!
RiverWalker, I sent you a PM


----------



## River Walker (Apr 7, 2004)

That's her! Although you forgot to mention two other prominent features of hers-lol! That lipstick-lol! I always wondered how that old dude ever hooked up with her.I used to fish the lake with all the cliffs practically right behind their place,great smallie lake.Remember the bait shop right on the corner of 83 and 284? Used to be in someone's back yard,anyway just a hundred yards or so past their drive,an old logging road headed down into the woods,and ended at one of the best lakes down there,great shroomin' all around that lake too.The very last time I fished that lake,I killed the only timber rattlesnake I have ever seen in Ohio.I took the dead snake back up to the people that owned the little tackle store to show them,and to my surprise,he had a box on his porch with 4 more,very live ones in it.He said that's where he caught them,right by that lake,now you know why that was my last trip to that lake-lol! I remember another time when a mature black bear raided the garbage cans at old campsite R,and the DNR boys spent all morning trying to locate it,I don't think they ever did get it.


----------



## Lewis (Apr 5, 2004)

Man,you guys are bringing back some memories.
We used to camp there all the time.
I have some pictures around somewhere from the 70's that were all taken in front of the Old Man's Money.
Back before c+r was so popular,I was holding up some real hogs.
Man,the big Bass I caught out of those lakes.

I used to walk around a mile back in off of county road 27? and never see a soul,even on holiday weekends.
I havent been down there in years,so I cant speak to the changes that have taken place.
I can say,it was a real paradise!

Man....during years when it gets cold enough to freeze,the ice fishing for SLAB Gills and Crappies was awesome.


----------



## spot chaser (Apr 13, 2004)

pitdweller said:


> Whoa,what a pleasent blast from the past,i'll bet Bob wishes the strore front looked like that today.
> I have several 8mm films from family trips in the late sixties to "the pits" that I am trying to put to disk.
> Some show big muskie in action just a few hundred feet away, we even some footage with me and my sister standing in the bucket,I can just hear the liability concerns today,it was a much different world then.
> Does anyone remember the Steam Locomotive and pullman cars that sat at Prentis station along 83?.
> ...


The old "terminal building" is in a field out of Blue Rock on 376.


----------



## spot chaser (Apr 13, 2004)

River Walker said:


> I go on a spring lizard.Been to the Old Man's Money many times,years and years ago,they had a fish tank along side the building that had an old bass in it that had to weigh close to 10lbs.How about the "Mexican fishing boat" out front-lol! Yep,Reinersville,Renrock,Young Hickory,High Hill names that will live on forever in my mind,why did they ruin this paradise?



I was more the Sanford type.,, remember them?... Where was Old Man's - Reinersville - I never went that way too often.


----------



## Slabs! (Oct 1, 2005)

If I'm not mistaken, half of the bucket from the Big Muskie is at a rest stop just outside of McConnelsville. Sorry can't remember the S.R. There's a picture at that site of the entire Morgan County H.S. band standing inside of it with room to spare. Pretty cool. I'm happy that area is not much publicized, because it's amazing to me, a guy that wasn't even alive til 70's!!!! Can only imagine what it used to be


----------



## BuckeyeFishinNut (Feb 8, 2005)

I had never heard of the Big Musky until I saw the photos of it on here. It brought back memories of an old earth mover my dad used to tell me about, the GEM of Egypt. I grew up in eastern Ohio and it was used to form the area know as Egypt Valley that the state now owns. Every time we drove through that area as a kid my dad used to tell me about it. Funny the things you remember.

Jake


----------



## shroomhunter (Aug 6, 2004)

Ohio had 3 of the largest machines ever built, The Muskie, The Gem of Egypt and the Silver Spade, it was in the Cadiz area. I believe the Spade is also gone. The bucket you are talking about is at Miners Memorial on Rt 78 and it is from The Muskie. We used to watch it work back in the 80's and early 90's down at Ohio Power. I have an old pamphlet that I got from a mechanic down there that tells all about the machine. I also have found my old map that shows campsite L and Q which are now closed of course. I'll bring the stuff with me when I'm down there for turkey/shroom vacation if anyone wants to see them.


----------



## kmb411 (Feb 24, 2005)

Man, I remember going camping at Ohio Power when I was a boy. We went as a family and with the Boy Scouts. I have not thought about that area in years. Last time we went was about '84, then I got out of fishing and into girls, LOL! 

Now, as a dad, I try to get away from girl (wife) and fish with the boys! 

WHAT WAS I THINKING BACK THAN?

I read the posts that the camping and "back country" 4x4 trails are gone. What did they do?


----------



## BuckeyeFishinNut (Feb 8, 2005)

If ya get the History channel they have a Modern Marvels on about Giant Machines. They showed some footage of the Big Muskie on there. It was a pretty cool little segment. They even showed the pic of the marching band in the bucket.

Jake


----------



## FishThis (Sep 2, 2005)

Anybody going down to Ohio Power this weekend??


----------



## jeffgummy (Dec 13, 2004)

I'll be down there, Friday through Sunday.


----------



## sgofish (Apr 12, 2004)

a Question about the former campsite Q..........Is this area completely off limits for fishing just because you can't drive into it from 83 anymore? Can you walk back from the road and still fish in the ponds farther into the area? It seems a good friend was told this last fall and was threatened with loss of equipment.


----------



## FishThis (Sep 2, 2005)

I was down there last April and we fished Q. We parked outside the gate and walked the road back. We also saw some others carring kayaks back to the ponds. But that was last april.


----------



## Bherrick (Mar 15, 2006)

It had always been my experience down there that luck played the biggest factor. It always seemed that you'd only get in trouble if you ran into the wrong guy on the wrong day. Back in the early 80s when I went to Ohio Power with my dad all the time, we used to drive anywhere at anytime, all you had to do was get the hell out of the way when construction crews were running the haul roads. It wasn't until the early 90s that that all changed for us. We were on our way up the haul road North from CR 27 to the ponds behind the dam side of N. We pulled off the road started down the hill when the local sheriff pulled up got out of his truck and pulled a shotgun on us. Talk about being freaked. Needless to say he wrote us a heafty fine and personally escorted us back to our site at D where again he "Emphasized the importance" of staying off the haul roads. Never since have we dared to drive on any of the restricted roads, however I have never heard of anyone getting into trouble for walking in restricted areas, except when they were actively mining.

I have seen lots of people parked outside of Q, however and have never heard of anyone getting into trouble there. I heard L was a bad place to be but my dad and my brother walked through L all the way up to 83 about 8 years ago. Crews were working to the far right of the area from lake L over to the haul road, having already demolished and sculpted the "gently rolling hills on the left side. My dad just told me workers went by, but never stopped them or said anything to them. So it still might be just luck, and hope you don't get the wong guy at the wrong time.


----------



## Bherrick (Mar 15, 2006)

sorry folks don't mind me I'm just excited about another season, I thought I'd share some more pictures.

1) 3 3/4 lb mama bass from a little beaver pond(what's left of it anyway) behind D last year.

2) A quality D bass 2yrs ago, which given the current conditions there, its a good fish.

3)A nice channel cat from D

4) Some Slabs from D back when it was full and full of fish, my best guess for time is late 80s early 90s

5) Another Old Man's Money, when they still had the goldfish/frog pond out front.


----------



## Bherrick (Mar 15, 2006)

After a good discussion the other night I thought I would draw the old map, well at least the camp/picnic sites. Instead of a new thread I thought I would bump this one. Here is a freehand map of the locations of the campsites A-S minus O,P & R can't find the info, so since I'm down to my last old map without them I'll assume they didn't exsist. The map is a compilation of a really old map(1969) and a newer one. The best map i had was from the seventies, but it got stolen about 5-6 years ago when I was staying at D. I hate thieves. ANYhow here is the names of the sites

Camp/Picinic Sites
A: Hook Lake (status: open)
B: Dyes Fork(used to be located on the buckeye trail off 78/83) (Status: gone)
C: Sand Hollow (Status: open)
D: Sawmill Road (Status: Partially open, lakeside area closed for undetermined period of time)
E: Windy Hill (Status: open)
F: Bristol Heights(later changed to R.V. Crews. Currently Big Muskie memorial)
(Status: open)
G: Maple Grove (Status: open)
H: woodgrove (Status: open)
I: Brookfield (Status: gone)
J: Rich Hill (Status: gone)
K: (old) Hunter's cut (Status: gone)
K: (new) Bicentennial (Status: open)
L: Horse Run (Status: Closed for undetermined period of time)
M: Sugar Tree (Status: open)
N: (old name) Sugar Valley (new Name) Keffler Kamp (Status: closed for 2006)
O: "lost data"
P: "lost data"
Q: Beaver Run (Status: Closed for undetermined period of time)
R: "lost data"
S: Renrock (Status: Closed for undetermined period of time)


A pic of my wife in big muskie bucket









And the map of sites


----------



## shroomhunter (Aug 6, 2004)

I'd like to get together down there with you sometime and compare some old territory. I'll bring along my old maps and we can maybe hit some of those older areas. I have discovered some "new" old areas that I thought were off limits but are now open. Who knows maybe we crossed paths back in the old days. October sounds fine to me, Pm me if your're interested.
Riverwalker you interested? I know you have some old time info.


----------



## kennedy327 (Jul 12, 2006)

Slabs! said:


> If I'm not mistaken, half of the bucket from the Big Muskie is at a rest stop just outside of McConnelsville. Sorry can't remember the S.R. There's a picture at that site of the entire Morgan County H.S. band standing inside of it with room to spare. Pretty cool. I'm happy that area is not much publicized, because it's amazing to me, a guy that wasn't even alive til 70's!!!! Can only imagine what it used to be



It is, my buddy was driving home from a college down that way and drove 45 minutes out of the way to get a picture of it, I guess he had a fasination with drag lines and muskie buckets when he was younger.


----------



## River Walker (Apr 7, 2004)

mushroomman,keep in touch,a fall trip to AEP sounds pretty good about now.I still know of a couple spots down there that are pretty hard to get to that have good fishing.


----------

