The Scioto Brush Creek watershed is alive. This river drainage area hosts sport fish who call it their home.

Rarden's Whitetail Deer Festival in Scioto County gives you an opportunity to see these fish and more when fall is almost here. The event took place on September 9-11, 2022 this year. ODNR, Friends of Scioto Brush Creek, and Shawnee State Park shared a tent. Inside, staff and volunteers had literature available, a kayak giveaway, animals caught in the nearby creek on display, and snakes taking a field trip for the day. The festival focus is not just on deer. It is an opportunity to learn, to have a good time, and to bring the community together again.

Not being an angler myself, I was happy to get to see a sample of live specimens swimming. It afforded me a view of the seldom seen. Clean tanks of water, temporary homes, held the exhibits. Whether pan fish or not, these freshwater fish live alongside us. Like all forms of life, they depend on their needs being met for their continued existence. The three that I saw on that day are common in the Ohio River drainage. That covers a wide area from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania to Cairo, Illinois. Muskellunge, Spotted Bass, and Longear Sunfish are the spotlighted fish today.

Muskellunge is a type of pike or pickerel. They live in the Ohio River and several lakes and creeks. Fish hatcheries, such as the Kincaid State Fish Hatchery in Latham, stock these reservoirs (large natural or man-made lakes used as a source for water). Musky are also found in Scioto Brush Creek and Sunfish Creek. They like to live in aquatic areas with lots of vegetation, tree stumps, and bays (a body of water somewhat surrounded by land).

These fish are long and slender. Their mouth looks like a duck's bill in shape. Dark spots or wavy lines on a light background are another defining feature. They have spots on their fins and tail. Full-grown muskellunge males are usually 22-39 inches in length, 22-50 inches for full-grown females. Adult males weigh anywhere from 3-20 pounds, and females are 3-40 pounds.

Spotted Bass is a member of the Sunfish family. Native to the Ohio River and its tributaries, the current state record for Spotted Bass was Pike County's Lake White in 1976.

Spotted Bass like medium to large streams and rivers with long deep pools. Low gradient streams which have wider valleys and more room to meander are to their liking. Stream gradient is the stream channel's slope or the vertical drop over a horizontal distance of a stream.

These fish are often found in larger Ohio River tributaries like the Scioto, Muskingum, and Hocking Rivers. Spotted Bass also live in places like East Fork Lake and Caesar Creek. There they are usually found along main lake shorelines near steep dropoffs. They have large mouths stretching to the eye but not to the back of it.

Spotted Bass have a patch of teeth on their tongue. Like largemouth bass, a black line goes down the side of the body. Dark spots are on the gill cover. The body's background color is light and green or silver. A row of spots below the dark lateral line are present. They are 12 inches in length and weigh less than a pound most of the time when grown.

The colorful Longear Sunfish stands out. The olive-green body sports blue-green specks. Its belly comes in shades of orange, yellow, or red. Female coloration is more muted. This fish has a small mouth. Its ear flaps, black, are longer compared to those of other sunfish.

These fish are modest in size. It is unlikely that they will be the subject of many tall-tale fish stories. They grow slowly too. It could take three years for one to become four inches long. Longear Sunfish live in slow-moving clear streams and lakes. Neighboring plants and clean gravel substrate suit them fine. Roots, brush piles, and cut banks provide habitat hidey holes in home sweet home. Cut banks being vertical bare cliffs caused by stream erosion. A point bar would be its opposite. Point bars are places where sediment accumulates due to erosion on the other side of a meandering stream.

To contact Rebecca Thomas, she can be reached by email at rebeccathomas123@yahoo.com.

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