Greenlee, Parrett promoted

ATHENS, OH – Fisheries biologist Mike Greenlee has been promoted to Fish Management Supervisor for Wildlife District Four in southeast Ohio, according to the Ohio Department of Natural Resources (ODNR) Division of Wildlife.  Greenlee succeeds Tim Parrett who was promoted to Fish Hatchery Program Administrator in June 2011.

 “I’ve got all the confidence in Mike’s abilities to lead the fish management section,” said Mark Hemming, District Four Manager.  “He has always been very professional, and I know he will put all of his experience and expertise into doing the best job possible.”

 Greenlee received an associate’s degree in Recreation and Wildlife Management from Hocking College and a bachelor’s degree in Fisheries and Wildlife Management from Lake Superior State University.  He comes to the job with over 20 years of experience in the fish management section.  He was first hired as a biologist in District Four in 1990 after working as a seasonal in the same section for three years.  He also worked as a Biological Aide with the Utah Wildlife Resources at the Bear Lake Fisheries Experiment Station.

 “I’m looking forward to the opportunity to serve our anglers and the Division of Wildlife by leading a great group of dedicated Fish Management staff in District Four,” said Greenlee.

 As the district’s Fish Management supervisor, Greenlee will coordinate all fisheries programs and projects for 19 counties, including streams and rivers, more than 40 public fishing lakes, and the Ohio River from Scioto toBelmont counties.

 He currently resides in Vinton County with his wife Linda and their two teenage children, son Joshua and daughter Ashley.

Logan to MWCD post

Former ODNR Director Sean Logan is moving to the Muskiongum Watershed Conservancy District. Here's some of the announcement from MWCD:

The management of the natural resources and conservation programs on the 54,000 acres of public land and lakes overseen by the Muskingum Watershed Conservancy District (MWCD) will be led by former Ohio Department of Natural Resources (ODNR) director Sean D. Logan.

Logan was appointed chief of conservation of the MWCD by the conservancy district’s Board of Directors during a recent meeting. A Columbiana County native, Logan also is a former member of the Ohio House of Representatives and served as a Columbiana County commissioner.

“Since its organization in the 1930s, the MWCD has planted hundreds of thousands of trees to slow erosion, worked with local farmers to open acreage for sharecrop operations and managed its mineral resources through a strategy that has served as a model for other public agencies,” Logan said. “I am humbled and honored to be part of the work by the MWCD to protect these valuable natural resources in the Muskingum River Watershed for generations to come.”

In his position, Logan will oversee the MWCD’s conservation operations and management, which include forest and timber harvest and planting, agricultural activities, water quality testing, partnerships with other agencies involved in flood reduction and water conservation, and mineral resources management.

“The MWCD is extremely pleased to have Sean Logan in charge of its conservation programs,” said John M. Hoopingarner, MWCD executive director/secretary. “Sean brings to the residents of the MWCD region a tremendous amount of experience, insight and support of the protection of natural resources in the state of Ohio. He also understands the value of partnerships to enhance the benefits that are being produced by the system of dams and reservoirs in the Muskingum River Watershed.”

Logan was the 11^th person to serve as director of ODNR since it was formed in 1949 when he was appointed by former Gov. Ted Strickland in 2007. Prior to that, he served as an elected member of the Ohio House of Representatives from 1990-2000 – including sitting on the House’s Agriculture and Natural Resources Committee – and was a Columbiana County commissioner from 2001-2007.

He received a bachelor’s degree in political science and speech communication from Muskingum College and earned a law degree from Capital University Law School. He and his wife Melissa have three children and reside at Guilford Lake.

“The MWCD has a professional and educated staff that is dedicated to serving the residents and property owners in the watershed,” Logan said. “As a native of Eastern Ohio, I understand the rich natural resources that have been protected by the operation of the dams and reservoirs in the MWCD region, as well as providing sources of outdoor recreation and economic benefits. We are truly blessed in this watershed to have these resources and facilities available, and we must work diligently to protect this valuable infrastructure.”

For more information about the MWCD, visit www.mwcd.org.

S.O.B. Classic: Day 2

Sunday at Dillon was almost as frustrating as Saturday at Piedmont. The wind started early and didn't quit until after we did. It was coming out of the east, which meant there was nowhere on Dillon to get away from it.
Randyh Brownrigg put on  good charge to get in contention, but the four bass he caught weighing 5 pounds, 8.4 ounces just wasn't enough to make up for the first-day lead Ken Fulks and Kevin Samson had from Saturday.
Samson wound up winning the title with a two-day total of 8 pounds, 3.4 ounces. His Sunday catch was two bass weighing 3 pounds, 6.4 ounces, including the second-day big bass of 2 pounds, 5.8 ounces.
Fulks, who held a narrow lead on Saturday, finished second with 6 pounds, 7.6 ounces. Hi problem was he only caught one fish Sunday weighing 1 pound, 9 ounces.
Brownrigg finished third with a total weight of 6 pounds, 5.8 ounces, and Tom Sherfy finished fourth with 5 pounds, 15.4 ounces. He had two bass weighing 2 pounds, 10.6 ounces Sunday.
Eight out of 11 anglers caught 16 keeper bass Sunday. I'm sorry to say I was not one of them.

S.O.B. Classic: Day 1

Saturday was one of the most tiring and frustrating days I have spent fishing in years. The only reason I don't classify as among the most miserable as well, was that it was not snowing or drenching me with cold rain.
I was at Piedmont for the first day of our club championship. I had not been at the lake since spring, so I figured I would start were  I have had some success in the past during the fall. I should have known something was wrong when almost every other boat headed down the lake.
The lake quickly turned muddy, the sediments in Lick Run had been stirred up more than usual, turning most of the bay milky green and the wind started blowing as soon as we started to fish.
Nothing there, nothing in the other main area I wanted to fish, so we headed down the lake (Randy JAckson was fishing with me), hoping for better conditions and maybe some place to get out of the wind, which was quickly becoming a real nuisance.
We quickly found better water, but there was still no shad activity, and this at a time when they are normally thick in the bays and being fed upon by bass and muskies.
The wind was also getting worse. It swirls through the hills and valleys around Piedmont until there is almost no place to get away from it. even ion relatively calm areas, the wind would gust enough to ruin casts and blow the boat out of position if you let your attention lapse for even a minute.
The only action I had all day came when I rolled a spinnerbait over a branch and a small muskie (about 30 inches) grabbed it. For a second I thought it was a big smallmouth, but that was only the gold blades flashing in the water. Randy also had a muskie hit a spinnerbait and he later caught a small bass, but that was it.
Even though Randy and I were two of the four anglers whop blanked for the day, we aren't that far behind the leaders.
Kenny Fulks leads after day 1 with four bass weighing 4 pounds, 14.6 ounces, with Kevin Samson hot on his tail with two bass weighing 4 pounds, 13 ounces. Tom Sherfy is third with 3 bass weighing 3 pounds, 10.4 ounces.
Samson had the first day's big bass at 2 pounds, 7.8 ounces.
A total of 15 keeper bass were caught by eight of the 12 members fishing,
Sunday's second day is at Dillon. I just hope the wind dies down a bit.

Tappan S.O.B. results

It was cold, rainy and windy at Tappan Lake Sunday, but the fish didn't seem to mind, although they weren't very cooperative where I was fishing.
Tim Magers won the tournament with five bass weighing 8 pounds, 13.2 ounces. He also had a 4-pound, 6.6-ounce fish that took big bass honors.
Kevin Samson finished second with five bass weighing 8 pounds, 3.6 ounces; Randy Brownrigg placed third with five bass weighing 6 pounds, 13.6 ounces; Eric Woodrow took fourth with five bass weighing 6 pounds, 10 ounces, and Tom Sherfy was fifth with five bass weighing 6 pounds, 3.4 ounces.
A total of 44 bass were weighed in by 13 of the 15 members fishing.
Brownrigg held off a late-season run by Mike Baughman to win the club's angler of the year  title. Now we'll see if he can add the club's classic title in the championship tournament to be held Oct. 15 and 16 at Piedmont and Dillon.
I just hope the weather is better than it was Sunday.
I had two keepers in the first hour, one on a spinnerbait and one on a crankbait, but it took me a couple hours to get a third fish, on a hand-poured Senko from Bob's Outdoor Supply.
A bout of bad wind messed up my plans for the next place I wanted to fish, but I missed a couple possible keepers in an area I have seldom fished in the past. I should have stayed there, but I thought another area would produce fish and went  there.
Big mistake. It was another area I hadn't fished in a long time and I was mistaken about the cover I thought was there. By then I was out of time.
I thought I might have enough to at least keep Eric Woodrow from passing me in tghe standings, but I didn't.
Still, sixth is the best I have done in the club standings in a while and I weighed fish in every tournament I fished, which was a nice change from last year.

Y-City Classic

Y-City Bass Club held its two-day classic on successive weekends, Sept. 25 and Oct. 2 at Hoover Reservoir.
Chad Lighthizer won the tournament with a two-day total of 13.52 pounds. He overcame a deficit of more than four pounds after the first day to win the title. Chad's 6.15 pounds the first day was third to Ryan Boyer's 10.69 pounds, but Ryan caught only one fish the second day and finished third with 11.95 pounds.
Mark Lasure also made a run from fourth place, but fell slightly short at 13.34 pounds to finish second.
Dave Blackstone finished fourth at 11.23 pounds and Dan Allen finished fifth at 8.65 pounds.
Ryan Boyer took big bass honors with a 4.49-pound bass.
I don't know how many fish were caught the first day, but there were 27 caught on Oct. 2, with Lighthizer and Lasure both weighing in five-fish limits.
Piedmont results
I don't believe I ran the results of Y-City's last regular tournament, Sept. 18 at Piedmont.
Jim Kughn took first with three bass weighing 7.43 pounds, including a 3.93-pound fish that took big bass honors.
Jay Anker was second with four bass weighing 6.38 pounds, Dale Towse finished third with three bass weighing 5.19 pounds, Tom Sherfy placed fourth with four bass weighing 5.17 pounds and Dan Allen was fifth with three fish weighing 4.74 pounds.
A total of 42 bass were caught by 20 out of 33 anglers fishing.