Ohio Game Fishing banner

Trout in Big Darby...?

2.9K views 21 replies 12 participants last post by  acklac7  
#1 ·
Has anyone ever heard of this , wife talked to a guy who swears they are there up and down , but has no photographic proof.
 
#7 ·
I would be surprised. I fished the Big Darby most of my life, pretty heavily when I was younger. I do know the Big Darby holds the widest variety of fish in it than any other system in the state and also an extremely large variety of mussels. If they were to be found in there, I would guess they would be small in numbers and location and probably up near Logan County where the river starts.
 
#12 ·
I was referring to the variety, that's the reason it is a national scenic river. As far as the fishing goes, I don't have much to say about the Scioto because I have only fished it a handful of times. Keep putting time in on the Darby and you will probably change your mind. My experience on the Darby has been to find a very small deep area close to swift moving water. For a small river, it gets pressured pretty heavy, so it helps to know where secluded areas are. Most of my knowledge is around Plain City, send me a PM if you would like.
 
#20 ·
I worked at Battelle-Darby Park for 25+ years and saw many strange things on Darby and rainbow trout were one of them. I walked by a man fishing at the confluence and he had two or three very nice trout on his stringer. This was in the 80's and we attributed it to a flooded pond that the trout escaped from. Awhile back there was talk about spotted bass in darby. One day the EPA did some shocking in there boat. When they returned I asked about there results. They said they shocked a 5+ pound spotted bass. I responded they were full of crap because that would be a state record (at that time). They said go look in the boat. I did and I had to eat my words. I was told they were taking it to Ohio State for genetic testing. I have seen small muskies , 4-6" seined. Also a major white bass run in the fall one year. Strange things do happen, so be careful when you tell someone he is full of crap.
 
#21 · (Edited)
Great first post. Interesting observations for sure.

Spotted Bass are native to the Darby, especially the lower end. Not surprised in the least with Juvenile Musky showing up too, again, especially in the lower stretches of the Creek.

On to the Trout. It's highly likely someone, at some point, attempted to privately stock them in the Little Darby. It's also possible (though much less likely) the ODNR stocked them at one point but didn't tell anyone (they do this from time to time for various reasons). Im not completely surprised that someone, at some point, caught a few out of the (Big) Darby - Especially right at the confluence. That said, nowadays they have to be incredibly rare, if not completely non-existent in the BIG Darby.

I'd love to be proven wrong.