A lingering drought that has stalked Ohio all summer appears to have avoided putting any lasting stamp of disapproval on the state’s inland angling meccas.
However, it has led to a premature shutting down of further sustenance for some trees in some locations. That “some” is the operative word, too.
Even more disheartening, the heat and dry weather have encouraged the breeding of tiny midges that has resulted in isolated pockets of EHD, shorthand for the viral epizootic hemorrhagic disease.
“It may be better to think of where moisture deficits haven’t happened in Ohio,” said Aaron Wilson, scientist with the Byrd Polar and Climate Research Center at Ohio State University.
The Ohio Division of Geological Survey says also that approximately 64 percent of Ohio is currently experiencing abnormally dry or moderate drought conditions, down from 79 percent at the end of July
Wilson says the latest data suggests the drought cuts a large swath across Ohio from its extreme northwest and toward the east-southeast. A large “doughnut hole” of generally near normal conditions exists in several east-central counties, among them being Coshocton, Muskingum, and most of Licking. This assessment being based on the Center’s latest Drought Monitor map.
Among other notable areas basking in generally favorable drought-free areas is the so-called Snow Belt region in extreme Northeast Ohio, and a “L-shaped” zone stretching from about Darke and Miami counties in extreme western Ohio and sweeping south and then east, following the Ohio River Valley though Meigs County.
Wilson said also these drought conditions have been experienced for the past 60 to 90 days. And the situation is particularly acute in some portions of northwest Ohio “which is a complete shift from what it experienced last year,” Wilson said.
Several pockets of moderate drought likewise exists. This situation is most notable in Wood, Sandusky, Henry, Ashland, Wayne, Stark, Fayette, Greene, and Pickaway counties, the Drought Monitor map revealed.
“This all started in Indiana and moved through Ohio into Pennsylvania where the situation is bad, but it’s even much worse in the Northeast,” Wilson says.
To illustrate that summer-time rainfalls have not fallen uniformly – not even in drought-plagued counties, Wilson noted how one rainfall measuring station in Fulton County recently recorded four inches of rain.
“But that’s not always a good thing,” Wilson says.
The reason for this less-than-ideal turn-about is because when so much rain falls quickly onto dry, hard ground a lot of run-off occurs instead of being absorbed into the soil, Wilson says.
“But with the cooler temperatures you’ll see less evaporation and in most cases, stream flow has been good,” Wilson says.
Agreeing the drought has not proven especially severe across much of the state – at least as it applies to angling - is Richard Zweifel, inland fisheries program administrator with the Ohio Division of Wildlife.
Zweifel says he’s not heard of many problems associated with anglers being able to access reservoirs to fish. Meanwhile, most streams have enough water in them “to float a kayak or a canoe,” Zweifel says.
“You might have to portage or slide a canoe or kayak a bit more,” Zweifel said.
And those reservoirs which most often are troubled by summertime low water levels are not in bad shape, either, says Zweifel,
Count Hoover, Caesar Creek, Grand Lake St. Mary, and even Buckeye as fairing pretty well all things being considered, says Zweifel.
“Nothing particularly out of the ordinary,” he said.
- Jeffrey L. Frischkorn
JFrischk@Ameritech.net
JFrischk4@gmail.com
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