Angler weighs risk of a parking ticket in pursuit of carp

When your last hope is an outdoors writer, your situation might be hopeless. Here’s where the world finds out.

Ken Nicol of Columbus has a yen to fish the Scioto River under the I-270 bridge in Dublin.

He is wanting, Nicol said in an email a few days ago, to “take my grandsons down there to fish south around 75 yards, as it is full of small carp in the 4- to 8-pound range who love Wheaties doughballs.”

His query, Nicol detailed, is related to the fact that Dublin has grown since he last fished the hole 10 years ago. The spot can be approached by motor vehicle where Emerald Parkway runs into Riverside Drive.

The problem is parking, more specifically the likelihood of collecting a parking ticket, though “No Parking” signs are not visible.

In the old days, “everyone who fished that stretch just parked about 15 feet away from Riverside Drive to the west. Not under the bridge entirely or anywhere near the water … just off the road onto the gravel,” Nicol wrote.

To find out whether a fisherman or anyone else can park at the site without risking a surprise citation, Nicol called Dublin police. Dublin told Nicol the stretch in question is under jurisdiction of the Franklin County Sheriff’s Office. The sheriff said, no, the stretch is patrolled by the Columbus Division of Police.

A call to Columbus got this result: “I was transferred four times and not a single person could answer my question, and so you are my last hope, it seems. I know it’s an oddball question. However, all I wanted to know is if it’s OK to park there legally.”

Oddball questions are the bomb around here.

Let’s trust someone — official or otherwise — can supply a straight and definitive answer.

Hope must not perish.

Parting shots

The dumping of dredge materials from the Maumee River into western Lake Erie will continue for the foreseeable future, although the Ohio Environmental Protection Agency announced last week it is “moving toward an eventual goal of eliminating lake placement of dredge materials.” … A bill that would allow the use of suppressors for hunting in Ohio came before the Civil Justice Committee of the state Senate last week. The state House has passed the measure.