Beavercreek fisherman doing his best to ‘make the fish gods happy’

Contributed Photo Conservationist, angler and fishing guide Mark Blauvelt

ENLARGE PHOTO

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By Jim Morris, Staff Writer Updated 7:14 PM Saturday, January 30, 2010

Mark Blauvelt will fish for “anything that swims.” He has fished all over Ohio and in 34 states and Canada.

But more than a fisherman, Blauvelt is a conservationist.

Blauvelt, 43, a native of Beavercreek and a 1984 Miamisburg High School graduate, spent several years as a member of Trout Unlimited. He has worked on a few area streams, but his biggest contribution to the environment has been as a project leader for TU’s efforts on the Mad River.

Many avid anglers, especially fly fishermen, have worked on the Mad, since it is one of Ohio’s few cold-water streams, supporting a good population of brown trout. Following guidelines from the Army Corps of Engineers and the Ohio Division of Wildlife, volunteers have tried to add some structure to the Mad, which was channelized in the early 1900s.

“A channelized stream is not healthy,” he said. “When man changes what nature has taken thousands of years to create, it’s not a good thing. We have tried to restore that habitat and many people have pitched in to help.”

Blauvelt started his own business several years ago called Flatwater Guide Service, but he says the recession has pretty much dried up his business. In fact, the recession has changed his life. Once a budding computer programmer, he has had two layoffs and now is a sales rep for a baked goods company.

He lives on a small farm near New Lebanon with his wife and three dogs. Blauvelt’s Web pages are flyfishohio.com/Flatwater or swocatfishclub.com.

In his words

“I am a self-taught fisherman. Nobody else in my family fished. When I was 8 or 9 my older brother was in Boy Scouts and he brought home a fishing rod. I wanted to go play with it. My parents owned property on Ohio Brush Creek in Adams County. That’s where I learned to fish.

“I started fishing with worms, then with minnows. I went from a spincast to a spinning rod and started fishing with spinners on the Little Miami River near our home. I received my first flyrod when I was in junior high school, but I didn’t know how to use it. I didn’t really start fly fishing until I was about 22.

“I got heavily involved in the Miami Valley Flyfishers. My second year of fly fishing, I fished 220 times on the Mad River (for trout). I would drive up almost every day and fish for a couple hours. I’ve waded every inch of the upper Mad, the little Miami and the lower Mad.

“I enjoy me against the fish. It’s my competitive nature. Every time I go out I want to catch fish, one after another.

“I recently put in a pond on my property. It’s something I always wanted — my own pond. I studied what I needed to do and I have spent quite a bit of time working on it. I do a little bit until the money runs out, then wait awhile and do a little bit more.

“Recently I have been doing most of my fishing for catfish down on the Ohio River. It’s a lot of fun and we’ve started a catfish club (Southwest Ohio Catfish Club). We have about eight tournaments a year.

“Wherever I go, I am the guy who goes along the river banks or around the lakes picking up trash. The way I’ve got it figured, anything you can do to make the fish gods happy, they’re always willing to repay you ... but it takes work to get the reward.”

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