For fishing splendor, the wonder that is Cold Creek hardly seems home in Ohio

Few streams in Ohio keep their cool sufficiently throughout the summer to sustain cold-water fish.

Cold Creek, a 5-mile, meandering run of clear water that starts from holes in the ground and flushes into Sandusky Bay within view of Cedar Point, is one. The Ohio Division of Wildlife operates a trout hatchery near a source hole where rainbows are grown from eggs.

Lake Erie’s steelhead fishery is almost entirely a product of that Castalia hatchery.

Cold Creek, meanwhile, is a product of local geology where lowland water seeps into a limestone base and at a few sites emerges in volume cool and refreshed at 50 degrees, more or less, but without much oxygen.

Cold Creek is prone neither to freezing during the winter nor to warming during the summer. The oxygen problem long has been addressed, enough at any rate to suit fish.

Near the entrance to the hatchery and just outside state property, the winding, tentacled creek flows steadily over a dark, undulating bottom, passes under a bridge, then disappears just beyond showy evergreen shrubs growing on both banks. The picturesque package hardly seems home in Ohio.

Rainbows of size and in numbers suspend in the shallow water. Facing a steady current, their dark backs blending with the bottom makes them a little hard to locate at first, especially when the shimmering surface glows at angles under reflected sunlight.

Along the creek toward the bay are stretches of private land with fly aficionados who can afford to pay big money for limited access to stocked rainbows, browns, brookies and a few brown-brook hybrids.

A pay-to-fish site is located near the creek’s entry to the bay. Fish are caught, though at what frequency is hard to say. Not hard to say is the setting doesn’t match what’s a few miles upstream.

Most years, including this one, the wildlife division opens a half-mile stretch of Cold Creek inside hatchery grounds from May through September. The catch, so to speak, is that dates and times are assigned to winners of a lottery open to applicants through the end of this month.

The entry cost is a non-refundable $3. Applications, along with details, can be found at the web site wildohio.gov. A single application may be submitted through the Ohio Wildlife Licensing System or by using the HuntFish OH mobile app.

Winners will be notified by email in early April at which time they will be able to download through their customer accounts a permit and instructions covering fishing date and times. Applicants age 16 and older must hold a current Ohio fishing license.

Permit winners can bring a limited number of guests.

Turkey draw

The wildlife division this month is holding a drawing that might interest turkey hunters looking for a place to bag a gobbler. At stake are permits entitling holders to participate in controlled hunts at five wildlife areas.

Two of the locations – Killdeer Plains in Wyandot County and Killbuck Marsh straddling Wayne and Holmes counties – are within reasonable driving distance of Columbus and central Ohio.

Applications, which require a $3 non-refundable fee, are available through the end of the month via the web-based licensing system or by using the HuntFish Ohio mobile app.

Successful applicants will be notified by email.

Trout stocks

Rainbow trout stockings, which eventually will include 90 sites, including many in central Ohio, began last week with infusions in five locations.

Heritage Park Pond in Groveport is scheduled to get fish on March 19, Blue Limestone Park in Delaware on March 20. Details on additional stockings will be forthcoming.

outdoors@dispatch.com