You can enjoy fishing for bass, bluegill and others on both of these pristine forest lakes. A state fishing license, available at the park office, is required. Major said the fishing is“ pretty good.”“ We do keep it stocked with standard small lake fish: bass, bluegill, channel catfish, redear, crappie, sunfish, and a few others.” There is a publicly accessible fishing report available through the Division of Fish and Wildlife on the DNR website.
“ Most of the north shore has a nice gentle slope into the lake, so shore fishing is very popular on that side,” he said.
Several years ago, the Friends of Brown County State Park installed some docks and piers and benches along the north shore.
“ It’ s a 17-acre lake, so there’ s going to be some big fish,” Major said.“ I wouldn’ t say a ton of them, but it certainly does allow for some big ones. I have heard anecdotally of channel catfish in the 15-inch range and bass in the 11-to-12-inch range.”
Ogle Lake is the only choice for folks interested in kayaking or canoeing. Boats need a DNR Lake Permit which is $ 5 a year.
There is no boat ramp; you’ ll have to be able to lift whatever kind of boat it is into Ogle Lake.
Ogle Lake was built in the 1930s in part to provide a water source for the park. But as of last year, the state park is officially on Nashville public water.
“ At this point, Ogle Lake is strictly for wildlife and recreation, Major said.“ That’ s probably about the biggest change I’ ve seen since I’ ve been here.”
The older, smaller Strahl Lake was built in 1928, a year before the state park opened.
When visiting Strahl Lake, it is best to park below the dam where there are restrooms, a shelter house with playground, and a waterfall created by the overflow of the dam. A heartstimulating staircase takes you up to lake level.
Trail 6 around Strahl Lake is mostly flat, and always displays various wildlife from birds to turtles and small woodland creatures.
There may be a little muck down at the far end of the lake, especially if there’ s been a lot of rain, but there are a couple of nice boardwalks to help you over the backwater.
If you’ re feeling particularly athletic, or wanting to run some of that boundless energy out of the kiddoes, there’ s a trail that branches off at the back of Strahl Lake, opposite the dam, that goes straight up an enormous hill to the Nature Center. I think they count this as a part of Trail 6, but you don’ t have to do that part.
Wildlife abounds throughout the park and visitors are likely to see or encounter a whole range of species that are adapted to life in the forest and forest fringe, including white-tailed deer, raccoons, gray squirrels; and songbirds like robins, nuthatches, bluejays, cardinals, and crows. Sightings of wild turkeys are common.
On your hike around Ogle Lake, you may observe an active beaver colony.
“ If you go to that extreme east side of the lake, where Trail 7 and Trail 4 meet, there is a marsh there that is maintained by the beavers,” Major said.“ If you look carefully when you’ re hiking on that side of the lake, you can see where they have a small dam, and the water level is elevated.
“ They take a big tree down every now and then, but it’ s not particularly problematic,” he said.“ They just do what beavers do. They’ re not really trying to fell large trees anymore, because they have the water level where they want it.”
Continued on 70 July / August 2024 • Our Brown County 59