Fish Stories
PLEASE TAKE NOTE: WE WILL BE CLOSED ON SATURDAY, JULY 4TH, 2020. WE WILL REOPEN ON SUNDAY, JULY 5TH. Well, summer has arrived so now we can complain about the heat and humidity instead of the cold. Personally, I enjoy the change in seasons with fall and early winter being my favorite time of the year (DEER SEASON). Of course in Ohio we can sometimes experience the weather of all four seasons in a single week. Fish are still biting. Here are some pictures of some customers and their fish catches in the last week or so here at Busch's Pay Lakes. Another big crappie was caught out of Pond 1. Mr. Busch. ... See MoreSee Less
1 week ago ·
Saturday, June 20th, 2020. I try to get pictures of our customers with their catches whenever I can. Here is a sample of people enjoying a day of fishing at Busch's Pay Lakes over the last week or so. Mr. Busch. ... See MoreSee Less
2 weeks ago ·
Saturday, June 20, 2020. There were a number of good fish caught today at Busch Family Fish Farm but this large crappie has to be considered the "catch of the day". We have lots of small crappie in Pond 1, but very few large ones are ever caught. Today Steve caught a large one. Congratulations. Mr. Busch. ... See MoreSee Less
2 weeks ago ·
Thursday, June 11, 2020. It has been another good week for us at Busch's Pay Lakes. We opened on Friday, May 22 and we have had at least one customer fishing here every day since then. Last year we sold about 230 tickets for the season. A ticket could be for a single person or a group of people. Since opening 21 days ago tomorrow we have sold about 110 tickets. Pent-up demand to get outside, good weather, and decent fishing have all contributed to our fast start. It appears that another good, cooler weather weekend is on the way. Give us a call (937-693-3640) to make your fishing appointment. Here are some pictures of fish caught here within the last week. I weighed the large catfish Mark caught today. It weighed 12.5 pounds. Mr. Busch. ... See MoreSee Less
4 weeks ago ·
This weekend appears to be looking good for weather and fishing at Busch's Pay Lakes. Make your appointments now (937-693-3640) and look forward to a pleasant day of fishing this weekend. We had several families with children fishing here during the week. The bluegill and crappie in Pond 1 didn't disappoint and Mom and Dad were kept busy baiting hooks, taking fish off the hooks and teaching their kids how to fish. The small bass were biting everyday and several larger bass from 1 to 3.5 pounds were caught. The catfish also made some guys happy. One of our repeat customers came two evenings and said he caught about a dozen catfish one evening and six or seven another. Here are some pictures of fish caught this week. ... See MoreSee Less
1 month ago ·
Saturday, May 30, 2020. WOW! What a beautiful day to be fishing at Busch's Pay Lake. The weather was great, not too cool, not too hot, not too windy, it was just right. The fishing was good, not too slow, not too fast, it was just right. I think most of our guests caught some fish today. The customers were all great, but some of the fish were bad. They stole a lot of bait and two rods and reels. Fortunately we were able to recover the rods and reels and the guilty fish were still on the lines. They were returned to their ponds with a warning. Here are some pictures from today and yesterday of happy customers having an enjoyable experience at our place. Mr. Busch. ... See MoreSee Less
1 month ago ·
Just a quick note to say "Thank-you" to all of customers who visited us over the last four days. There was obviously a pent-up demand for good weather and a chance to fish and enjoy the outdoors. Here are a few pictures of fish caught today at Busch's Pay Lakes. ... See MoreSee Less
1 month ago ·
Well we did open yesterday, Friday, May 22nd, and we had 15-20 people fishing both yesterday and today. That is a good day for us. We built our fishing facility to be a clean, safe and peaceful environment for family fishing fun. Based on customer comments, we accomplished that goal. Some customer want the opportunity to catch catfish (for us that is a 3-15 pound channel catfish), large hybrid bluegill (1/2 to 1.0 pound) or large mouth bass (1/2 pound to 6.0 pound). Other customers want a family experience where they are frantically helping their children or grand children catch small bluegill and crappie one after another. We appreciate our repeat customers, and new customers who decide to give us a try. We do our best to serve you in any way we can while you are here. Here our some of the fish our customers caught over the last two days. We are now open. Give us a call to make an appointment--937-693-3640. ... See MoreSee Less
1 month ago ·
Whoopee! We will open next weekend, Friday May 22, 2020, instead of the following weekend as previously planned. You can now call us and we will start taking your appointments for this fishing season. Rob and Margie Busch. Call us at 937-693-3640. ... See MoreSee Less
2 months ago ·
I made up a batch of my favorite Kentucky dough ball bait a couple of nights ago and tried it out this afternoon. I fished in Pond 3 beginning at 5:40 pm. Eight minutes later I caught a 13.25 pound channel catfish. I got him back in the water, baited my hook and tried again. Seven minutes later I caught a beautiful 6.75 pound female channel catfish. We will be opening by the end of May. I am ready. The fish appear to be ready too! ... See MoreSee Less
2 months ago ·
We will continue to be closed through most of May, 2020 due to the most recent Ohio mandate to extend "shelter in place" until May 29th. The mandate also extended the closure of our non-essential outdoor entertainment business to at least that date until further notice. We will open when we can. Mr. Busch. ... See MoreSee Less
2 months ago ·
WHEN ARE YOU GOING TO OPEN THIS YEAR? We have been getting phone calls in the last couple of weeks from some of our more avid customers anxious to give us a try even though the weather has not been very spring-like to date. Because of the Corona Virus we will remain closed at least until the end of April. We will reevaluate the situation at that time. As older adults Marge and I are "sheltering in place" as much as possible to reduce our chances of exposure to the virus. We look forward to seeing our many repeat customers and providing another good fishing experience to everyone in 2020. I've included a few memorable moments at Busch's Pay Lakes in 2019. ... See MoreSee Less
3 months ago ·
Today was the last day for fishing at Busch Family Fish Farm and Pay Lakes for the 2019 season. Good hunting, Happy Thanksgiving, Merry Christmas, Happy New Year, and we will see you again next spring. These pictures of three of our grandchildren fishing here this fall exemplify the family fishing fun we try to provide to each of our customers. We wish you and yours bright futures in everything you do. Rob and Margie Busch. ... See MoreSee Less
8 months ago ·
10-12-19. The fishing season isn’t over at Busch’s Pay Lakes yet. Kevin came out this afternoon and caught these two channel catfish within a few minutes of each other. He was fishing in Pond 1 using cherry chicken. Today is the first day since early last spring when a warm jacket felt good all afternoon. Mr. Busch. ... See MoreSee Less
9 months ago ·
Wednesday, 9-18-19. After spending most of this beautiful day replacing drain screens on intake and outlet pipes, I decided to fish in Pond 3 at 4:30 pm. I fished for 1 hour and a half using Brian’s Kentucky dough ball bait. I caught three catfish weighing 11.5, 9.75, and 11.75 pounds. The two larger fish and the dough ball bait are pictured here. Mr. Busch. ... See MoreSee Less
10 months ago ·
10 months ago ·
8-28-19. I decided to fish another half hour this evening. This time I wanted to try and catch a hybrid bluegill in Pond 2 using wax worms fished on the bottom. I only caught one in the allotted half hour, but it was a nice one as you can see. Mr. Busch. ... See MoreSee Less
10 months ago ·
Wednesday, 8-28-19. I fished in Pond 3 for 30 minutes last evening without catching anything. I fished in Pond 2 this morning and didn’t catch anything.
I fished in Pond 3 this afternoon from 4:30-5:30 pm using strawberry chicken fished on the bottom. I caught two catfish. One weighed 10.5 pounds and the other weighed 11.25 pounds. The Labor Day weekend is coming up soon. We will be open for appointment all weekend including LaborDay. Give us a call and enjoy a day of fishing. ... See MoreSee Less
10 months ago ·
8-23-19. Friday. The weather made the fishing even better today. Dennis said he caught 5 catfish in Pond 4 in about an hour. This was one of the larger ones. He said he didn’t get a bite in Pond 2. He moved to Pond 3 and caught a small bass or two before moving on to Pond 4. He caught the catfish using chicken liver. ... See MoreSee Less
10 months ago ·
Sunday, 8-11-19. It started with 7:30 am mass followed by a busy day helping several groups of fisherman at our place. When the last group was packing up to leave I decided to relax a little while by once again fishing for small bass and bluegill using my ultralight fishing gear in Pond 3. And bam! The first fish
I hooked was a big catfish. It took me at least 10 minutes to get him in with the ultralight equipment. I’m getting too old for this, but it’s
still a lot of fun! Really, I’m complaining about about catching fish that are too big? I should be ashamed. Mr. Busch. ... See MoreSee Less
11 months ago ·
8-11-19. Another beautiful day at Busch’s Pay Lakes. We had about 25 people here today in large part because the parents and friends of six-year old Jackson had his birthday celebration here with lots of fishing afterwards. As you can see everyone was enjoying Jackson’s day. Thanks for choosing our place for your gathering. Mr. Busch. ... See MoreSee Less
11 months ago ·
Thank you, Jeremy, for sharing your experience with us. These are the kinds of memories we love helping with. ... See MoreSee Less
11 months ago ·
8-10-19. Today was another beautiful day to be outside, especially if you were fishing at Busch’s Pay Lakes. Our customers are catching a good number of bluegill and bass and some catfish. I got a couple of pictures of a few of the larger catfish caught today.
Mike’s catfish weighed 7.5 pounds and Lisa’s fish weighed a little over 11 pounds. I was told that two bass were caught in different ponds that weighed around 5 pounds each. I did not see either fish myself but it is good to know they are out there. Mr. Busch. ... See MoreSee Less
11 months ago ·
Once the sun begins to lower in the western sky and the wind settles down to a slight breeze, it is the perfect time to sit on one of our park benches and fish for anything that wants to bite. A couple of days ago I began fishing in Pond 2 about 7:00 pm. I fished for an hour and only had two bites. I did finally catch a small, 1/2 pound bass. Disappointed with that I decided to fish in Pond 3 for a little while longer. Within seven or eight minutes a nice channel cat tried to take my pole away from me. It took me every bit of 10 minutes to land the fish with my ultralight and 4-pound test line. That fish made my long day and relaxing evening complete. Come visit us in the evening after a hot day in these “dog days” of summer. ... See MoreSee Less
11 months ago ·