Waynesville & Corwin

What's Waynesville and what's Corwin? Well, Corwin was constructed to service the railroad as it crept up the Little Miami so everything on the railroad side of the river is Corwin while the other side of the river is Waynesville. I'm going to do what everyone else does and make the people of Corwin mad and just say Waynesville.
Waynesville slash Corwin may be one of the best bases to fish the Little Miami in it's whole length. There is tons of parking, nice restrooms, restaurants to eat at, and yes, great fishing. Waynesville has historically been a milling town and still has the old mill dam.







Right below the dam is a good spot to catch sauger though in summer it's also a popular swimming hole. A series of mills operated here from 1800 till steam finally put water power out of business. The millrace was then used as a swimming and picnic area in the 1930's and 40's under the names "Wayne Park" and then "Old Mill Stream". In 1952 L. D. Baker and Tom Norris opened a mill race fishing concession. In the 1960's an old country store was added and in the 70's a swimming pool. Up until 2010 the Der Dutchman restaurant and gift shop was located on the millrace till a fire closed the restaurant. Just downstream from town the river flows under route 73 and makes a couple sharp bends. A path leads from the bike trail alongside 73 to river providing easy access. The bends have created several gravel bars and eddies that provide some interesting fishing. The gravel bars seem to change every winter with high water but allmost allways create some great fish holding spots. Last time I was there the current had gouged out a hole over my head two feet off the bank right alongside a riffle and a caught seven smallmouth without moving on a marabou jig pitched into the hole underhanded.





Downstream the river slows and is lined with downed trees that hold plenty of catfish, panfish, and rockbass. Legend also has it that while his army was camped here during the Indian campaign in 1793, General "Mad" Anthony Wayne's paymaster hid the soldier's payroll somewhere along the river here during an attack by the Indians. The money has never been found! Something to think about when wading the river looking for a smallmouth. This area was well known to the first white explorers to contain alot of wild game and in his wonderfull book, The Pioneer Writings of Josiah Morrow, Dallas Bogdan related stories of bear hunting here in 1797 and states the early hunters found deer, bear, and wild turkeys plentiful in the area. Nowdays history is working to repeat itself as deer and turkey are becoming common and recently a bear was photographed nearby.







Grain elevators in Corwin, old and new...