On October 1, 2009, my friend Gerry McVeigh, of Fortville, and I took a guided trip down the Tippecanoe River. Our guide,  Chad Miller, is owner of Wildcat Creek Outfitters in Zionsville, and offers primarily guided fly fishing trips. Luckliy, about five per-cent of his business is old school spin casters like Gerry and me. 

 We entered the chilly river at 8a.m. just below the Oakdale Dam, and traveled the 9 miles to Springboro in an Oregon-style drift boat powered by Chad himself. We used a small variety of lures, alternating between 5" Yamasenkos, Rebel Crawdads and Buzz baits. This combination allowed us to cover the large area of water we were to travel that day, and adjust for the flats, ripples and eddies. Needless to say, we each had 2 poles rigged so we could quickly adjust to the conditions. 

Gerry drew blood first and often, landing two four-pound freshwater Drums on the Rebel Craw, as well as several 12" Smallies. I finally got my mojo working and at days end we had hooked or boated nearly 60 smallies, most in the 10-16" range, with three over three pounds getting away. Honest.  More than 90% of these fish were fat, and all were brilliant in color. 

The Tippe is the sixth-most biodiverse river system in the United States, supporting many species of fish, mussels, songbirds, birds of prey. The forest lining the banks is home to many species of animals and trees. 

A bonus we had was the number of birds of prey we saw; a Coopers Hawk, Red-tailed Hawk, two Osprey, two immature Bald Eagles, and five mature Bald Eagles.

Locally Chad offers guided trips  on the Tippe and Sugar Creek near Crawfordsville,  but offers trips to Ohio for Steelhead, Montana for trout, and even such far away exotic places as South Africa and Chile.