Once upon the Portage, there was ‘gold’ in the water

It’s April, and you don’t need a calendar to tell you that if you are anywhere near the Maumee River as the walleye and the anglers who chase them have returned. This year, once again, the edges of the river are jammed by a proverbial army of hopeful waiting trying to get their limit, or at least one of the prized monsters to take home to a waiting stove.

This early spring pilgrimage to the Maumee is a reminder that once upon a time, in another nearby waterway, the prize was not the coveted walleyed pike, but the humble goldfish. Yes, goldfish.

And the river was the Portage River in Ottawa County.

From about 1920 and many years later, large schools of mystery goldfish invaded the Portage River.  These were not the small minnow-sized goldfish we put into glass bowls for thoughtful gazing, but large ones, averaging about as big as a good-sized yellow perch, or bigger.

During my frequent free-range research of several yellowed local newspapers, I’ve discovered numerous old articles about this curious goldfish phenomenon, which surfaced from Elmore to Port Clinton along the Portage in the 1920s.

The sightings and catches of these colorful carp-like fish were not isolated, but rather a massive crypto-zoological phenomenon of such magnitude that commercial fishermen descended on the mouth of the river near Port Clinton to harvest the invaders as curious culinary delicacies.

According to one article from Dec. 20, 1920, the carp-like goldfish were being taken by the ton at the Portage River and many of them were several inches long and weighing up to a half pound. They were "highly colored in yellow and gold" with sprinkles of red, making them "very attractive.” 

The local fishermen said they had been catching them in their nets for several years at various times, and would take them in as novelties. It wasn't until this particular year, 1920, that their numbers were so abundant they were being caught and put "live" into railroad tank cars then shipped to retail and wholesale markets in New York City.

The lucrative practice continued for at least five more years on the river.

From where these exotic golden carp-like fish had come was somewhat of a mystery, although there were theories.

Most popular was that may have gotten into Lake Erie during the great floods of 1913 when many backyard ponds and aquariums flooded over and thousands of the little gold fish escaped into the flood waters. It was speculated that thousands of these colorful swimming ornaments might have been refugees from the Belle Isle Aquarium near Detroit when the floodwaters of 1913 overtook the outdoor ponds.

They continued to flourish in the warm waters of Lake Erie and multiplied by the millions and may have interbred with carp. In the winter months, they would move from the shallow water of the marshes and into the deeper waters of the Portage River.

True or not, that is difficult to determine. But wherever they came from, this copious crop of large golden-colored fish remained in the waters of Western Lake Erie and the Portage River for many years after. 

In 1964, while fishing in the Portage near Elmore one spring, I recall catching a large gold-colored fish that was almost two feet in length. Was it an ancestor of the famed mystery goldfish of 1920? I don’t know, but I like to think it was.

Recounting this story with Ottawa County locals who are familiar with the river, numerous folks said they too have had similar encounters over the years through the years with these large goldfish.

It’s not unusual, said state fishery experts in Ohio, who are quick to point out that the goldfish is common scrap species found throughout much of the Western watershed of Lake Erie. A hardy fish, it is able to adapt to changing temperature and ecosystems and likely contributed to the demise of native species such as the blue pike, the sauger and the northern pike in Lake Erie – a true invasive species which competes for habitat and food and often carry disease. 

Their presence today can likely be traced to people carelessly disposing of their pet fish into lakes and streams. Thus, the “wild” goldfish problem is now reported over a wide area of the nation, and their culinary charm has faded.

No one any longer seems to be eager to bring home a mess for Sunday dinner.