The Madmen monitor the Mad River four times a year at six different locations:
US 36,
SR 296,
Watson’s Property at Sullivant Rd.,
Pimtown Rd.,
West Liberty Park and
Mac-o-chee Cr. (restoration area).
We work with students from local schools, Boy Scout Troups and members of local fishing clubs, such as Central Ohio Fly Fishers (COFF), Buckeye United Fly Fishers (BUFF) and Miami Valley Fly Fishers. The picture above shows a class of students from West Liberty/Salem, their Science teacher, Carrie Smith (left) and Madmen, COFF and BUFF members behind. October 20, 2013. The big guy in the back center is Don Boysel, our former President and current Director of Monitoring.
The Mad River always scores in the “Excellent” range by the Level 1 criteria for aquatic macroinvertebrates at all locations. According to the Ohio Department of Natural Resources, the Mad has the best cold water habitat for trout in Ohio.
We find a number of interesting aquatic macroinvertebrates in the Mad. The following pictures show a few of these with their common and scientific names. All of these are larval forms found in the Mad River. All of these are shown here at about 10-times their real size, unless otherwise indicated.
