Photo by Bill Banaszewski.

Every year since 1992, my family has journeyed to at least one West Virginia state park or forest over the course of the spring and summer as part of a family fishing vacation. This past June, my wife, Elaine, and I traveled to North Bend State Park, four miles outside of Cairo. Although our children, Sarah and Mark, often accompanied us on these forays in the past, at the ages of 24 and 21, respectively, they have moved on to lives of their own. However, Elaine and I still relish our annual visits to parks.

North Bend has much to offer, maintains assistant superintendent Kathy Metz.

"We have lots of activities for families," she said. "The park offers a nature/recreation program, biking and hiking, and a nature center.

"Some of our most popular programs are our night hikes where we look for such birds as owls and whippoorwills as part of our sounds of the night activity; there are scavenger hunts, where the kids are given a list to look for such things as leaves and acorns from specific trees; and creek critters, where we look for such things as crayfish, hellgrammites and minnows."

North Bend also proffers a Young Parks Person (YPP) patch, available for youngsters 6 to 16 years old who complete three environmental education activities. Children who finish the program receive a certificate, pen and a prize, which varies.

Metz relates that the park offers a number of hiking and mountain bike trails, as well. A real family favorite is the Overlook Trail, a two-miler that begins at the cabins and extends to the overlook at Hughes River Dam. This moderate trail features impressive rock outcroppings.

Of course, another option is the North Bend Rail Trail, where folks can amble anywhere from one to 72 miles. The byway begins in the vicinity of nearby Parkersburg in Wood County to Wolf Summit in Harrison County. For example, one morning after breakfast, I ventured forth on the trail for an hour or so. The trail passes through 10 tunnels and crosses 36 bridges, making it an extremely scenic escape.

Of particular interest to me is the newly created 300-acre lake at the park, tentatively named North Bend Lake. Largemouth bass, bluegills and crappie were stocked upon its creation, and the West Virginia Division of Natural Resources (DNR) stocked 1- to 2-pound catfish there last June.

One evening I visited the lake with my fly rod in hand. As is typical of most new lakes, the bass and panfish are experiencing rapid growth in both size and numbers. While there, I talked to several local anglers, among them Buddy Hodge of Harrisville, his 15-year-old son, Dalton, and friend Scott Cunningham, also from Harrisville. The Hodge duo had just teamed to land a nice largemouth.

"Dalton and I really like coming to the lake," Hodge said. "It's very quiet and peaceful here, and the lake is just full of fish. You can always catch plenty of bluegills, but we really like catching the bass."

His son, Dalton, agreed.

"I just like coming here to catch fish," he said. "Bass are my favorite fish; they put up more of a fight than bluegills."

Scott Cunningham said that the lake has been a major plus for sportsmen in the Parkersburg area (the park lies in District VI). Also, Cunningham said that the new lake typically receives little fishing pressure, especially with the Little Kanawha and Ohio rivers being nearby.

Fred Hess, who operates Hess Fish and Tackle in Harrisville, said that the bass fishing is quite good.

"I've caught largemouths in the 4- to 5-pound range and some nice smallmouths from the upper end of the lake," he said. "There are also some spotted bass in the lake. Most of the black bass are between 10 and 13 inches."

For guided trips and gearing up for Parkersburg-area fishing, contact Hess Fish and Tackle at (304) 869-3311; HessFishandTackle.com.