New fishing area opens on Sugar Creek

Outdoor lovers have new access to Sugar Creek with the recent opening of the new Sugar Creek Public Fishing Area, located southwest of Crawfordsville.  

The Montgomery County site is approximately 1.5 miles south of  Indiana 32 on Camp Rotary Road, and approximately 1 mile west on Offield Road. The DNR Division of Fish and Wildlife purchased the approximately 12.5-acre area as part of a larger partnership to acquire 41 acres. 

The 12.5 acre site has been planted with trees using a tree planter from the Indiana State Chapter of the National Wild Turkey Federation and includes a parking lot. The existing path to the creek for canoes has been improved. Pheasants Forever will plant a portion of the site with warm-season grasses.

The remaining land, owned and managed by NICHES Land Trust, was acquired with funds from the Indiana Heritage Trust, NICHES Land Trust, The Nature Conservancy, and Friends of Sugar Creek. That 28.5-acre area, known as Bachner Nature Preserve, also has been planted with native trees and grasses with support from Pheasants Forever.

Fishing is allowed on both parcels. There is no fee for use of either.

Funding for the DNR's public access program is derived primarily from the sale of fishing and hunting licenses and from federal aid through the Sport Fish Restoration Fund. Sport Fish Restoration funds are generated from federal excise taxes on motorboat fuel and fishing and boating equipment.

These funds are distributed to each state according to the size of the state and number of fishing licenses sold. This is one of the most effective "user-pay, user benefit" programs in the nation-anglers and boaters provide the financial support for the boating access, fisheries management and related programs they enjoy. 

The sale of senior fishing licenses brings additional dollars to Indiana through this program. The state pays for the acquisition, development and maintenance of access sites up front, then receives a 75 percent reimbursement from the federal government on most sites.

For more than 800 other ideas on where to fish, see the Where to Fish Finder at dnr.IN.gov/fishwild.