A terrifying encounter at abandoned strip mine ponds in Carroll County, Ohio has left one angler convinced he stumbled into Sasquatch territory. Joseph Sybole’s September 2024 fishing trip turned into a nightmare of wood knocks, thrown branches, and an unmistakable feeling of being watched.
From Peaceful Fishing to Primal Fear
Sybole had been enjoying a successful day bass fishing at the remote strip mine ponds, a spot he’d visited with his father decades earlier. The first two ponds yielded plenty of fish, though he always felt an eerie presence at the second, gloomier location. It was at the third pond where things took a disturbing turn.
“I kept hearing something off to my left every few min,” Sybole reported. “I kept saying to myself it’s just deer. Heard snorting, almost a weez sort of.” What he initially dismissed as wildlife became impossible to ignore when the unmistakable sound of wood-on-wood echoed through the trees.
“That’s when I heard the loud wood hitting wood sound loud and clear. I instantly knew what I was hearing,” he recalled. As Sybole quickly gathered his gear and headed for the access road, the wood knocking intensified, growing “louder and louder” as if following his retreat.
Sasquatch Sends a Clear Message
The frightened angler’s pace quickened as he climbed the hill toward his truck, shouting “I’M LEAVING BITCH, I’M LEAVING” into the darkened woods below. Through the dense tree cover, he caught a glimpse of movement behind brush in the distance, convincing him he’d encountered a protective female Sasquatch with young.
A week later, he brought his 14-year-old grandson back to the ponds, staying close to the first, safest location while recounting his experience.
The skeptical teenager’s laughter quickly turned to concern when branches began flying in their direction. “Then another. Then another,” Sybole reported, as something unseen hurled sticks toward their position near the pond’s grassy shore.
A Family Fishing Spot Lost
The grandson’s reaction was immediate: “Let’s go grampa.” Since that final encounter, Sybole hasn’t returned to the strip mine ponds that once provided peaceful family memories stretching back to the 1960s.
The remote location, surrounded by steep terrain and dense woods, creates the perfect environment for a creature seeking solitude. The old strip mines, with their dark, gloomy atmosphere even during daylight hours, seem tailor-made for something that prefers to remain hidden.
These encounters remind us that some fishing spots might be better left to their original inhabitants.
Have you experienced something unexplained in Ohio’s wilderness?
Email me your report to Reports@ParaRational.com
