Find your own private fishing hole at FishMySpot
Larissa Smith of Canton launched FishMySpot.com to give anglers access to private ponds and lakes at a reasonable price.
According to the Outdoor Foundation, 86% of adults who enjoy fishing learned to fish when they were children. Larissa Smith is one of those adults who learned as a kid.
“I used to fish with my dad at a friend’s pond, and I have very fond memories of that,” she said.
Smith and business partner Roger Hollis started FishMySpot hoping to keep the sport of fishing alive in an era when children tend to hole up indoors with video games instead of being outdoors with family. As a mother of three, Smith said she knows all too well how daunting it can be to plan a fishing trip with kids.
“It can be overwhelming figuring out where to go, packing up the car, driving a long way and fighting crowds at public lakes,” Smith said. “It’s a lot of variables, and we help take those variables out.”
Hollis agreed. “We recognize that there are public places for people to go fishing, and that’s fine. We’re certainly not opposed to doing that. But they can be overcrowded and overfished.”
FishMySpot is a website that allows people to locate a fishing pond or lake they find appealing and reserve it for an exclusive fishing experience. “It gives families a place where it feels more comfortable to teach kids how to fish,” Smith said.
How it works
Visitors to www.FishMySpot.com can book a private fishing experience at private ponds and lakes throughout Ohio. Pond owners have agreed to open up their fishing holes for families and fishing parties at fees that are reasonable.
“Our ponds still have nice-size fish, and some are absolutely huge,” Smith said. “Others have smaller fish, but if you’re at an under-fished pond or lake, the chances are much higher that you’re going to catch something.”
Smith said the ponds are ideal for anglers at all experience levels. “We focused on family, so the reservation fee covers four people for a five-hour period. However, if you want to bring more than four people, it’s just an additional charge.”
Visitors to www.FishMySpot.com can search for ponds based on criteria such as price range, user ratings and types of fish desired. Prices range from $35-$400 or more. Some owners allow you to keep the fish you catch while others ask you to catch and release. Details of each location are spelled out on the website.
“If you want to go fishing at Lake Erie, it’s a long drive, and it’s expensive,” Hollis said. “This gives people a great place to spend some quality time at a very low price.”
Some locations offer just fishing while others offer extras such as camping and the use of canoes, picnic tables and grills. Fish range from crappie and catfish to largemouth bass, sunfish, bluegill and walleye.
A work in progress
Smith said she hopes to grow FishMySpot to include private access to locations across the country.
“When we took the company to market in 2020, we had only 12 ponds listed,” she said. “Now we have more than 25 in Ohio, and we just added one in West Virginia.”
Smith said there are additional locations not listed on the website that can be privately booked as well.
Smith invited pond owners to check out the website and learn how they can earn a little extra income by listing their locations.
“On our website pond owners can sign up to see how much they can possibly make,” she said. “If it’s appealing enough, they can list their spot.”
Smith said pond owners keep 70% of the fee they determine while 30% goes to FishMySpot. “That helps cover our expenses like marketing. We also cover all of our pond owners under a $1 million liability insurance policy.”
To list your fishing hole or to find one near you, visit www.FishMySpot.com or call 844-446-3474.