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SPRINGFIELD — It could not have been a more delightful day to be on the water at C. J. Brown Reservoir in Buck Creek State Park.

A faint breeze barely riffled the surface of the 2,120-acre lake off Route 4, on the northeast side of Springfield.

Only a dozen or so car and boat trailers were parked at the lot near the boat ramp when I arrived one morning last week. Perhaps it was an indication that C. J. fishermen have not had much success lately.

Soon my own boat was launched and I headed northwest from the ramp, straight toward the mid-lake humps where so many walleyes have been caught in past years.

According to notes in my fishing log, Jim Carr of Dayton and I caught 24 walleyes in one day some six years ago. All were taken by trolling deep-running lures.

Most of the fish did not meet the 15-inch minimum size limit that applies at C.J., but we had a fishing day to remember.

Strangely, trolling no longer appears to be as effective at this mystery lake. Drifting or still-fishing with jig and live bait appear to get better results.

So what's happened at Brown? Why aren't more fish caught by trolling? Where are the walleyes, period?

The question was put to Doug Maloney, district fish management supervisor for the Division of Wildlife. He said he has been asked the same thing by others.

"I don't know," Maloney replied. "It baffles me."

The annual walleye stocking program continues. Test netting in years past has shown the lake has an abundance of walleyes, and many of them are huge.

To improve the fishing outlook for bluegills and crappies, the Division of Wildlife installed groups of pilings at various locations at 10- or 15-foot depths. Originally, there were 25 pilings per group.

On my recent outing I fished some of the piling structures, but did not find many fish. I did locate an abundance of crappies along a rock drop-off some 150 yards northwest of the entrance to the marina area.

The rock structure, one that's entirely natural, fell off from a depth of 3 feet down to more than 22 feet in a short distance.

Here crappies were spawning and I had the best success catching them on a small pink jig, fished just off bottom at the eight-foot level. Minnows accounted for some of the fish taken, most of which ranged from 8-to-10 inches.

David Lloyd, a friend who was fishing nearby in his boat, was urged to join me at this fishing spot and both of us had fun crappie fishing.

It allowed both of us to forget C. J. Brown's mysterious walleyes, at least for a day.

The Great Outdoors Report with Jim Robey can be heard on Dayton ESPN radio, 1410 WING, Thursdays at 4:35 p.m. and Fridays at 7:35 a.m. Contact Robey at Dayton Daily News, 1611 S. Main St., Dayton, OH 45409.

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