HANGING ROCK — Cody Harmon and his father, Wed, are by no means expert anglers. But, the pond on State Route 650 at Hanging Rock is a place where they come to do more than fish, they come to spend time together and enjoy the outdoors.

“I fished here when I was a kid,” Ironton resident Wed Harmon explained.

“There was a ball field nearby, so I’d just come here when I’d go to play ball.”

He said his love of fishing started when he was about the same age as his son, 10 years old.

“It’s relaxing here and it gets us out of the house,” Harmon said as he sat on a beach towel draped over the pond’s bank. “I could sit here for hours.”

Wed’s son, Cody, was the only one catching any fish Saturday, as he reeled in a few small blue gill and bass. Most of the time, his dad said, Cody spends a lot of time treasure hunting at the pond. He fills his tackle box with rocks and fishing supplies that have been discarded by others at the pond.

“I like to find this kind of stuff,” he said as he held up a tangled ball of fishing line. “I like to make things out of what I find.”

Others who come to the pond do so for reasons similar to the Harmons’.

“It’s just a place where I’ve fished my whole life,” said Bob Woods, of Elizabeth Township. “It brings back good memories of me and my friends coming down here and spending time.”

Woods said he brings his three grandchildren to the pond a few times a year, but he comes more often.

“I’ll admit that the fish you catch aren’t going to win any fishing trophies,” he said laughing. “But, that’s really not why people come here. It’s more of a relaxation thing.”

His fishing buddy last weekend was his long-time friend Carl Bloomfield, who also enjoys the occasional trip to the Hanging Rock pond.

“I’ve caught a few good ones (fish), but I’ve come here a long time just to hang out,” Bloomfield said. “If I’m going to do some serious fishing, I’ll go somewhere else. I just come here with a few of my buddies to catch up on old times and sometimes even gossip.”

The Dart is a weekly feature in which a reporter throws a dart at a map of Lawrence County and finds a story where it hits.