“I’m Very Particular About My Fish”

John Bell, owner and operator of Johnny B’s Campground in southern Randolph County, takes his fishing ponds very seriously. The central feature of a multi-faceted property, his three fishing ponds are currently stocked with channel catfish, but he has plans to expand into crappie and trout very soon. Pay fishing is available, though some areas are catch-and-release only, while others are pay by the pound to take your catch home with you. The only regular guests who don’t have to pay: the birds.

“Yea, I have osprey, I have two or three bald eagles, and I have a golden eagle. He’s huge!” I asked him if he minded when the eagles took his fish? “Hate it,” he quipped. “They can take my little ones but I hate it when they take my big ones.” And after a longer pause, “Ain’t nothin’ I can do about it though.”

Tucked into a bend in the valley, just south of Huttonsville, the sprawling 190 acre bottomland property reaches up into the wooded hills to the east. It features beautiful views of ridgelines stretching out in three directions. You don’t have to work hard to believe it when Mr. Bell tells you that the views of the fall leaves are spectacular here.

John’s ancestors have lived in this part of Randolph County for at least 170 years, as far as he can figure, and his father purchased the campground property in 1969. Building the first and largest pond here was the last project he ever did with his dad. After a long and ongoing career running an excavation business, John is now investing his time, money, and energy here, to further develop this campground that he originally built to house pipeline workers. He has a small camp store and 3D archery range and is hoping to develop additional trails and activities, as well as a stage and infrastructure to host outdoor music festivals.

“I’m gonna be adding cabins, tent camping, glamping platforms.”  With the space, skills, and machinery to make things happen, you can bet that John will do things the West Virginia way. “I try to do everything as reasonable as possible but do a nice job with all of it. I repurpose a lot of stuff.” He’s planning to build 18’x18’ cabins with old crane platforms and timbers he recovered from the pipeline work. “They’re brand new, never been used,” he told me excitedly, “They’re gonna be rustic.”

Woodlands was well-positioned to be able to work on this project with Mr. Bell. He couldn’t secure the loans that he wanted through the banks because his cashflow, “didn’t look the best.” As a CDFI, Woodlands Community Lenders could be more flexible when considering collateral support and was able to put together a funding package that worked for the business.

“I was finally able to hire a secretary; some of that money is going to pay her. It’s a gift from God to have her in here. Now that she is helping things are flowing a bit better.”

Contact Johnny B’s Campground at 304.339.6167, [email protected] ,or look for Johnny B’s Campground on Facebook, YouTube, and the Randolph County CVB website. Camping and daytime activities like fishing and archery are available every day. Click here for google map pin: 456 Bell Crouch Road, Huttonsville, WV 26273