Combining family fun with good fishing can be a real summer vacation challenge. Luckily, the Buckeye State has your vacation plans covered --with Lake Erie, 451 miles of the Ohio River, 40,000 miles of streams and over 200 lakes and innumerable ponds, all surrounded by countless family-focused activities.

Excellent fisheries for walleyes, stripers, smallmouth and largemouth bass, yellow perch, catfish, steelhead trout and more are just a cast away. Campgrounds and cabins are easy to find, and most come equipped with beaches, playgrounds and hiking trails to help while away those hot summer afternoons when the fishing slows down.

Ohio is home to great historical sites, quaint Amish settlements and a host of more modern entertainment options. Go stand inside a Big Muskie, if you dare. Take the kids to see the birthplace of American's 25th president, or tour the nation's largest nature conservancy. Learn how to play golf with a Frisbee, or to defy gravity at a skate park. Explore underground caverns, or unearth the wonderful world of chocolate. Swim in the world's largest "cement pond." Whatever you choose, it's all good family fun.

Travel leisurely by ferryboat or jet to your destination by catamaran. Take a hayride. Paddle a canoe. Cruise in a golf cart. Tour by tram, or bike the countryside. It doesn't matter how you travel -- just get here! There's tackle-busting action for anglers and days of family fun waiting you and yours in the Buckeye State.

BASS ISLAND SMALLMOUTHS
Every angler knows that Lake Erie is considered the Walleye Capital of the World. What may come as news, however, is that in the past decade, smallmouth bass fishing in the lake has quadrupled, making Erie a rival for Smallmouth Capital of the World as well.

Smallies bite best in May, June, August and September, and are catch-and-release only for much of the May-June nesting season. It's not uncommon for Erie anglers to reel in smallmouth bass in the 4- to 6-pound range.

Walleyes are still the main attraction, and Erie's western basin provides year-round action. Catch rates in July and August generally exceed those for the rest of the year by about 30 percent, making this a great summer vacation fishing destination.

In addition to walleyes and smallmouths, anglers can expect hot yellow perch action, especially in the waters around Green and Rattlesnake islands, the Niagara Reef and C-can on the Lake Erie Firing Range. Yellow perch also concentrate along the shoreline in large numbers, making them a great family fishing target for anglers of all ages.

Erie is also a good fishery for channel catfish, steelhead trout and white bass. In season, the Ohio Department of Natural Resources provides up-to-date fishing reports at 1-888-HOOK-FISH.

Some of the best fishing is just off Erie's many islands, so setting up camp at an island get-away destination makes sense. South Bass Island State Park has a family campground with electric and non-electric sites, showers, a picnic shelter, launch ramp, fishing pier and a stone beach.

For more information, you can visit www.ohiostateparks.org, or call 1-866-OHIO-PARKS.