Photo by Ron Sinfelt

The Ohio Division of Wildlife, through the Fish Research Units in Sandusky and Fairport Harbor, strives to provide Ohio anglers with some of the best fishing in the world. Using modern fish survey techniques, stocking programs and regulations, they work hard at sustaining and improving an already incredible Lake Erie fishery. Information gathered through sampling, sport harvest and commercial harvest programs is used to tailor fisheries regulations to meet specific long-term goals.

Other studies, like the six-year project aimed at the effects of fish egg predation just completed in 2004, allow researchers to identify potential future problems and make recommendations to the Ohio Division of Wildlife to mitigate, if not eliminate, any negative impacts they may have on the fishery. These studies, surveys and programs also allow biologists to accurately predict future trends and fish patterns on the lake.

Jeff Tyson, supervisor for the Sandusky Fish Research Unit, says that some new changes are opening up a wide variety of opportunities for anglers willing to take advantage of them. Lower water levels and improved water quality are allowing many areas to revegetate, creating a resurgence of many fisheries that were long considered gone.

During the 2004, season many Lake Erie anglers claim to have caught more juvenile fish than ever before.

"The 2003 year-class is one of the largest recorded in recent history and will fuel the fishery for years to come," Tyson said. "In 2004 we had more reports of catches and releases of young walleyes, perch, bass etc., than in recent history."

These indications could mean a windfall of opportunities for Lake Erie's anglers this spring. Here is a look at how things are shaping up for the 2005 fishing season:

SMALLMOUTH BASS
Last year, new conservation regulations aimed at decreasing the harvest of adult bass and increasing spawning success rates were implemented.

Owing in part to predation of smallmouth bass eggs by round gobies, spawning success numbers needed to be improved. From May 1 through the last Saturday in June, only catch-and-release fishing is allowed for bass. From 1999 through 2003, the estimated annual harvest of bass from the Ohio waters of Lake Erie was 57,000 fish. Implementation of the new regulations last year significantly reduced that number.

Greatly reducing the number of adult bass taken during the peak spawning months could potentially increase spawning success rates for Lake Erie's smallmouths. The continuation of these regulations will not only sustain the great bass fishing along Lake Erie's shoreline but also improve it for future anglers.

According to Tyson, western basin smallmouths are concentrated around the Bass islands, Kellys Island, the Camp Perry firing zone reef complex and the near shore areas from Portage River to Cedar Point and Sandusky Bay.

Though Kellys Island is renowned for its spring bass fishing, Middle Bass Island and the eastern harbors offer great opportunities, and Catawba Island anglers working the rocky shoreline and jetties catch bass that sometimes press the scales at 8 pounds.

Anglers can expect to find bass in the central basin around the Ruggles Reef area east of Cranberry Creek Marina.

Many local fishermen target the nearshore rocky areas and harbor break walls from Lorain east to Conneaut, where they commonly take smallmouths weighing 5 pounds or more. A Conneaut giant was caught in the spring of 2003 that weighed over 9 pounds and was just shy of the state-record smallmouth, a 9.-pound specimen that also came from lake Erie.

"Ohio fishermen can expect five- to 10-fish days when angling for Lake Erie smallmouth but with the right conditions, 20- to 30-fish days are possible. Most bass will range from 14 to 18 inches (2 to 4 pounds), but there are plenty of fish over 19 inches (4 to as much as 9 pounds) out there."