By Jeff Knapp

With the major hunting seasons an ever-shrinking dot in the rearview mirror, what's an Ohio sportsman to do to ward off the post-holiday blues? Vegetate on the couch in front of overhyped football or intelligence-insulting reality shows?

Why not check out the host of ice-fishing opportunities that exist across the state. From panfish to muskies, the Buckeye State features a variety of cold-weather angling options. Here's a look at how to get your 2005 fishing season off and running!

According to Phil Hillman, an Ohio Division of Wildlife district fisheries supervisor, the wealth of available ice-fishing opportunities can be fabulous, but he cautions that hardwater action depends on the weather of the year.

"The quality of ice varies from year to year," noted Hillman. "Obviously, this impacts the length of the ice-fishing season. Generally, the northern districts tend to have the better ice-fishing conditions."

Historically, there are several bodies of water that produce good hardwater action. These waters - and the species they contain - see the most ice-fishing pressure. But, Hillman said, there is much more potential out there. In his northeastern Ohio Wildlife District Three waters, many lakes contain abundant saugeye populations yet see little in the way of fishing pressure.

The winter fishing scene isn't limited to ice-fishing action. During a mild winter, the same bodies of water produce well in open water, too. Don't be reluctant to launch your boat in the dead of winter, though you need to keep in mind that launch ramps and parking lots often don't receive any winter maintenance.

Also, tailrace areas and major rivers furnish good winter fishing, both from shore and from a boat. Anglers from the southern part of the state, where ice-fishing options are rare, should keep this in mind. The action often peaks during late winter or early spring, when species such as walleyes and saugers begin making their spring spawning runs.

Here's a district-by-district forecast for Ohio's 2005 ice-fishing season, slanted more heavily toward the northern districts, where ice cover tends to be much more consistent.

Photo by Ron Sinfelt

Though conditions favored ice-anglers last season, it was not a banner year for the hardwater enthusiast. This same basic story played out over much of the state. While there were pockets of good fishing here and there, the action didn't live up to what many anglers had expected, given the fact that a hard winter provided plenty of opportunities.

Generally, panfish are eager biters, and if they can be located, they can help turn a wintertime fishing foray from an on-the-ice social gathering to one featuring nonstop popped tip-ups and bent rods.

Hillman said that some of the better action in his district last season was provided by panfish such as bluegills and redear sunfish. The waters of the Portage Lakes system south of Akron provided some of the more consistent action. The Portage Lakes, which cover over 1,600 acres, will be found in Summit County. East, Turkeyfoot and North reservoirs, all part of the Portage Lakes system, stood out as the best producers.

According to Hillman, Mosquito Lake in Trumbull County, is now the best inland walleye lake in state. Though through-the-ice catch rates didn't seem to indicate the presence of a dense walleye population, Hillman insists that the fish are there. Surveys conducted by District Three fisheries management personnel have revealed strong year-classes for several consecutive years. This adds up to excellent numbers of walleyes in the 13- to 21-inch range. If conditions are favorable and the fish are in a biting mood, Mosquito Lake should provide some excellent hardwater walleye action this month.

In addition to walleyes, Hillman noted that Mosquito Lake holds good numbers of crappies and bluegills.

Nearby Pymatuning Lake hasn't enjoyed the same level of recruitment from walleye fry stockings of late. Surveys of young-of-the-year fish have shown low levels of young walleyes, although a decent population of adult fish remains in the lake.

Pymatuning Lake - known for many years as the lake of the 14 7/8-inch walleye (just under the 15-inch minimum length requirement) owing to the high numbers of fish in this size range caught during the early-spring season - is currently more a quality rather than a quantity water. Of the walleyes taken there, most are well over the legal size requirement.

Ice-anglers found this to be the case last season, and Hillman feels that the same would hold true this year. While the walleye picture has changed on Pymatuning, the lake holds excellent numbers of crappies, yellow perch and white bass. Both black and white crappies are prevalent in the lake, with good-sized fish available. White bass are common and underexploited. Pymatuning covers over 14,000 acres on the Ohio-Pennsylvania border in Ashtabula County.

Last winter, ice-anglers did reasonably well on Berlin Reservoir for walleyes. Surveys conducted by District Three personnel in 2003 revealed a fairly strong walleye population that averaged about 14 1/2 inches. Ice-anglers this year should find fish remaining from that year class.

Berlin, like Pymatuning, has a 15-inch minimum-length requirement on walleyes. Berlin also holds strong populations of white crappie and white bass. Berlin Reservoir is in Portage, Stark and Mahoning counties and covers over 3,000 acres.

The Ohio Division of Wildlife stocks some lakes with trout during the fall time frame. These waters are found in a variety of settings, some of which do not allow ice-fishing. Punderson Lake in Geauga County is one that does. This 100-acre lake receives a health stocking of trout during the late fall, and some fish remain in the lake for the ice-fishing season.

"Usually, Punderson Lake is stocked with about 600 broodstock trout on the first Tuesday following Thanksgiving," noted Hillman. "These fish will run from 1 1/2 pounds up to about 8 pounds."

In addition to trout, Punderson Lake also holds good numbers of bluegills.

Hillman reported that the best ice- fishing in his district - and this would hold true throughout the state - occurs early in the ice-fishing season. "First ice is usually the most productive time to be on the ice," he said, noting that, at first ice, there is rarely much in the way of snow cover on the frozen surface. Light penetration is greatest at this time, although having snow cover does not impede ice formation.

Levels of oxygen generated by photosynthesis are likewise high, upping the activity level of fish species. As the season wears on, oxygen levels decrease and fish activity tails off.

While the fishing may be best early in the ice-fishing season, be sure the ice is safe before venturing onto a frozen lake. Throughout the ice-fishing belt tragedies occur annually when anglers push the envelope.

It was mentioned earlier that while some ice-fishing venues are longstanding destinations, others remain relatively untapped. Hillman cited the Muskingum Water Conservation District lakes such as Tappan, Clendening and Atwood as falling into this category, particularly for saugeyes. All three of these lakes hold good numbers of the walleye-sauger hybrid, yet few anglers take advantage of them during the ice-fishing season.

"Saugeyes provide excellent ice- fishing action in other areas of the state," noted Hillman. "Buckeye Lake in particular is known as a good water for saugeyes during the winter. The MWCD lakes have a lot of potential for saugeyes during the ice-fishing season."

Tailrace areas downstream from saugeye-stocked lakes often hold fishable populations of this mobile, migratory species, and these waters tend to remain open during the winter fishing season.