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The Ice(Fisher) Man Cometh
They say good things come to those who can wait. For those islanders who love ice fishing, it couldn’t have come soon enough. After several years of wishing and hoping, the ice has returned to Put-in-Bay. Last winter was too warm, the year before that too windy, and the year before that was way too short.
This year the season was threatened by no minnows. Hard to believe, but no minnows could have been a real disaster too. This is normally a ready resource for island fishermen. Where did they go? I heard stories about our avid fisherman looking high and low, but no minnows were to be found anywhere.
Theories circled about on social media. Was it the blue green algae? Was it the powerful fall storms that caused the wind induced water seiche to send the minnows east? Maybe the minnows migrated to new areas around the western basin of Lake Erie? Maybe they were gone forever. Regardless of the story you believe, it was crystal clear no minnows were to be had.
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To make matters worse the Ohio Department of Natural Resources (ODNR) had just released a report on the poor Walleye hatch for 2024. Details can be found here: https://dam.assets.ohio.gov/image/upload/ohiodnr.gov/documents/wildlife/fish-management/Walleye%20Status%20Pamphlet.pdf
The fact that walleye numbers were down is worrisome, but the good news was that this year yellow perch hatch in the central basin of Lake Erie was up. Excellent news if you like perch. The ODNR report on perch can be found here if you need details. https://ohiodnr.gov/discover-and-learn/safety-conservation/about-ODNR/news/lake-erie-walleye-yellow-perch-2024-hatch-results
But I digress. This story is all about ice fishing. Perhaps the annual “please ice gods” ritual created by the Miller Ferry finally worked, bringing early ice to the anxious fishermen, but what to do about minnows? Nevertheless, after another great pyrotechnics show to lure in the ice gods, the island fishermen were poised for “ice fishing nirvana” to arrive. Weather as we know can be and has been fickle, but this year’s prediction by the Miller Ferry crew had the Las Vegas bookies nervous about more disappointment without minnows.
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But desperate fishermen will find a way. I heard, but can’t confirm, that a creative out of the box solution saved the day. The story goes that island handy man Aaron Schroeder arranged for the Port Clinton Fish Company to come over to Put-in-Bay on the last day that the Miller Ferry ran (January 2nd) to sell minnows to anxious fishermen. A line formed on the dock with anglers standing by with their 5-gallon buckets ready to purchase minnows. I can only imagine the happiness when the tanker truck full of minnows arrived, even if a bucket full of minnows was $75. Aaron’s story will certainly live on in island lore for years to come.
The long-term cold weather forecast was highly anticipated. And as the forecasted “Polar Vortex” was bearing down on us you could probably hear a choir of fishermen singing the refrain to “Ice Ice Baby”. The shanties started to show up at the ramps poised to be dragged onto the ice. There are always early risk takers that dare to be first on the ice, but the ODNR reminds us annually, no ice is safe ice. Personally, I’m pretty wary of new ice, and like to wait until there’s like a solid foot! No one wants to be this year’s TV news story about being rescued by the US Coast Guard!
The Ice (Fisher)Man has Cometh. Thankfully the “catching” season has arrived and not a day too soon. Pretty soon after the first wave of arctic cold weather arrived and made good ice, many islanders were posting photos of their prize catch walleye on the pages of Facebook. And we like to share in our bounty, as long as you’re willing to fly over to fish. Hosting visitors is what we do on South Bass. And with good fishing comes a short but sweet second season for the island businesses, airlines, restaurants, B&Bs and rental homes that stayed open. So grab your survival suit, bucket and fishing tackle, and head to the Port Clinton Airport. So book your flight over to Put-in-Bay and fish it while the minnows last.
Putinbay.com is proud to present these Put-in-Bay Gazette articles from the February 2025 issue.
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