Angling fortunes continue to improve in Buckeye State

Lake Erie anglers can add more walleye and perch to their coolers in 2006, thanks to new bag limits approved by the Ohio Wildlife Council earlier this year.
Evidence of recent improvements in the perch and walleye populations led to the new limits, according to the Ohio Department of Natural Resources' Division of Wildlife.
The news rounds out a year during which Ohio fishermen enjoyed a general improvement in their angling fortunes on Lake Erie. Fishing also was pretty good on a number of inland reservoirs for popular species such as walleye, crappies, largemouth bass and catfish.
Here in northeastern Ohio, walleye anglers zeroed in on Mosquito Creek Reservoir and harvested many fish from the well-stocked waters. Fishing was great in the spring, continued into June and July and picked up again in October after the typical summer lull.
More nice catches
Berlin, Milton and smaller lakes like Nimisila and LaDue also produced nice catches for anglers familiar with the good spots and high-percentage tactics.
Crappies abound in northeastern Ohio reservoirs and, based on the photos in area bait shops, anglers in this part of the state have figured out where and how to catch bucketsful of slabs.
Largemouth bass are another popular species here in our corner of the state. Anglers caught limits with regularity in 2005 at Mosquito and, again at nearby Nimisila and LaDue, but had to work harder for them at Berlin. Bigger fish -- in the 3-pound class -- are rare at Mosquito and Berlin, though the 1- to 1 1/2-pounders are common.
The 15-inch size limit on bass at Milton has worked to some extent to produce 3- and 4-pounders, but even with the customary catch-and-release practices of many bass anglers, it's rare for them to consistently hook up with limits.
The Ohio River continued to disappoint most anglers in 2005. Anglers who enjoyed bumper crops of smallmouth bass, saugers and walleyes several years ago failed to find much action at all this past season.
Catfish, on the other hand, still prowl the big river in good numbers. Mosquito is a popular catfishing lake, as are Berlin, Milton and smaller lakes.
It is Lake Erie, however, that puts gleams into the eyes of serious anglers.
The ODNR says the daily bag limit for walleye will increase from three fish to four between March 1 and April 30, 2006. A six-walleye limit will continue to be imposed for the remainder of next year, and the size limit will remain at 15 inches.
Yellow perch fishermen can keep 40 fish in 2006, up from the 30-perch limit that was in effect since 1995.
Monitoring
ODNR says state wildlife biologists will monitor Lake Erie's perch and walleye populations to see how harvest and other factors affect the numbers of those species.
The state established a closed season in 2005 for smallmouth bass on Lake Erie. During most of April and June and all of May, anglers are prohibited from keeping any smallmouth bass. The closed season is an effort to protect Erie's bass populations from the threat of decimation by nest-robbing invasive species such as the round goby.
Erie also continues to be a thriving steelhead fishery. Anglers troll the deep open-water basins north of Cleveland, Fairport Harbor, Ashtabula and Conneaut in the summer and hook up frequently with steelhead.
Trout fishermen turn their attention to Erie tributaries in the fall, and good numbers of steelhead are cruising the pools of the Rocky, Grand, Chagrin, Conneaut and other streams that drain into the big lake.
The "silver bullets" will remain in the streams throughout the winter, providing action for anglers who can't wait for the lakes to thaw next March.
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