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This year's frigid winter should result in good fishing in spring, summer
JESSICA SHAMBAUGH
Special to the Legal News
Published: March 11, 2014
After months of scraping ice off of car windows and trudging through snow covered sidewalks, most Ohioans are fed up with the long winter and the side effects of the polar vortex.
But for Ohio fisherman, the long winter may have been a blessing.
The Ohio Department of Natural Resources said that, as a general rule of thumb, Ohio’s fish populations aren’t heavily impacted by the length or intensity of the winter.
“They live in water that doesn’t suffer as extreme of temperatures, so in general they’re not really impacted by it,” said Ethan Simmons, a fisheries biologist with ODNR’s Division of Wildlife.
The exception to that rule would be fish living in smaller bodies of water.
Simmons said small ponds have a higher risk of being covered with thick ice and heavy snow, which limits the amount of oxygen that can be produced beneath the ice.
For those looking to go on longer fishing excursions, ODNR said Lake Erie should have some great opportunities this summer.
“On Lake Erie they’ve actually done a lot of research where longer, colder winters are actually better for specifically yellow perch and their egg production,” Simmons said.
He said researchers from The Ohio State University have looked into the matter and are still unsure why the trend exists, but they were able to confirm that long winters typically lead to higher quality eggs for some species of fish.
“So hopefully this long winter is beneficial toward the Lake Erie fishing, specifically walleye and perch,” Simmons said.
Recently, many sportsmen have been taking advantage of the intense freezes in the area.
The ice fishing season in Central Ohio is usually brief due to our recent mild winters.
This year, however, Simmons said temperatures stayed low enough often enough that Columbus residents were able to take advantage and haul in some winter catches.
“This year’s been phenomenal and guys have been catching fish through the ice all winter long,” Simmons said. “Really its beneficial to most of the fisherman because the fish still eat during the winter time and they’re able to get to them.”
He said Lake Erie has also seen an influx of people willing to venture into the bitter cold and onto the ice and noticed a higher success rate among those die-hard fishermen.
While the winter months certainly provided plenty of entertainment for Ohio’s fishing fanatics, the ice is dwindling and it seems as though now may be the perfect time to start hitting the water.
Locally, fishing should be picking up this week and throughout the coming weeks.
Each year shad, a species of fish that most other fish eat, have an annual die-off because of the cold temperatures.
Simmons said that will be no different this year and as the ice starts to melt, some fish will be feasting on those dying shad, which means better odds for those looking to reel in a big one.
“Everything will thaw out and actually the ice-out is a great time to catch channel catfish in our inland reservoirs because they’ll start feeding heavily on the dying shad or the dead shad that have been stuck under the ice. It’s a great opportunity for anglers to get out and catch a lot of nice channel catfish,” Simmons said.
But for some, it still may be too cold to spend a day outside no matter how big the catch.
For those looking to stay warm, Simmons said the warmer days of spring should still provide optimal opportunities to cast a line and catch some success.
“When spring starts kicking in, the fish will start moving shallow and start to spawn and it will be prime fishing season,” he said.
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