

News from the Ohio Division of Wildlife final week confirmed that a ten.15-pound bass caught by an Ohio fisherman in November in Lake Erie was a 16-year-old female and possibly the biggest bass ever reeled in lakes.
Erie continues to impress with outstanding catches of walleye, smallmouth and steelhead. Handful of can argue that with a compact investment in a fishing license, Ohio anglers now have access to some of the ideal freshwater fishing in the planet.
When the climate is proper, anglers who know what they are carrying out can count on unparalleled excitement and satisfaction in fishing throughout an era exactly where several want to return to the “great old days” in several elements of their lives.
For anglers, the ideal time to fish is right here and now.
The ten.15-pound bass caught by Greg Gallagher of Fremont came from Ontario waters right after he and his son crossed the border from Ohio on Nov. three. They returned to Port Clinton with the massive fish and weighed it on a certified scale.
Gallagher’s catch was the creme de la creme of Erie smallmouth fishing in 2022. All through the season, anglers battled significant bronzebacks from the mouth of the Detroit River to the Bass Islands to the Cleveland, Erie and Buffalo coasts.
Even though the ten-plus-pounder has been pulled from Canadian waters, the waters of Ohio, Pennsylvania and New York are equally capable of creating massive tiny fish for anglers bouncing Ned rigs, tube jigs and drop-shot rigs. I would not be shocked if a further ten-pounder is caught in Erie this year.
Setting the hook on bass for gobies, crayfish, perch and shiners in no way gets old. In my expertise, practically nothing compares to the moment a hook ignites a four- or five-pound smallmouth bass fight and the battle goes from submarine to air.
The new Erie record fish surpasses the 9.84-pound fish caught in 1984. The existing Ohio record is a 9.five-pound fish caught from Lake Erie. Biologists routinely survey Erie’s largemouth bass population and have not discovered a fish to match Gallagher’s catch — though fish measuring 20 inches and weighing seven pounds are displaying up in surveys.
The reality that the Erie continues to get much better and much better is thanks to regulations that have led to vast improvements in water excellent more than the previous 40 years and outstanding fish management practices and cooperation from governments in Ohio, Michigan, New York and Ontario.
Valleie management is a good instance of the worth that can be gained when fisheries managers share information and ideal practices and agree on harvest quotas and much more.
No matter if Youngstown-Warren anglers take pleasure in casting nightcrawlers and spinners or trolling bait and spoons, they can locate good Erie janitor fishing just an hour or two from residence.
Steelhead enthusiasts can book an costly expedition on the good rivers of Alaska, British Columbia, Washington and Oregon. Or they can place in a tank of gas, hop on Ohio 11 and drive to the Ashtabula River or Grand or Conneaut Creek.
Ohio’s Erie tributaries supply uncomplicated access to eight- to ten-pound steelhead from mid-September by way of the winter to early April. Through the summer season months, anglers locate significant steelhead feasting about massive schools of bait more than the Erie’s cool depths.
If you have not fished Lake Erie in a even though, you’d be smart to place it on your 2023 to-do list.
Jack Vollitz’s book, “The Popular Angler,” is an impressive appear at why anglers are passionate about fishing. Send a note to jackbbaass@gmail.com.





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