The month of mud

March, the month of mud. It brings a little bit of every weather type that can cross the state. As temperatures slowly moderate and winter fades, it ensures a soft surface everywhere but concrete and pavement. We bounce from sub-freezing to 60 degrees in a few hours, can suffer rain, snow and sunshine in the same day all while streams and rivers flood low-lying land and roads. Walking across a farm field results in carrying half of it adhered to your boots. Don't get me started on the whole daylight savings thing. March is a "between" month, struggling to find its own individuality. Not quite winter and not quite spring, it labors to find its place in the year. The waning winter takes its leave this Monday, while spring quietly enters through the back door to begin its own new year celebration. March does indeed suffer an identity dilemma. "In like a lion, out like a lamb" offers only one sure bet, either will be a muddy mess. My dogs prove it every time I let them out of the house. If it sounds as if I don't like the month of March, you'd be mistaken. While I can't avoid the mud, there are promises in the rain, the cold nights and slowly warming days that are hard for me to overlook. The crocuses and daffodils peeking through the snow ensure that spring beauties, Dutchman's breeches, Mayflowers, trillium, and morels will soon follow. A lone gobbler's call echoing through the early morning's dawn tells me that I'll soon be sitting with my back against a tree, watching and waiting. A robin's chirping reminds me that bluebirds and warblers are on their way and that timberdoodles will be dancing in the night sky. The sometimes threatening rising and falling rivers signal that the vaunted Lake Erie walleye are beginning to stage along the reefs and river mouths for their historic spawning activities. The wingbeats of returning waterfowl whisper of journeys far away from their ancestral homes and their yearning to return. The crack of thunder and fresh scent of ozone clinging to the breeze brings an assurance of green fields, multicolored flowers, lush woodlands, and bountiful crops. There's also March Madness, celebrating my Irish roots, and the promises of Easter. As I see it, in that mud there are hidden promises of new beginnings, opportunities to have our own beliefs restored — whether those faiths are in the spiritual, in people, in nature, or in ourselves. March forces us to search for the good, even when we find ourselves in the mud. Maybe that's why I was born in March. "Springtime is the land awakening. The March winds are the morning yawn." — Lewis Grizzard Along the way A popular magazine asked readers when they felt spring had arrived. The most popular answers were when the birds migrated north to their nesting grounds and when the daffodils popped out of the soil to soak up the sunshine. It's obvious to me that those reporters didn't bother asking anyone who lives and fishes in the Great Black Swamp region of Ohio. If they had, I'd lay odds that many would have given a one-species reply, "walleye." The walleye; also known as the pickerel, yellow pike and walleyed pike, is actually a member of the perch family. Its most common cousins are the yellow perch, sauger, and the extinct (as far as we know) blue pike. Walleye are a native fish of Lake Erie and the Ohio River but they've also been stocked in many other lakes and reservoirs, including those in Findlay and Fostoria. It's the most sought-after fish found in any part of Lake Erie or its tributaries. Walleye are free spawners, which means that they don't build a nest or guard their young. They deposit their eggs in the riffle areas of tributary streams or over gravel or larger rocks found in reef areas of Lake Erie. The migration up the Maumee River in Lucas and Wood counties and in the Sandusky River in Fremont begins in mid-March and can last into the first week of May. These runs turn Perrysburg, Maumee and Fremont into a fisherman's fantasy. Ohio's weather this time of year is a real hit-or-miss proposition but if you've lived in the state any length of time, this is old news. The run has seen seventy-degree days in mid-March and snow covering the river's banks in early April. This year will likely continue as a meteorological poker game. A cold rain and a cheek-numbing wind can play havoc with some angler's will to fight the elements but the fish; well, they're already wet. They just respond to changing water temperatures and levels. The trick is to not judge the fishing so much by rain, snow or the chill in the air but by keeping a close eye on the water's temperature. Ideally, the water has to come up high enough so that the fish can feel the flow. The current translates into a magnetic-like pull, compelling the walleye to swim upstream. When water temperatures hit the mid-40-degree mark and the flow is good, you might say the flood gates open and the fish pour into the rivers. Experienced anglers will watch the water temperatures with many carrying a thermometer to check it themselves. Once it hits 40 degrees, they're in their waders and casting their favorite rod. Check the Division of Wildlife website at wildlife.ohiodnr.gov for regulations, current fishing conditions and forecasts. Please remember your wader belt and wade safely, I've also seen the sad results of ignoring those suggestions. Step outside Beginning March 16, the Ohio Division of Wildlife began releasing 84,000 rainbow trout in 88 lakes and ponds. Locations have changed this year to bring more people an opportunity to catch these feisty fish in March, April, and May. Trout releases are designed for high angler success and harvest. Some locations feature a special event on the day of the scheduled release, including youth-only fishing. Information about the trout releases, complete listing of dates, stocking locations, event information, and any changes to the schedule is available at wildohio.gov or by calling 1-800-WILDLIFE (1-800-945-3543). The scheduled release dates for Northwest Ohio are: • 4/4/23: Lucas County – Swanton Waterworks Reservoir • 4/6/23: Seneca County – Lamberjack Lake • 4/10/23: Allen County – Schoonover Lake • 4/15/23: Lucas County – Mallard Lake** • 4/15/23: Lucas County – Peason Metropark Ponds** • 4/15/23: Van Wert County – Willshire Quarry** • 4/21/23: Richland County – Malabar Farm Inn Pond** • 4/22/23: Ottawa County – East Harbor State Park Pond** • 4/22/23: Lucas County – Maumee Bay State Park Nature Center Pond** • 4/29/23: Crawford County – Cross Roads Industrial Ponds** • 4/29/23: Lucas County – Olander Lake** • 4/29/23: Lucas County – Sleepy Hollow Park Pond** • 5/6/23: Hancock County – Giertz Lake** ** Indicates a special angler event is planned for the trout release. •Today: 31st Hancock County Pheasants Forever Fundraiser and Dinner, The Old Millstream Centre, 1017 E. Sandusky St., Findlay. Doors open at 5:30 p.m., dinner at 6:15 p.m. For tickets: https://pfqf.myeventscenter.com/event/Hancock-County-Pheasants-Forever-Dinner-Banquet-73138 •Today-Tomorrow: Vintage Decoys & Wildlife Art Show and Sale, Holiday Inn Cleveland South, 6001 Rockside Rd., Independence, OH 44131. Includes 24 carving contests, wildlife art, collector buy-sell-trade, Saturday night auction, hands-on demos, carving and decoy vendors. •Tomorrow: 50-Bird Trap Shoot, practice traps open 11:30 a.m., program at 12:30 p.m. UCOA, 6943 Marion Township Road 243, Findlay. Contact: Sandy Thomas at sandthm@aol.com •Tuesday: March 21 and 28. Trap Shoot. 20-yard-line competition, shooters may re-enter. $10 per relay. Includes Lewis class and draw. Traps open at 5 p.m. UCOA, 6943 Marion Township Road 243, Findlay. •Tuesday and March 28: Trap Shoot. 20-yard-line competition, shooters may re-enter. $10 per relay. Includes Lewis class and draw. Traps open at 5 p.m. UCOA, 6943 Marion Township Road 243, Findlay. •Thursday: Trap and Skeet Practice, open to the public. 4 p.m. UCOA, 6943 Marion Township Road 243, Findlay. •March 24: 17th Ohio Botanical Symposium, 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. Presentation includes: plant identification tools for Ohio and adjacent states; importance of plants in Midwestern tribes' culture; Ohio's liverworts; Ohio's paleobotany; native plant gardens; conservation of the Morgan Swamp Nature Preserve; and Ohio's best rare plant finds. Registration: Western Reserve Land Conservancy: www.wrlandconservancy.org/event/botanical-symposium-registration •Saturday, March 25: Seneca County Pheasants Forever Fundraiser and Dinner. 5 p.m. Meadowbrook Park Ballroom, Bascom. Tickets: https://pfqf.myeventscenter.com/event/Seneca-County-Annual-Fundraiser-Dinner-70506 Abrams is a retired wildlife officer supervisor for the state Division of Wildlife in Findlay. He can be reached at P.O. Box 413, Mount Blanchard, OH 45867-0413 or via email at jimsfieldnotes@aol.com