More fish in the water

As the hunting seasons have too quickly come to their seasonal end, that has me waiting on two things – turkey season and fishing season. Before you interrupt by reminding me that there is still some ice fishing available, let me just say, "I get it — but I don't do it." No harm if you're thrilled to chill out on a block of ice peering into that magical hole on some frozen sheet of water, it's just not for me. The reason is actually pretty simple, I don't eat a lot of fish. Since most of my angling is just for the fun of it, avoiding frozen fingers and toes seems logical. Now, I'll admit that I have indeed sat on a bucket with a tiny little ice jig dangling in the hopes of reeling in walleye, perch, or panfish. In each case I'd been coaxed out by a friend or two in their hopes of recruiting me into their fold … or possibly to just add my catch to their buckets when we returned. I'll also confess that I enjoyed the company and found the fishing fun. It was the numbing digits that discourage my participation. To each their own. Of course, the Division of Wildlife is out there trying to make everybody happy and that goes for all anglers — whether their weathering the sport from atop the ice or casting into its splashy aqueous form. During 2024, the division has done an admirable job of adding to the angling opportunities for any of the 849-thousand folks holding an Ohio fishing license. While most of Ohio's fish populations such as crappies, smallmouth bass, and Lake Erie walleye are sustained through natural reproduction; stocking expands and diversifies fishing opportunities where existing habitats don't support some fish populations. According to their records, the division stocked about 46 million fish in Ohio's lakes, ponds, rivers and streams last year. These consisted of eleven different species that were stocked at 228 locations. The stocked fish were made up of five life stages: 31.8 million fry, 13.4 million fingerlings, 236,701 advanced fingerlings, 514,032 yearlings, and 105,101 catchable fish. Like much of life, good things come to those who wait. That's especially true with fish stocking programs. While it would be great to only release catchable-sized fish that can't wait to jump on your stringer, raising fish to that size is prohibitively costly, takes up a lot of hatchery space, and the release numbers are greatly limited. To get the most bang for the buck — or fish in the bucket — the most successful releases are done when fish are at certain ages which are a compromise on wild survivability and cost efficiency in the process. Here are how these life stages used for releases are defined along with the number released during the 2024 season. · Fry (less than 1 inch long): saugeye (15.6 million), walleye (13 million), yellow perch (2.1 million), and hybrid-striped bass (1.1 million). · Fingerling (1 to 2 inches long): saugeye (7.6 million), walleye (4 million), yellow perch (1 million), and hybrid-striped bass 748,217). · Advanced fingerling (6 to 12 inches long): blue catfish (151,663), channel catfish (61,899), and muskellunge (23,139). · Yearling fish (7 to 12 inches long): brown trout (23,233), channel catfish (24,647), and steelhead trout (466,152). · Catchable fish (6 inches or longer): channel catfish (6,271), bluegill (12,233), brown trout (2,603), and rainbow trout (83,994). The Division of Wildlife operates six state fish hatcheries which will raise saugeye, walleye, yellow perch, rainbow trout, steelhead trout, brown trout, muskellunge, hybrid-striped bass, blue catfish, channel catfish, and bluegill. Ohio's state fish hatcheries are open to the public and offer activities such as birding, hiking, and archery. Each fish hatchery will host an open house in 2025: March 29 (St. Marys), April 5 (Hebron and Senecaville), April 12 (Castalia and Kincaid), and May 3 (London). Each open house runs from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. For information, visit www.wildohio.gov. "I used to like fishing because I thought it had some larger significance. Now I like fishing because it's the one thing I can think of that probably doesn't." — John Gierach Along the way Ohio hunters checked 238,137 white-tailed deer during the 2024-25 hunting season that concluded on Sunday, Feb. 2. The final total, the fourth highest number of deer taken on record, represents all deer bagged during archery, gun, muzzleloader, and youth seasons since Sept. 14, 2024. In 2023-24, deer hunters checked 213,927 deer. The three-year average (2021 to 2023) is 207,295. At an approximate yield of 50-pounds of venison per deer, the states total kill equates to about 12-million pounds of meat added to the freezers of hunters, their friends, and to charitable donations. The harvest for each of the seasons looked like this: · Archery: 106,269 · Weeklong and two-day gun seasons: 104,565 · Four-day muzzleloader season: 13,476 · Two-day youth season: 10,449 · Controlled firearm hunts: 3,378 Ohio hunters were issued 431,660 deer permits across all hunting seasons. Hunters from all 50 U.S. states purchased nonresident hunting licenses for use during the 2024-25 seasons, many of them so they could hunt deer. States with the highest nonresident license sales include: Pennsylvania (7,898); Michigan (5,205); West Virginia (3,625); North Carolina (3,287) and New York (3,170). Most popular hunting instruments were: Crossbow: 78,254 (33%); Straight-walled cartridge rifle: 77,027 (32%); Shotgun: 34,338 (14%); Vertical bow: 30,839 (13%); Muzzleloader: 17,092 (7%) and Handgun: 587 (less than 1%). Type of deer checked: Does: 115,683 (49%); Antlered bucks: 97,618 (41%); Button bucks: 21,689 (9%) and Bucks with shed antlers or antlers shorter than 3 inches: 3,147 (1%). The top five counties were: Coshocton: 8,196; Tuscarawas: 7,373; Knox: 6,730; Muskingum: 6,269 and Ashtabula: 6,042. Local harvest were: Allen: 1,650 (1,264); Hancock: 2,127 (1,765); Hardin: 1,938 (1,520); Henry: 1,109 (970); Putnam: 1,242 (1,078); Sandusky: 1,364 (1,106); Seneca: 2,881 (2,262); Wood: 1,354 (1,120) and Wyandot: 2,238 (1,789). Step outside • Tomorrow: 50-Bird Trap Shoot, practice opens 11:30 a.m., program begins 12:30 p.m. UCOA, 6943 Marion Township 243, Findlay. Public welcome. Contact: Sandy Thomas, sandthm@aol.com. • Feb. 22: Hardin County Pheasants Forever Annual Banquet, 5:30 p.m. Hardin County Fairgrounds Community Center. For tickets, visit online: www.events.pheasantsforever.org/events/0cdd8490-3203-472a-8611-60553b4dfeb3 or visit them on Facebook: www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100064352126677. • March 1: Wyandot County Pheasants Forever Annual Banquet. The Masters Building, Wyandot County Fairgrounds, 10171 St. Hwy. 53 N, Upper Sanduksy. Doors open at 5:00 p.m. For information: wyandotpf@gmail.com. For tickets: https://events.pheasantsforever.org/events/f0db99f6-f025-4cf9-a638-ee8adcb61a55. • March 8: Blanchard Valley Friends of NRA Banquet, 5:30 p.m. Old Mill Stream Center, Hancock County Fairgrounds. For information and tickets: https://eventtracker.friendsofnra.org/EventDocs/61313_Findlay.pdf. • March 14 – 16: Open Season Sportsman's Expo Ohio, Bricker Building, Ohio State Fairgrounds. Industry leading companies, high-tech gear, equipment, and the latest hunting and outdoor products on the market today; Archery Trick Shooting, Field-to-Fork Cooking Demos, Educational Seminars, world class whitetail deer displays and much more. Tickets or information: www.openseasonsportsmansexpo.com/ohio/. • March 15-16: The largest collecting and carving event in the Midwest. Sponsored by the Ohio Decoy Collectors and Carvers Association (ODCCA) and the Great Lakes Decoy Association. Holiday Inn Cleveland South, 6001 Rockside Road, Independence, OH. For information: www.odcca.net. • March 19: Ohio's 41st Annual Wildlife Diversity Conference, Ohio Union – the largest single-day wildlife diversity conference in the country., 1739 North High Street, Columbus, 43210 (OSU campus). Pre-registration is recommended: $35.00 if paid before February 28, after that date or on site will be $50.00. The registration fee includes all handout materials. Information and registration, visit www.wildohio.gov. • March 22: Seneca County Pheasants Forever Annual Banquet, Meadowbrook Park Ballroom, 5430 W Tiffin St., Bascom. For information: aroby@pheasantsforever.orgo For tickets: https://events.pheasantsforever.org/events/5eca7d77-725f-402e-8313-984be40c0655. • March 25: Deadline to enter your best bird photos and videos in this year's Audubon Photography Awards. The winning images will be eligible for significant cash prizes and the chance to have them featured in Audubon magazine. To learn more about the photography contest, visit: www.audubon.org/section/audubon-photography-awards. • March 28: Deadline for non-Ohio State students and high school students to apply for scholarship support to attend classes at Stone Laboratory, The Ohio State University's Island campus on Lake Erie. To see scholarship requirements and to apply, got to: www.go.osu.edu/aid Jim 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.