Some outdoors highlights in a difficult year

It’s hard to believewe are at the end of the year. It’s time to take a look back at 2020.

While it was a difficult year in a lot ofways, 2020brought a number of new anglers to fishing and the same with new hunters to the field. Interest in both hunting and fishing may be at its highest point ever in Ohio.

■ The big story that will continue into the new year is the fantastic walleye and Largemouth bass fishing on Lake Erie.

Walleye limits— six perday — are filled quick and with the good hatcheswe’ve been seeing the last few years, the fishing on Lake Erie will continue to flourish. Maybe a seven-fish limit in the future?

Largemouth bass have always been in Lake Erie but over the past few years catching these fish in the bays, harbors and close to shore in the Western Basin has made it amust-visit destination for anglers. Each year it seems to get better and better.

Closer to home, watch the blue catfish at Caesar Creek State Park. The Ohio Divisiion of Wildlife has been stocking blue catfish there for awhile andwe should be seeing some catchable fish there in 2021 or 2022. Caesar Creek State Park has been a destination for musky fishing for years and thatwon’t change.

Also, musky at C. J. Brown Dam & Reservoir is a relatively new program. Watch this one. C. J. Brown sets up nicely for musky.

FromLake Erie tothe Ohio River, 2020was a really good year for fishing in Ohio and 2021 should bring more of the same. Watch for our column on winter/ice fishing in January and our spring fishing preview in February.

■ I don’t think the interest in hunting in Ohio has ever been as high as it was this year. There is no doubt COVID-19 playeda part in the increased numbers— people looking for outdoor, socially-distanced activities they could participate in safely.

One of the biggest hunting stories of the year was the number of people (87,000) applying for draw hunts. That’s the highest ever number of applications. All of those people applied online and that likely will remain that way in the future. No more in-person draws.

Two other big hunting stories this year were the changes in bobwhite quail andruffedhunting. Quail can longer be hunted on public lands, with the exception of Tri ValleyWildlife Area and Crown City Wildlife Area. The bag limit is now two. Arewe seeing the beginning of the end of quail hunting in Ohio?

The grouse season used to go for four months with a bag limit of four. This year a split season cut the hunting season down to about six weeks on public land and about 12 weeks for private land. The bag limit is one. In Ohio, we seem to be trending toward no more grouse hunting.

■ Deer hunting numbers this season are trending close to 2019 and likely will fall in the 3-5 year average. We will wait until the season wraps up in February and visit with Dr. Mike Tonkovich, the director of deermanagement for ODNR.

Until next time, enjoy the outdoors.