Fishing opportunities still plentiful in winter

The new year means the end of some hunting seasons in Ohio.

Pheasant wrapped up Jan. 10, deer will finish Feb. 7 and rabbit season ends Feb. 28.

For lots of us who enjoy the outdoors, February is often the time to put away hunting equipment and prepare for the upcoming fishing season — putting fresh line on reels, tuning baits, organizing tackle boxes.

Fishing opportunities in Ohio in January-February depend a lot on weather. Let’s look at some of those (weather permitting):

Winter fishing Lake Erie

According to Mike Patterson of Mike Patterson Sport Fishing: “If we aren’t making ice by Jan. 24 on Lake Erie, you can pretty well forget an ice fishing season for this year.”

The extended forecast calls for warmer temperatures not conducive for making ice. For updates, contact Mike at 419308-6925.

Indian Lake

Per Marty Lundquist, a biologist for the Ohio Division of Wildlife in District 1, there was some ice in the coves but none safe enough to use for ice fishing.

Some saugeye were being caught in the spillway and casting from boat or shore should also produce some fish. Fishing the other district lakes — Alum Creek, Hoover, Buckeye and O’Shaughnessy — at dusk should provide some fish. Anything that looks like a shad will work. Twister tails and other plastics are working also.

The lakes in District 5 never produce much in the way of ice fishing, according to District 5 biologist Justin Walters. He said crappie are being caught off the fish attractors at Acton and Rocky Fork, and also at Caesar Creek in deeper water.

The Great Miami River has been producing a lot of saugeye in the early morning and evening.

Mad River

Brown trout fishing has been excellent from Springfield to West Liberty. Try smaller baits when fly fishing. Streamers in darker colors should also work well. This spring-fed river should fish well into February.

Tributaries of Lake Erie offer some of the best steelhead trout fishing in the world and can produce nice fish late winter into spring. At this time of year, you can cover a lot of water quickly with an assortment of spinner baits.

We will wrap up the deer season in our February column in depth with Dr. Mike Tonkovich, ODNR’s deer program administrator.

Until next time, enjoy the outdoors.

The Great Miami River has been producing a lot of saugeye in the early morning and evening.