By D'Arcy Egan, The Plain Dealer
April 09, 2010, 6:30AM
Ohio deer hunters will be allowed to purchase a less expensive $15 antlerless deer permit without being first required to obtain a $24 regular deer permit.The Ohio Wildlife Council approved Division of Wildlife recommendations in setting the hunting regulations for 2010-11, made it less expensive to bag a female white-tailed next fall, and expanded the number of lakes with a 15-inch size limit for walleye, sauger and saugeye.
The OWC also gained two members. Kim Davis of Carrollton and Timothy Ratliff of Winchester were appointed by Gov. Ted Strickland to the eight-member board through 2014. They replace longtime member Howard Calhoun of Akron and Gary Grant of Continental.
Ohio deer hunters eager to put venison in the freezer rather than bag an antlered buck will be allowed to purchase a less expensive $15 antlerless deer permit without being first required to obtain a $24 regular deer permit. The more expensive regular deer permit allows a hunter to bag a buck or doe. A $19 resident or $125 non-resident annual Ohio hunting license is required before buying deer permits.
The OWC approved a recommendation to increase the deer bag limit to four deer per season in nine Northwest Ohio counties. Only one antlered deer is allowed per season in all of Ohio. Deer hunters had a record harvest of 261,314 deer in 2009-10.
The 2010-11 deer seasons are:
•Archery: Sept. 25-Feb. 6.
•Special area muzzleloading rifle: Oct. 18-23.
•Youth gun: Nov. 20-21.
•Statewide gun: Nov. 29-Dec. 5 and Dec. 18-19.
•Statewide muzzleloading rifle: Jan. 8-11.
Hunting dates for other game approved by the OWC include: squirrel, Sept. 1-Jan. 31; ruffed grouse, Oct. 9-Jan. 31; fall wild turkey, Oct. 9-Nov. 28; youth upland game season, Oct. 16-17 and Oct. 23-24; rabbit, Nov. 5-Feb. 28; pheasant, Nov. 5-Jan. 9; quail, Nov. 5-28; fox, raccoon, skunk, opossum and weasel, Nov. 10-Jan. 31.
Waterfowl regulations are set in August using U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service guidelines. The early Canada goose and mourning dove hunting seasons begin Sept. 1.
walleye fishing.jpgView full sizeD'Arcy Egan / PDThe Ohio Wildlife Council has expanded the number of lakes with a 15-inch size limit for walleye, sauger and saugeye.
Fishing changes: Lakes in Northeast Ohio with a new 15-inch size limit for walleye, sauger and saugeye are Atwood, Pleasant Hill, Tappan and West Branch. The list also includes Acton, Alum Creek, Buckeye, Caesar Creek Ferguson, Findlay, Indian, Snowden, Metzger, Rocky Fork and Seneca lakes.
Think turkey: The month-long spring turkey hunting season opens April 19. Wildlife managers are keeping their fingers crossed.
"Although last year we experienced one of the poorest wild turkey hatches we have seen in recent years, good numbers of 2-year-old gobblers should be available in many areas this spring," game biologist Mike Reynolds said.
Hunters killed 20,710 gobblers last spring. The Ohio turkey population is estimated at 200,000, and 70,000 hunters are expected in the woods.
There are new hunting hours this spring, but only for the last half of the season. The turkey-hunting day begins 30 minutes before sunrise, but ends at noon for the first two weeks. From May 3-16, the hunting day is extended until sunset.
FISHING REPORT
Steelhead trout fishing should continue to sparkle in Lake Erie tributaries if more rain doesn't fall. Lake Erie perch and walleye fishing is warming up. Inland anglers are reporting good catches of crappies, with largemouth bass starting to bite.
Cleveland area The night bite isn't hot yet, but some Lake Erie walleye have been caught after dark from Lakewood's Gold Coast to Edgewater Park. Few anglers are chasing yellow perch around Cleveland, but the perch have been steadily biting off Lorain Harbor.
Walleye fishing has been fair to good to the west, with anglers trolling minnow-style plugs and casting hair jigs and minnows in the traditional spring hot spot from Huron's Cranberry Creek to Sherrod Park in Vermilion. The best depths have been in 15 to 25 feet.
Rainbow trout were recently stocked at Shadow Lake in the Cleveland Metroparks South Chagrin Reservation in Solon, and at the Westlake Recreation Center pond.
There are various trout limits. The steelhead and rainbow trout limit in the main rivers is two fish per day, as well as on the East Branch of the Rocky River, where there have been frequent stockings of 1- to 4-pound rainbow trout. There is a trout limit of five per day on lakes getting state stockings, including Shadow and Hinckley lakes and the Ohio & Erie Canal waters. The Cleveland Metroparks limit on its stocked waters -- Wallace, Ranger, Judge and Ledge lakes -- is three trout per day.
Anglers must also carry a 2010 fishing license.
Trout streams It has been a very good week of steelhead trout fishing in Northeast Ohio's Lake Erie tributaries, with most of the rivers low and fairly clear. Recent rain seems to have enhanced the fishing, but too much rainfall will slow it down. Rainfall has been erratic, with some areas getting only a little moisture in the past day or so, and steelhead fishermen will need to check river levels. The Grand River has been the hot spot, with some fresh fish to catch and lots of dark trout heading back to Lake Erie after spawning.
With clear-water conditions, steelheaders are downsizing their flies and bait. Stealth fishing has been the key, with the trout especially wary this time of the year. Lots of trout are on the gravel beds to spawn, and easy to snag. Those trout must be released.
Steelhead trout fishing has been good on the Rocky River, where lots of suckers also have moved into the stream. Some smallmouth bass are showing up in the lower stretches of the Rocky River.
Anglers with small boats can target steelhead trout in the lower estuaries and harbor areas in the lower sections of the river and around the mouths of rivers. Casting streamers is a good bet, with some anglers trolling plugs and spoons in the lower sections of rivers.
Inland lakes, reservoirs Mosquito and Pymatuning reservoirs have been giving up fair to good numbers of walleye, with some anglers wading the shallows to cast shallow-running diving plugs and jig-twister tail rigs for walleye. Crappies are also being caught in good numbers as they move into shallow water, although the larger schools of crappies are gathering around structure in deeper water.
Turkeyfoot and West lakes in the Portage Lakes have been good for crappies in 10 to 15 feet of water.
Bass fishing has been very good at the small electric-only lakes, including Mogadore and LaDue reservoirs, where bass are making an early appearance along shoreline drop-offs. Pitch small plastic worms, jigs and trailers and tube jigs.
Today's cold front could slow the fishing down a little bit in shallow water, but warming temperatures should improve the fishing toward the latter part of the weekend.
Western Ohio Walleye fishing around the Niagara Reef complex and waters to the west has been good, with anglers casting lead-head jigs with hair skirts tipped with minnows or twister tails. The Maumee Bay and Turtle Creek areas have been especially good. Some yellow perch are being caught, and smallmouth bass are making an early appearance around the Bass Islands and Kelleys Island.
Walleye fishing has slowed a bit on the Maumee and Sandusky rivers as rain has kicked up the water levels, but there is plenty of walleye in the rivers. Anglers are casting lead-head jigs and twisters tails and floating jig heads and twister tails on Carolina-style rigs. Bright colors are working best.
White bass fishing on both the Sandusky and Maumee rivers will begin soon.
Holy mackerel! The largest fishing tackle flea market in the area is open today through Sunday, with Jim Wohlever filling the New Russia Township Hall in Oberlin with rods, reels and lures, including antique tackle. The free show is open today from 9 a.m.-8 p.m., Saturday from 8 a.m.-6 p.m., and Sunday from 9 a.m.-5 p.m. Wohlever offers free appraisals of old fishing tackle.
Turkey talk: Turkey hunters can sight their shotguns Sunday at a special session from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. at the South Cuyahoga Sportsmen's Association in Chatham Township. The Northcoast Limbhangers Chapter of the National Wild Turkey Federation is holding the event. A wide variety of shotshell loads are available to test at a cost of $1.50 to $3 per shell. The NWTF chapter also has its annual banquet April 15 at Holy Spirit Party Center in Parma. Call Jim Cartellone (330-220-7185) for tickets.
Out and about: A fire destroyed the main equipment building at the London Fish Hatchery last weekend, a facility west of Columbus that raises rainbow trout stocked at lakes around the state. . . . It's the time of year wildlife officials are warning well-meaning people to not rescue wildlife, even though a deer fawn or baby raccoon appears to be abandoned.
Venison for food banks: Buckeye deer hunters had a good year, and so did the food banks that rely on their donations of venison. During the season, hunters donated 116,750 pounds of venison to the Farmers and Hunters Feeding the Hungry program, enough for 467,000 meals for Ohioans in need. A total of 2,336 deer were donated, up from 1,096 deer in 2008-09. The Division of Wildlife helped pay the processing costs of the donated deer.
Ontario netters unhappy: The Lake Erie Committee of the Great Lakes Fishery Commission allocated Ohio sport fishermen a smaller number of walleye for 2010.
Ohio was able to maintain its daily bag limit of six walleye this summer, though cuts are forecast for 2011, and the yellow perch bag limit for Western Lake Erie increased to 30 fish, matching the bag limit in the rest of Ohio's Lake Erie waters.
Ontario commercial fishermen, who usually catch all of their quota with efficient gill nets, are not so pleased. Critics in Canada say the quotas for walleye and perch are the worst ever, reports the Windsor Star. One commercial fishermen said he could catch all the perch he's allowed in a single month, if he wanted. Commercial fishermen predict this year's catch will net them about $20 million, half of what they earned in the lake's heyday.
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