“Some people call it ice fishing without the ice,” said Travis Hartman, a biologist with the Ohio Division of Wildlife’s Sandusky Fisheries Unit. “You start out fishing like you do through the ice – with Swedish Pimples with shiners or Jigging Raps, jigging vertically. You go to places you might have gone ice fish – off of Catawba, Mouse Island, Green Island or South Bass.
“It’s a deep water, staging, feeding before spawning type of bite. Once they get up on the reefs, you have to switch to a heaver hair jig for drift fishing,” Hartman added.
The longer grip of winter this year, which caused thick ice and excellent ice fishing, has pushed ice-out back a couple of weeks.
“By the time the ice has gone, some fish will already be spawning,” said veteran walleye angler Mark Brumbaugh of Darke County. “Instead of ice fishing from a boat, there will be some people jig fishing on the reefs”
He said he “is not a big fan” of fishing when there are still big chunks of ice floating around, so he waits until it’s all melted.
“With the Internet it’s easy to find out what’s going on up there,” Brumbaugh said. “People are always posting reports.”
He tries to go around the end of March and starts out fishing the edges of the reefs. “But this year the spawn will have started, so you will catch almost all males. The females don’t bite when they’re spawning. If you catch them (females) before or after the spawn it will be out in the mud in deeper water.”
Some anglers don’t believe in taking females full of eggs in the spring, but Hartman, who is as close to the situation as anyone, says he has no problem with it.
“There’s nothing illegal about it, so it’s up to each person to do what he believes is best. If there were a shortage of females or eggs, the Division would regulate it yesterday.
“Personally, I have no problem with it. If you catch a 28-inch female you might be eliminating it’s spawning this year and maybe a few more times, but if you catch an 18-inch female at any time of year, how many spawns will it miss?,” Hartman added.
There is a certain amount of danger linked to ice-out fishing, whether it’s for walleyes on Lake Erie or panfish at Lake Loramie. Not only are there chunks of ice and all manner of junk floating around, but the water itself is very cold. After all, it was frozen just a few days before.
“You can’t talk about safety enough,” Hartman said. “If you go in the water, you have very little time.”
Lifejackets, certainly, are in order, but Hartman feels anglers should wear float coats or survival suits. Always take a cell phone and two-way radio with you and tell someone where you are going and when you plan to return.
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