When to catch the big one

If you're looking to enter Ohio's record fish book you might as well stay indoors during January and February.

Of the 47 eligible entries in the Outdoor Writers of Ohio's Record Fish program no winners are noted for either January or February.

It is the state's outdoors writers' group that maintains Ohio's record fish list; the only such journalist association in the country that handles this work. OWO works closely with the Ohio Division of Wildlife and Ohio Sea Grant in ensuring positive identification of fish species and weeding out potential non-record fish or ineligible species.

The most active months for reeling in a record-book fish are May (12), July (9), and April (8).

Other months include five for June, three for August, and two each for March, September, October, November and December.

The oldest state record is for the 1.97 pound rock bass caught from Deer Creek on Sept. 3, 1932 by George A. Keller of Dayton.

- Tom Cross - the 10-year-chairman of OWO's Record Fish Committee is stepping down after this year as head of the group responsible for certifying state record fish.

For further information about the program, visit the Outdoor Writers of Ohio's web site at www.outdoorwritersofohio.com.

- Jeffrey L. Frischkorn
JFrischkorn@News-Herald.com