Under rules proposed by the agency - and presented July 10th to the eight-member Ohio Wildlife Council - “the Division of Wildlife (has) proposed to increase the number of lines per angler to three while fishing in Ohio’s portion of Lake Erie, including areas immediately upstream in creeks, rivers and tributaries,” said the agency in a prepared statement.
The statement said also that under current regulations, an angler can fish with up to two lines simultaneously statewide.
If approved – and that prospect is likely – the new rules would take effect January 1st, 2020. Until then, however, the two-rod rule still applies.
The proposed change is a hit with some Lake Erie charter captains and anglers though doubts exist as to whether allowing a trio of fishing poles by one person who is angling on a public pier is a good thing.
“It’s a wonderful thing,” said Marv DeGreen, of Geauga County’s Huntsburg Township and owner of Evil Eye Charters which operates out of the Grand River.
Asked if he’ll use three rods per each of his clients, DeGreen said an occasion or two are possible. These situations will likely arise when his charter has fewer than the maximum six person charter captain’s license allows or when experimenting with different lures is needed.
“Thing is, the limit will still be six walleye whether a person is using three rods or two,” DeGreen said. “Really this change is long overdue, and a lot of other states have all ready made this switch.”
DeGreen, however, was less than enthusiastic about the rule change proposal allowing shore-bound anglers fishing from public piers, docks, breakwaters and the like to use more than two rods each.
The reason being, is because an angler can spread out his or her rigs so far and wide that it would take just a few fishers to legally limit access to others on public land-based fishing holes.
“I don’t think that’s such a good idea,” DeGreen said.
Among other proposed Ohio fishing regulation changes are:
* On the Ohio River, reduce the combined daily bag limit of sauger, saugeye or walleye to six fish. An additional proposal would establish the sauger, saugeye and walleye length limit at 14 inches in the western fishing unit (South Point west to the Indiana state line). These proposals are designed to align Ohio River fishing regulations with bordering states.
*Move Ohio’s free fishing dates to Father’s Day weekend, annually. The current free fishing
dates are the first Saturday and Sunday in May. Father’s Day is on the third Sunday in June.
* Existing fishing regulations at American Electric Power’s ReCreation Lands are proposed to remain at Jesse Owens State Park and Wildlife Area.
* Access to Eagle Creek Wildlife Area in Brown County would be by special permit only from September 1st through May 31st, annually. No access permit would be required from June 1st through August.31st, annually. It was proposed that Eagle Creek Wildlife Area will be reserved as a space where beginning hunters can participate in mentored hunts, and access will be granted through a drawing system.
* Remove Sloan’s crayfish from Ohio’s list of threatened species. A strong population of Sloan’s crayfish has been documented within its native Ohio range.
* Since Killdeer Plains Wildlife Area reservoir has been drained, it is being recommended be removed from site-specific regulations.
A
complete list of proposals is available at wildohio.gov.
A statewide public hearing on the proposed rules will be held at the
ODNR Division of Wildlife’s District One office on Thursday,
September
12th
at 9 a.m.
The
office is located at 1500 Dublin Road, Columbus 43215. For those
unable to attend the hearing, comments will also be accepted online
at wildohio.gov.
The online form will be available in August.
The
Ohio Wildlife Council is an eight-member board that approves all ODNR
Division of Wildlife proposed rules and regulations. The council will
vote on the proposed rules and season dates after considering public
input at their meeting on Wednesday, October
9th.
- Jeffrey L. Frischkorn
JFrischk@Ameritech.net
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