Fish Ohio program application processing back on line; pins to come (much) later

Anglers looking to log their catch of the day with the Fish Ohio program again can do so.

Yet it will likely be months before anglers can net the most prized trophy of all: the associated Fish Ohio pin.

The Ohio Division of Wildlife was compelled to temporarily end access to its Fish Ohio on-line electronic application system when the parent Ohio Department of Natural Resources’ web site was hacked. As a result, the agency shut down its web site May 8th.

A reboot with basic information started to jell with the intention of eventually integrating the Natural Resources Department’s web site with an executive branch/statewide system. That merger should happen sometime later this summer or early autumn.

The importance of the Natural Resources Department’s website is underscored by the fact that it is visited about two million times monthly, state officials have said.

And more than a little of that activity is directed at the Wildlife Division’s 40-year-old Fish Ohio program. Last year the agency processed 16,196 Fish Ohio on-line applications

Here, anglers catching a qualifying member from one of 25 eligible species earn a Fish Ohio award, based on length only. And an angler catching a qualifying member from four or more eligible species earns a Master Angler title.

Of the 25 eligible species, five have separate Lake Erie and inland waters minimum length, too.

However, while the fishing was being impacted by a wet winter and early spring and then followed by the coronovirus (COVID-19) threat, the hacking of the Natural Resources Department’s web site was more than just another speed bump for submitting Fish Ohio applications. It was a road block.

A detour was created, though, with a patch to the web site that now allows access to the Wildlife Division’s Fish Ohio page. It’s slightly different from the previously experienced web site, but an angler can navigate it without too much difficulty.

Start by typing in the search bar “Ohio Division of Wildlife”, which takes one to the agency’s web site (www.wildlife.ohiodnr.gov). To the left of the page are four titled links; go to “Resources & Programs,” which will open another page that includes 12 photo-illustrated sub-links.

The “Fish Ohio Recognition Program” portal is the one on the far right of the upper column. Click on that one and then follow the submission instructions which includes directions on how to print out your own recognition certificate.

Once at the location and angler can likewise view his or her submission record for at least the past seven years.

At the bottom of the page is a step-by-step instructional guide to electronically determine the on-going submission history of all 25 recognized species, including the dates of catches, the lengths of submitted fish, as well as where all of the submissions have been caught. This information is viewable either as a PDF file or as an Excel file.

And it appears many anglers are making up for lost time by having entered a plethora of submissions they’ve had to keep on hold.

This year honors the program’s 40^th anniversary by once more featuring the likeness of a smallmouth bass. It was this species that highlighted the 1980 first year pewter pin, the 1990 tenth-year pin, the 2000 twentieth-year anniversary pin, and the 2015 pin.

Now comes the waiting part for these much-desired, collectible pins, though.

“The pins are still in the design stage,” said Wildlife Division spokesman Brian Plasters.

“We’re trying to find a new vendor because the one we’ve been using was overseas. We want to bring it back home if we can.”

Thus, Plasters says, he “hesitates to put a date” on when the 2020 Fish Ohio pins will become available.

Complicating matters, Plasters says also, is that the COVID-19 threat forced Natural Resources Department’s officials to vacate the agency’s Fountain Square headquarters in Columbus. Consequently, employees are finding it more challenging to work through the myriad of daily details that typically can be resolved by a simple walk to the next office.

Not to worry, Plasters says, however, the pins will come as will a revamped and complete Natural Resources Department web site.

“It’s been a long road to get the system back up and running but it’ll be done,” Plaster says.

- By Jeffrey L. Frischkorn

JFrischk@Ameritech.net

JFrischk4@gmail.com