Article published May 16, 2008
Fremont fishing nothing like Alaska
Sandusky County's Vinson also bags a caribou there
Michael Vinson, some days, may wish he was back in his native Fremont, especially now during the fine spring runs of white bass and walleye in the Sandusky River, which flows through the center of his hometown.
An avid angler and hunter, Vinson, 27, just will have to make do with 30-pound halibut and caribou. He is a petty officer 1st class in the U.S. Coast Guard and is stationed in Anchorage - and hunts and fishes whenever he gets a chance.
One such chance came just recently when Vinson, a marine science technician, took part in the inspection of a Russian vessel well out in the Aleutian Islands chain, which streams southwest for hundreds of miles from the Alaskan mainland.
His vessel stopped off at the coast guard station on Adak Island, some 1,300 miles southwest of Anchorage, after the inspection tour. That gave Vinson, a 1997 graduate of Ross High School, time to bag a caribou and land a 30-pound halibut. His mom, Debra Nicholas, sent along a photograph of Vinson trying to hoist the big flat fish.
The Fremonter used a pink squid-jig, on a 3/4-pound (not ounce), weight, obviously fishing deep in the strait off Adak. The smile on the serviceman's face perhaps suggests he was thinking of those fine grilled halibut steaks the fish would produce.
"With it being walleye and white bass season here, we thought you might enjoy the photo," Nicholas said.•
For those anglers closer to the Sandusky River, and Maumee River, too, know that the white bass should be ready and willing as soon as the streams clear up from the midweek rainfall.
Both rivers were muddy and two to three feet high at midweek. Bernie Whitt at Anglers Supply in Fremont said that clearer water should turn on the white bass, which should be in the stream in peak numbers now. He added that white perch also are being taken by bottom-fishing with worms or minnows.
Jan Lowry at Maumee Tackle said that plenty of white bass have been in the river but muddy water and rain at midweek kept angling pressure very light. The high water this week should trigger another run of white bass upstream, she added. Some jack (male) walleye also remain in the river.
On western Lake Erie, walleye have made a transition from minnows to nightcrawlers in bait preference, essentially ending a weather and dirty water-hampered jig-and-minnow season.
The big trick is finding cleaner patches of water when the winds allow you to get out, according to Rick Ferguson at Al Szuch Live Bait. When that occurs, the fishing is fine with many limits coming in. Because cleaner water is scattered, so is the better fishing action, which may mean searching along the Toledo Ship Channel over toward West Sister Island in the west end.
Brest Bay on the Michigan side north of Monroe also is producing walleye in 18 to 20 feet of water, according to Brest Bay Marina.
Down east in the islands area, the water north of Kelleys Island near the international border but southwest of Ontario's Middle Island has been a solid producer, according to Rick Catley at Rickard's Bait on Catawba Island. Fish also were active west of Rattlesnake Island north of a "mud line," Catley said.
Preferred terminal nightcrawler tackle, as has been the case in recent years is the hybrid mayfly rig - a single-hook worm harness with a spinner and a barrel sinker, popularly known and tied as Weapons. Some anglers also are trolling worm harnesses with spinner, and drifters also are dragging worm harnesses on bottom bouncers along with casting the mayfly rigs. "Gold and purple have been the colors," Catley said.
Erie anglers should note that any smallmouth or largemouth bass they may land must be immediately returned to the water under closed-season catch-and-release rules in effect through spawning season, ending June 27.
Also, the walleye daily creel limit for the rest of the year again is six fish, minimum length 15 inches. Effective today through Aug. 31 the steelhead trout limit bumps up from two to five a day. The daily yellow perch limit is 30, though it drops to 25 in the western basin on July 1.
Last and not least, a note to the South Toledo dad who wants to take his five-year-old son fishing but has run out of places: I lost your number.
But try taking the young man to White Star Quarry, run by the Sandusky County Park District along State Rt. 300 just south of Gibsonburg. Use a slip bobber set for 8 to 10 feet and bait the hook with corn or waxworms. You may find some rainbow trout still uncaught, and a nice mess of fair-size bluegills. The inland ponds at Maumee Bay State Park also may produce some boy-size 'gills, too.
•
National Safe Boating Week gets under way tomorrow and the Toledo Sail and Power Squadron is on deck with daily seminars, beginning with a boating education course tomorrow at the new Glass City Memorial Marina off Front Street in East Toledo.
Monday through Friday next week the Squadron will present daily seminars 6 to 8 p.m. at the marina on boat handling, PFD/life jackets, skipper-avert emergency tactics, water rescue, and docking procedures and etiquette. The Friday seminar on docking begins at 5 p.m. For details call Jim Balogh 419-350-9852.
The Squadron also will conduct dockside 15-point free vessel safety checks by calling Wayne Osborn 419-290-5535. Or visit online at toledopowersquadron.org for a virtual inspection.
Contact Steve Pollick at: spollick@theblade.com or 419-724-6068.
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