Sylvania Medusa Gun Club dies of strangulation
3/22/2001The Sylvania-Medusa Gun Club, 63, of 5515 Centennial Rd., has died from complications of urban sprawl.
The club's lease on 7 1/2 acres is not being renewed in part because spent shot from the shotgun ranges drops on 53 other acres that the club does not lease, said Ned Plummer, a veteran of the 368-member club.
“It's a sad day for all of us,” Plummer said. The Sylvania-Medusa club, established in 1938, has two trap and two skeet ranges, and a 50-yard shooting range that has been used as a training site for Sylvania police.
Construction of condominiums nearby would lead to loss of an access street. A fossil park, planned by Olander Park System for an abandoned limestone quarry near the Centennial Terrace swim area, lies in the spent-shot zone. The park, scheduled for opening in September, is to occupy 10 acres south of the terrace and will feature about five acres of the quarry for fossil hunting.
The quarry is located behind the club. Put simply, the club has been squeezed to death by development and loss of elbow room. It takes a minimum of about 60 acres to operate shotgun ranges and required safety zones, Plummer noted.
“We're not politically correct any more,” he stated, noting that the club has six months to dispose of its buildings. “We have no bargaining chips.”
Plummer said that a final day of shooting and remembering is set for March 31, 10 a.m. to 10 p.m. Then the ranges will fall silent.
Water levels have risen slightly in the Maumee River and the water temperatures yesterday had risen to almost 44 degrees - ideal conditions to bring active runs of fish upstream.
Gary Lowry of Maumee Valley Bait and Tackle noted that since the river reacts slowly to weather fronts, good fishing conditions should extend through the weekend despite predicted winterlike conditions overhead. He noted that fishing usually slacks off under high pressure in the days after a storm front's passage.
Anglers are averaging two to four fish apiece, four being the daily creel limit through April. About half the fishermen are using Carolina-rigged floating jigs in pink, white, and chartreuse, weighted so that rigs are just ticking the bottom in a given current. Berkley Power Grubs in yellow/red, green/lime, and sherbet patterns also are working well, Lowry added.
Rich Cherry, ranger at Side Cut Metropark, termed recent action as spotty, but he noted that the stream is wadable. Most activity, he said, is focused at the rapids at Fort Meigs and Buttonwood Access.
Around the Grand Rapids Dam, crappie are hitting very well on small minnows, according to Mary Jeffers at Grand Rapids Marine Supply. She said that some northern pike also are being taken by anglers using large chubs or golden shiners fished under bobbers. A few walleye also are being taken.
The Sandusky River at Fremont also is beginning to produce fish, though mostly smaller males, or jacks are coming in so far, said Tina Whitt at Anglers Supply there.
The incorrect date for the drawing, based on information supplied by the Ohio Division of Wildlife, appeared in this space Tuesday.
Hunting dates are April 21, 22, 28, 29, and May 5, 6, 12, and 13. The hunts are for youths only, accompanied by licensed, non-hunting adults. Permits are transferable. For other details, call Ohio Wildlife District 2, 419-424-5000, or the LaSuAn headquarters, 419-485-9092.
DATEBOOK
Saturday - Work party, 10 a.m., Wolf Creek Sportsmen's Association, 349 Teachout Rd., north of State Rt. 2, Curtice; also, Monday, public trapshoot, 6:30 p.m., Wolf Creek; call Frank Shaffer 691-2769.
Steve Pollick is The Blade's outdoor writer. E-mail him at spollick@theblade.com.