I like to think of it as stealth fishing – tiptoeing quietly into skinny water in my kayak in search of bass and panfish.
Mine is a cruising kayak, a 14-foot Current Designs boat with a drop-rudder, not an angler-specific craft. But no matter. A small tackle bag and an ultralight spinning rod easily fit in the oval cockpit between my legs.
The Great Vault of Lost and Found Outdoor Gear must lie in a remote mountain valley somewhere, and if we ever find that spot what a trove it will hold.
I am not talking about the odd pair of wool socks left at a fish camp in northern Canada, or a moth-eaten old sweater missing from the duffel after a cross-country ski trip. I am talking real stuff – say, a spare fly rod inadvertently left by a stream, hiking boots tied and hanging on a mountainside tree, or even, perhaps, that backup hunting rifle you took to elk camp.
Big things are under way this spring in northwest Ohio’s scenic Sandusky River, as in the search for 30- to 40-pound “big things” known as grass carp.
And that’s not all. The popular walleye and white bass runs now reach 38 miles upstream from Sandusky Bay, all the way to Pioneer Mill Dam in Tiffin, according to Ohio Wildlife District 2. These greatly extended runs have been possible since the demolition in 2018 of the infamous Ballville Dam at Fremont, 22 river miles below Tiffin.
These whopping big white waterbirds, a familiar sight in the Central Flyway further west, are increasing in numbers here in the Mississippi Flyway, to the point where they should become a regular fixture, especially in the Erie islands-lakeshore region.
My brother and I hunted deer in a couple of remote, heavily timbered and brushy valleys in Hocking County for many years, and every time he did a walk through a certain stand of big white pines – “the ones down by the old shack” – his neck hairs stood on end.
The last wild turkeys that I “saw” in my creek bottom – via a trailcam photo – was on March 5, 2022. Since then nada, nothing, no birds, despite searching all around my bailiwick for evidence.
For years prior, I had wondered when, or whether, these great gamebirds finally might make their way into my western Sandusky County creek bottom – one of the last areas of Ohio to see their resurgence in a classic wildlife management tale. But it happened about four years ago.
The buzzards returned in late February, and Steve Pollick says you can mark your calendar by these scavenger’s exploits.
These symbolic birds of prey – indeed, America’s symbol – can be found nowadays in any Ohio county, usually not far from a river or lake or wetlands area. Last year at least 824 nesting pairs were tallied in the Buckeye State, an amazing statistic given that the species was down to just four pairs and on the verge of extirpation here in 1979.
One has to read Gov. Mike DeWine’s statement on the ‘green energy’ bill carefully to parse out the true meaning of it, Pollick writes.
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