DANBURY TOWNSHIP - According to East Harbor State Park officials who attended a youth deer hunt at the park two weekends ago, the first ice fishermen to appear on the frozen water this season fished for a couple hours before getting off the ice when the U.S. Coast Guard began maneuvers on the harbor with an airboat. That was Dec. 12.
By the next week, though, the harbor was dotted with shanties. Some were within a hundred feet of open water.
"Yeah, I'm surprised," said Bryan Missler as he surveyed the two dozen or so out on the ice.
On Dec. 15, Missler said he drove up to East Harbor from Bellevue to check out the ice. He walked out and drilled a hole about a hundred feet from the boat ramp.
"It was about 9 inches there," he said, pointing to the hole.
Missler said he'd probably try to come back this week and begin fishing for bluegill and largemouth bass.
Catawba resident Roland Roder and friend Bob Allen hit the ice Monday morning. Roder pulled an old ice sled his father made.
"This is probably from the '30s," Roder said, glancing affectionately back at the small wooden sled filled with his fishing gear. "Years ago my brother ran an ice taxi out on the lake."
Roder said that was long before snowmobiles and ATVs. The taxis were old cars from the 30s and 40s that had been stripped down to just the frames.
After Allen parked the truck, he headed out toward Roder to decide where to fish.
"We've been friends since first grade," Roder said.
At the end of the day, Allen said they didn't do too hot.
"We caught a couple small ones," he said.
Glen Stevens, who operates Lake Erie Ice Charters, said there were few anglers on Lake Erie.
"There's three shanties out there now," Stevens said, speaking of anglers near South Bass Island, "And we got about 7 1/2 inches of ice. If an east wind blows, that ice will be gone."
Stevens said the anglers on the ice now walked out because the ice is still too rough to get ATVs or snowmobiles over. And, he added, they haven't had a lot of luck yet.
"We're not expecting the real fishing to start until after Christmas," he said.
He did point out the weather is good for ice conditions so far. "We are making ice right now, about a half inch a day," Stevens said.
Craig Aust, who operates Herb's Sportsman's Supply on Ohio 53 on Catawba Island, said though he sells shiners, anglers haven't been buying them. Yet.
"Most everybody's buying waxworms," he said. Those are used for hooking bluegill, crappie and bass on lakes and reservoirs.
The lake, Aust said, needs a little more time before people get out on it for walleye and perch fishing, which requires jigs with shiners.
"I don't think it's ready to go yet," he said. "It's been pretty slow so far."
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