Fishing Day 1 with Bryon Haro 2/23/2020

Before I get to the fishing part of my blog, I'd like to just update you on the situation here in Ohio as far as the Corona Virus goes...The state is on lockdown, or "shelter in place" until April 6th.

1. I got word from both the ODNR and the Police that we are allowed to keep fishing. Just use common sense and keep space between you and use hand sanitizer. The state ramps are not planning on closing unless something drastically changes for the worst.


2. Like most other states now, our restaurants and bars are closed, but are still doing carry out and delivery for food.


3. Grocery stores and gas stations are open.


4. Hotels are iffy....some have closed and some are staying open for the time being. If you are coming in and have reservations someplace, you should call and find out what the status is for your stay.


Okay...now, for the fishing part of the report...


I only had one person today...Bryon Haro, so it was easy to keep space between us in a 21 foot Ranger. :)


We launched out of Catawba at 7:45 and headed towards the cans. The water was very stained, but I could still see the cavitation plate, so we stopped and set up with Bandits back anywhere from 35 to 65. We caught 4 small fish and I wasn't seeing the marks on the screen like I wanted to, so we headed north to a little cleaner water.


We stopped a little SW of Niagara and set a course with the Ulterra towards D can.
The marks up there were disappointing too. We did manage to catch two more there though, and they were a little chunkier than the ones to the south.


The wind was picking up out of the NNE, and the clouds were spitting a cold rain, so you can imagine how enjoyable that is when the boards are not going back at a steady pace....sigh.


Next stop was Starve. We picked up one fish there, but the marks were fantastic. The fish however were not cooperative to our offerings, so we headed back to the west and gave it another shot. The bite was better there, but it wasn't fast and furious for us, as it sounded on the radio for some others. Bandits back 40-60 over 23 foot of water was most productive for us. Speed was anywhere from 1.2 to 1.7mph There was no real pattern to dial in on today.


Water temp dropped from 40.0 degrees there last Thursday to 38.9 degrees today.


We managed our limit of eaters, and the biggest was a 26" fatty that hit after we already had 12 in the cooler, so we took a picture and sent her back to finish her journey to the spawning grounds. We caught three or four more after we had our limit and then it was time to head in.


Bryon is a very good fisherman and has fished several NWT and FLW events on the Co Angler side, so we had a lot in common too. Despite the crappy weather, it was an enjoyable day on the water with him. We are fishing together again tomorrow, and the weather forecast is better than it was today, so it's already better than it was today! Ha! ;)


We'll be launching out of Catawba again.


Stay tuned...


Capt Juls