Purchasing and holding a current license is only the first step for anglers of the appropriate age to remain legal in Ohio. Next is to fish according to the rules.
The 2024-25 regulations, laid out by the Ohio Division of Wildlife, went into effect March 1. What is legal and what is not can be read electronically at the website, wildohio.gov. The electronic version mirrors a published booklet.
RELATED: The Ohio Division of Wildlife continues to reward anglers who catch fish of a certain size
The regulations cover size and number limits for various species, including site-specific restrictions in some cases. Tackle, times and methods are subject to review.
Not much has changed from last year, meaning anglers on Alum Creek, Buckeye, Deer Creek, Delaware, Hoover and O’Shaughnessy will still see a 30-fish limit of crappies with a minimum size of 9 inches .
For desirable species that include catfish, saugeye, walleye, smallmouth bass, largemouth bass, stripers, sunfish, trout and muskie, check again to ensure water regulatory restrictions.
A change that went into effect March 1 could help save Ohio’s few remaining native brook trout: Having brookie taken from the Ashtabula, Chagrin, Grand, and Conneaut rivers and their tributaries is prohibited.
Catch limits for yellow perch have not yet been declared that will take effect on May 1. Currently, the daily limit is 30 west of Huron and east of Fairport Harbor but only 10 in between. There is a map available in the regulations booklet for the exact coordinates of Ohio’s three Lake Erie perch management zones.
A determination of perch limits will be made after quotas are set by a panel of biologists from the United States and Canada. The panel meets this month to decide yellow perch and walleye allocations based on the populations of each species. Post-hatch trawl surveys suggest yellow perch are far from thriving in some sections of the lake.
Allotments for Ohio are used to set limits for yellow perch take by recreational fishers along with commercial netters.
A unique walleye regulation makes the legal fishing day dawn to dusk from March 1 to April 30 to cover the spawning runs on the Maumee, Sandusky and Portage rivers. All three streams empty into Lake Erie, where night fishing for walleye is popular and usually successful.
As for the Maumee run, some walleye are showing early in the week as low water conditions continue. Rain on Tuesday and forecast showers later in the week are expected to increase flows and bring fish.
To Castalia
Applications for the annual lottery offering a chance to fish a half-mile section of trout-filled Cold Creek are being accepted through March 31. Applications, which cost a nonrefundable $3, can be submitted through online Ohio Wildlife Licensing System or through the HuntFish OH mobile app.
Random drawings for slots will be held in early April. Winners will be notified via email.
Castalia State Fish Hatchery fishing windows will open on select dates for lottery winners from May 1 to Nov. 29. The hatchery is where rainbows are raised annually for the Lake Erie steelhead stocking program.
Lottery applications are open to participants age 16 and older who hold a valid Ohio fishing license. The permit to fish applies to the successful applicant and partners. Permits are transferable.
Open season
The Open Season Sportsman’s Expo runs Friday through next Sunday inside the Bricker Building at the Ohio Expo Center. Like its predecessors, the focus is deer. Cab details can be found at openseasonsportsmanexpo.com/ohio/.
