FREMONT, OH – After my trip to Florida, I have only fished a couple of times. Weather has been a bit odd in Ohio this winter with it just cold enough to have ice cover on most bodies of water, but not cold enough to make the ice safe enough. I guess I should say not safe enough for me, some brave souls have ventured onto the ice. When the water has been open, my four year old and I have targeted panfish in a few ponds, without even a nibble. Steelhead fisherman seem to be having a good year in the NE Ohio tribs, but I simply haven’t had any opportunities to get out after them since the fall. I am hoping that changes.

Having longed for the fight of a good sized fish and some responsibilities that put me on the Sandusky River, it was an easy decision to rig up for carp and buffalo.  With the water still extremely cold, it is usually a matter of simply having the patience to wait it out for a bite.  I have an area that I know well, where opportunistic fish are holding nearly year round, where the current supplies food.  At different points in the year, the spot can often get a bite before your rig even settles on the bottom.  As for this time of year, you just have to have confidence a fish or two is there and the mindset that a day of fishing for a single bite is okay.

Fortunately, I had the time and the ability to multi task with a host of things I needed to get done while fishing.  While not the exciting fast paced action a lot of anglers seem to need, it suits me fine to wait out a bigger species this time of year.  It took 6 hours of fishing, but the effort was worth it when I finally got to hoist a decently large fish in front of the camera.  I can’t wait for the water to warm up a bit, where the same time commitment will yield vastly better numbers of fish.