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More fishing around the corner; walleye hatch looks promising

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By Jim Morris, Contributing writer 6:41 PM Saturday, August 20, 2011

“I heard some wise man say that every dog will have his day. He never mentioned that these dog days get so long.” — Don Henley in “Waiting in the Weeds”

When Don Henley of The Eagles wrote that as we come on “the end of August with another summer’s promise almost gone,” he could have been writing about fishing. I don’t know about you, but when the thermometer hits 90, fishing is something I think about, but that’s as far as I go with it.

Actually, while there has been limited action on area lakes, fishing on Lake Erie has been pretty good. They’ve been catching walleyes off of the reef complex in front of Camp Perry, yellow perch near Kelleys Island and smallmouth bass around, appropriately, the Bass Islands.

I hope the perch fishing continues to be productive, since I have a trip planned there next month ... when it should be a bit cooler.

Probably the best news I’ve heard about Lake Erie is the early indications are this year’s walleye hatch probably has been a good one. All the results are not in. They still have some trawls to do. Once the biologists check all data, the hatch size will be estimated.

The early indications are not as good for perch. So I won’t be surprised if next year’s perch bag limit drops from 30.

Too many crappies

If you think the Ohio Division of Wildlife isn’t serious about the limits it put on crappies in 44 lakes last year, you could ask a couple of Butler County fishermen. A crappie fishing trip they took to nearby Acton Lake on Memorial Day weekend ended up costing each one $1,950.

Wildlife officer Brad Turner happened to check the fish caught by Steven Copper, 39, and Kevin Reeves, 33, both of Somerville. Turner counted 177 crappies, with 170 of them under the 9-inch limit. The bag limit on crappies is 30 per angler.

They were charged with both infractions, but were able to plead it down to the size limit only. Still, it cost each man $250 in fines and $1,700 in restitution. Both also will serve a year of probation.

Kind of an expensive fishing trip, huh?

Dove drawing set

The annual controlled dove hunts at nearby wildlife areas will be held Sept. 1 and 2.

Rush Run, Fallsville, Spring Valley, Indian Creek and Bott wildlife areas will hold drawings for Sept. 1 hunts on Saturday, Aug. 27, at noon at the respective public hunting area headquarters. Drawings for the Sept. 2 hunts will be held the day of the hunt at noon. There will be no drawings held on Sept. 1. Bott wildlife area will hold its drawings at the Indian Creek headquarters.

The St. Marys Fish Hatchery “opening day” dove hunt will be drawn on Aug. 27 at noon at the hatchery. Drawings for Sept. 3, 6, 10, 13 and 17 will be held at noon on the days of the hunts at the hatchery. Youth will be given priority on the Sept. 1 and 3 hunts.

For more information, call (937) 372-9261.

Jim Morris can be reached at www.examiner.com/outdoor-recreation-in-dayton/jim-morris or by email at sports@DaytonDailyNews.com.

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