Unusual catches seen from Erie's icy water

Lake Erie has the most variety of fish species in the Great Lakes. When fishing through the ice on the lake, it is possible to see some that are not normally presentyear-round. These include some cool water fish species that migrate here annually to spawn, but are usually confined to the eastern half of the lake because water temperatures get too warm for them to tolerate during the summer. Lake whitefish are caught some winters around the islands. They spawn around some of Lake Erie's Western Basin Reefs and island shoals in the late fall and linger in the area while feeding on bottom life. While fishing along the dock in front of the Put-in-Bay State Fish Hatchery during late ice one year and catching a few small yellow perch and black crappies, I set the hook on what I expected was another delicately biting crappie. Instead, my ice rod broke at the handle from the weight of a 22-inch steelhead (trout). I successfully landed it by pulling the line in by hand. Instead of it escaping, it became the guest of honor for dinner that evening. Other examples of Lake Erie's cool water fish species that I have caught or seen taken through the ice include rainbow smelt, lake trout, burbot (freshwater cod), lake sturgeon, silver chub and sea lamprey. Depending upon the lake's current population, smelt can be seen with varying frequencies most winters. They are incidentally caught while using small baits or deliberately teased into biting when seen swimming just under the ice or spotted on underwater cameras checking out baits. The lake trout and Burbot that I saw taken through the ice were both caught on the same day in1988 near South Bass Island. Maybe the recent, local lake trout stockings will result in more encounters with this species. Every winter there is a report or two of a lake Sturgeon hooked and sometimes landed — depending upon its size. As an Ohio endangered species, they are protected from harvest so by law must be released. A couple of subtle bites one winter resulted in the catch of some large, uncommon minnows called Silver chubs. Although consumed by large, cool water predators, they have no use as a food fish for people. They have been listed in the past as an endangered species in Ohio. Sometimes, a fish is caught with a Sea lamprey attached. Scarring data suggests that the population is currently increasing in Lake Erie. With respect to non-target warm water fish species, White bass and White perch are regularly caught through the ice. White perch can be effective bait-stealers in cold water, too. White bass fight proportionately harder than most walleyes and have a fine flavor when taken from icy water, their red muscle layer trimmed off and are eaten fresh. In recent winters with ice, there have been numerous channel catfish willing to hit walleye lures. Once again, when taken from cold water, they are milder than those landed in the summer. A few muskies, likely emigrants from Lake St. Clair, are caught each winter, including some trophies landed already this season. Smallmouth bass; freshwater drum (aka-Sheepshead), carp and quillback (sucker) are other warm water species that are infrequently caught. I have only seen one smallmouth bass ever caught through the ice in the Bass Islands, named for their abundant local population. They form dense schools over the deeper edges of rocky structures, which are generally avoided by savvy ice anglers because of thinner ice over them. Back in the early 1980s, I would occasionally see a Sauger. Closely related to walleyes, they are distinguished by round, black spots on their dorsal fins, a brown and white body color, scales on their entire cheeks and no white along the lower edge of their tail fin. I have only seen a few freshwater drum caught through the ice, and am convinced that they must not feed too often in the winter. Hordes of them swam past my underwater camera one day during the winter of 2015 and showed no interest in my bait. After some recent January thaws, despite the return of cold temperatures, there is presently little useable ice on Lake Erie. If this colder weather remains for a couple of weeks, perhaps we will get some more time to fish on the ice yet this winter. I like ice fishing on Lake Erie. you never know what you'll catch.