Fish Ohio Day is the reel deal

You could say I was playing hooky. That's because I was on board Captain Jerry Taylor's boat for the 45th Governor's Fish Ohio Day on Wednesday. Taylor has been a captain for 38 years, and he operates Playin' Hooky Charters in Port Clinton. For me, the day consists of both work and fun. I started by taking the photos I needed for work. I watched as the others on Taylor's boat fished. That included Brian Banbury, executive administrator at the Ohio Division of Wildlife; Andy Chow, chief of communications at the Ohio Department of Natural Resources; Justin Darling, one of the governor's grandsons; John DeWine, one of the governor's sons; and Nick Dudukovich, one of the governor's sons-in-law. Dudukovich asked Taylor for a walleye fishing refresher before casting out to the water. Soon after, he reeled in the first fish — a sheepshead. Fishing was a little slow at times, but the group caught sheepshead, catfish and more sheepshead. With some photos on my camera and clouds covering the sky, I asked Taylor for a reel. I figured I'd better start fishing before the storms. My line was in the water for a little bit when I caught a small sheepshead. Did I mention we caught some sheepshead? In fact, Darling reeled in the biggest fish on our boat: a Fish Ohio-worthy sheepshead at 26.5 inches. Our group caught a handful of small walleye and tossed them back. Walleye need to be a minimum of 15 inches to keep. We did end up with two walleye big enough to keep. I also brought in a good-sized yellow perch that was tossed in the cooler. After a few hours on Lake Erie, the sky darkened. A storm was rolling in. We wrapped it up and Taylor took us back to the dock. With it being my first time fishing in two years (I missed last year's event), I was bummed the trip was cut a little short. I did appreciate the sun being behind the clouds all morning, though. Taylor knew heavy rain was coming, and he wanted to keep us as dry as possible. Without the charter captains, the day would not be possible. A total of 19 boats participated in the event. Here are the stats from Governor's Fish Ohio Day among the boats involved: • Keeper walleye: 184 • Largest walleye: 27 inches • Total fish caught: 523 • Largest fish: 31-inch northern pike I certainly appreciated all the help Taylor provided. He constantly made sure my hook had a worm. I always say Governor's Fish Ohio Day is one of my favorite days of the year, and it's true. The day combines two things I love: photography and fishing. My husband, Jason, and I fished a lot when we were dating and early into our marriage. Now we have two kids, so catfishing at night doesn't fit well into the schedule. We still need to take 4-year-old Connor fishing sometime. I bet he'd love it. Even though Lake Erie is a tremendous place to fish, we'll probably start smaller with Connor — maybe a pond for bluegill at Resthaven Wildlife Area. People from all over the country travel to fish in Lake Erie. We're lucky to have it so close to us. If you're 16 years old or older, make sure to purchase a fishing license before heading out to the water. Funds from fishing licenses go toward managing the state's wildlife resources. Whether it's a lake, river or pond, get out and fish Ohio. There are all kinds of fish to catch.