February fishing at Presque Isle State Park. No ice? No problem
Presque Isle State Park attracts tens of thousands of visitors each week from Memorial Day through Labor Day, but the park doesn't close when summer ends. This is the fifth in a monthly series about activities and events at Presque Isle in the fall, winter and spring.
Joe Muto expected to be fishing at Presque Isle State Park in the middle of winter, but the Millcreek Township man figured he would be sitting in an ice shack on Presque Isle Bay or Misery Bay, not standing on the Waterworks Ferry Dock.
Unusually warm weather again this winter has kept thick ice from forming on the bays, except for a few precious days in mid-January.
But Muto and others who fish won't be denied. If they can't ice fish, they will search for places along the peninsula's shoreline where the waters are open.
"I've been out at least 15 times this winter, probably two or three times a week," said Muto, 58, as he cast his line into the bay on Feb. 8. "I do both the city side and here at the peninsula. It all depends on which way the wind is blowing."
Steve Maenpaa sat on a bench just a few yards from Muto, casting into a channel of open water between two thin sheets of ice. Eight perch stirred in a white bucket near Maenpaa's feet.
The cold water wasn't keeping the fish from biting. Maenpaa caught other perch that were too small to take home, as well as a 25-inch steelhead trout that required him to borrow a net from a fisherman over at the Waterworks ponds.
"When I first got here, there was only an opening in the ice maybe three feet wide, so I kept casting in the exact same spot," said Maenpaa, 59, from Conneaut, Ohio. "But the wind picked up a bit and started moving the ice, so I have a bit more room."
Almost time for larger perch to return to Presque Isle Bay
February is a good time of the year to fish if the weather cooperates, said Jim Pettys, a member of the fishing organization S.O.N.S. of Lake Erie and a fishing charter boat captain.
Pettys fished on his boat until the January freeze, switched to ice fishing on Misery Bay for a week, then brought his boat back out after the subsequent thaw.
"I'm at the point where I hope the water stays open. It's almost time for the big perch to come into Presque Isle Bay to lay their eggs," Pettys said. "Not only are they plentiful, but I think the cold water makes them taste better."
Still some ice on the bay
A couple of fishing boats were on Presque Isle Bay the day Muto and Maenpaa were dock fishing. Though fishing from a boat offers better access to large fish, neither man wanted to put their boat in the bay that day.
"There's too much ice still out there on the bay," Muto said. "Most of it is pretty thin, but there are some patches where it's thick."
Both men ice fish but hadn't ventured out this winter because they thought the ice was too thin. Now, like Pettys, they are preparing for spring.
Once that happens, they will trade the dock for their fishing boats. Until then, they are content to fish along the shore.
"It beats staying at home," Maenpaa said.
Contact David Bruce at dbruce@timesnews.com. Follow him on X, formerly known as Twitter, @ETNBruce.
This article originally appeared on Erie Times-News: Fishing still popular at Presque Isle State Park despite lack of ice
