Outdoors: Ohio Lt. Gov. Husted is a fisherman at heart

Sep. 5—SANDUSKY — For about the past 40 years, governors, state officials, county commissioners, and politicians of every stripe have made their way to the waters of Lake Erie to praise the resource, tout its economic clout, and often fish a little bit.

At these events, there were usually plenty of charter boat captains, first mates, fish handlers, and other personnel around to explain the tackle, demonstrate the desired approach, and hopefully, get that photo op that would justify the trip, and the time investment.

Ohio Lt. Gov. Jon Husted is a different animal entirely.

Most of the other dignitaries might take the opportunity to come to the lake, and with the cameras rolling, they fish. Husted, on the other hand, is a fisherman.

During a visit here to the Sandusky Fisheries Research Station of the Ohio Division of Wildlife this past week, Husted did not ask the staff of assembled biologists about their budget, talk about any pending legislation, or pose for any staged photos. He peppered them with fisherman questions.

The Williams County native grew up fishing farm ponds with his father, and at just four or five years old fished the La Su An lakes back when that was a pay-to-fish facility.

"It is my very favorite thing to do in the world," Husted said about fishing.

He recalled fishing a Williams County gravel pit that today is better known as McKarns Lake and as the body of water that produced the state record 22.73-pound northern pike in 2016.

"I used to fish there when I was growing up and I remember the St. Joe's River right next to it had pike in it, and the river would overflow," Husted said. "Then after the record fish was caught there I read a story that said, 'Who knew there were pike in there?' I knew! I knew there were pike in there, which made a lot of sense since it was spring fed and it was cold water."

Husted recited the length of that record pike, as if it had been etched in his memory with angler envy.

When one of the Division of Wildlife biologists dissected several fish, Husted was not in the background checking his cellphone or conferring with his administrative assistant. He was up at the examination table, leaning over the work for a closer look as he rapidly fired questions about fish anatomy, fish diet, and fish patterns in the lake. Husted was not the second-highest ranking government official in Ohio at that moment — he was a fisherman prospecting for intel.

"My wife jokes, because I thought that when you went on vacation that you went fishing, because that is all my family ever did," he said. "I didn't know people do other things when they go on vacation, other than fishing."

Husted, who has pulled on the waders and fished the Maumee River spring spawning runs in years past, now keeps a boat at a marina in the Port Clinton area and spends frequent weekends walleye fishing on Lake Erie.

"I fish with my dad, who's 83, and now instead of him taking me fishing, for the last 15 years I have been taking him fishing," Husted said. "He'll be up here this weekend, and we'll be fishing."

The Montpelier High School graduate who earned both his Bachelor's and Master's degrees from the University of Dayton, was an All-American defensive back for the Flyers and a member of Dayton's 1989 Division III National Championship Football Team. Before being elected as Lt. Governor, Husted served as Ohio's Secretary of State, as Speaker of the Ohio House of Representatives, and as a member of the Ohio Senate.

He said he has a tremendous amount of pride and respect concerning Lake Erie and the phenomenal resource the lake provides, but like all serious anglers, he finds bragging about Lake Erie's wealth of walleye goes against the angler's DNA.

"Fishermen don't like to tell people where the fishing is good," Husted joked.

"I hate to say it, but I think there is a lack of appreciation for what this lake really is," he said, adding that he also enjoys fishing in northern Canada where the scenery and experience are outstanding.

"But if it is about catching fish, you could come up here and have a world-class smallmouth bass fishing day, and then go out the next day and have a world-class walleye fishing day, right here. And I bet you can't find a couple of other lakes in the world where you can do that. It's right here, in our state, and that's pretty cool."

Husted said he is excited about the work being done on a variety of fronts to protect the water quality in Lake Erie, and throughout the state. He said Ohio needs to be "smart" about balancing growth with the efforts to safeguard the lake.

"As long as we are smart about doing these things — protecting the quality of the water, making sure that we are protecting the fishery — this will be something that will be here for a very, very long time," he said.

After spending a few hours with the biologists, the gate-keepers of Ohio's wealth of walleye, smallmouth bass, and other gamefish, Husted left the lakefront knowing more about walleye migration patterns, the tight yellow perch spawning window, the prevalence of gizzard shad on the walleye fall diet, and how much smallmouth move around in Lake Erie.

"It was a great dialogue," he said.

But this fisherman was listening most of the time, and taking notes.

First Published September 4, 2021, 1:00pm