By Stephanie Barnes
As executive administrator of the Division of Wildlife at the Ohio Department of Natural Resources, Scott Hale and other staff, who’s a biologist, explain what it is like to go fishing on a boat and what sizes of fish are appropriate to keep or release. 

It was a perfect day for a boat ride at Alum Creek Marina. The weather was mild, with partially cloudy skies. Mild breezes sent tiny ripples across the surface of the slate blue water, making the reflections of the boats lining the dock look like impressionist paintings. 

One of the goals of the ODNR’s fishing database is to inspire a love of fishing in people who don’t fish, people like me. As a non-angler, I can only imagine peacefully floating on the water until, suddenly, the thrill of the chase strikes.
But my fellow reporters and I were lucky enough to get a private boat ride with two men who have lived that experience many times: Scott Hale, the Executive Administrator of ODNR’s Division of Wildlife, and a biologist with ODNR. 

We discussed fishing tournaments, of which there are more than 12,000 yearly, which led to stories about where the expert fishermen had caught the biggest, largest quantity, and unique fish. 

The Biologist showed us a picture of at least a dozen fish he had caught in Ohio in just one day, a bounty he described as “Tasty and tastier!” Scott showed us pictures of several exotic fish he had caught in other locations, including a paddlefish with an absurdly long, skinny snout and broad, gaping mouth. 

It was almost as big as Scott was, and that wasn’t the only picture he shared of giant fish, some caught right here in Ohio. Big fish don’t just make good photo ops, and they make tasty meals too. It is vital to throw back fish that are under a specific size so that they have the chance to mature and produce offspring. 

If too many small fish are taken out of the population before they can reproduce, the waters could become barren, taken to the extreme, and entire species could fail to thrive. This precaution, as well as the stocking of fish in lakes ODNR carries out every year, ensures that when Ohioans are ready to fish, the fish will be waiting.

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