Lake Erie

By mid-century, however, market conditions were rapidly changing, and from 1850 to 1870, products derived from sturgeon transformed this once-worthless fish into a valuable commodity. Caviar, fish oil, and a substance known as isinglass — a gelatin used in adhesives made from the air bladder of various fish, especially sturgeon — became extremely valuable. The fish became so sought after, in fact, that one of the largest sturgeon fisheries in America developed on Lake Erie. In 1885 alone, commercial fishermen on Erie netted more than half a million pounds of lake sturgeon.  

“I first attended as a high school student with my ichthyology class on a field trip in the 1970s,” says John Hageman. “After college, a job opened up, and they were willing to hire me up at the lake.” Hageman eventually spent 25 years there as lab manager.

We’ve all heard some form of the notion that a butterfly flapping its wings in Brazil can set in motion a chain of events that causes a hurricane in China. It’s a way to express how complex systems like our weather or the environment are tied together by complex relationships that are difficult to recognize or understand.

Whether you enjoy tent camping or drive the largest motorhome on the road, there’s a campsite awaiting you on the Ohio islands of Lake Erie. Accessible by ferry, South Bass, Middle Bass, and Kelleys Island state parks offer a unique camping experience close to home.

No one knows the Lake Erie islands better than Steve Riddle. Raised on Middle Bass, Riddle spent a 30-year career managing the three island parks for the Ohio Department of Natural Resources. Today, he is the police chief of Put-In-Bay, the small village on South Bass Island.

It’s no secret that Lake Erie’s recent algae blooms have a small army of scientists and conservationists working nonstop to remedy its troubles. But a little-known faction has been feeding valuable data to those problem-solvers: charter captains.

“We first started with the Ohio EPA,” says Dave Spangler, longtime captain and vice president of the Lake Erie Charter Boat Association (LECBA). The EPA, he says, sent lab technicians wading near shore to collect samples. “The better part of the Western Basin just wasn’t getting covered,” he says.

Supplying electricity to an island is no small feat. Supplying reliable electricity to the largest American island on Lake Erie is a monumental task.

Kelleys Island, one of the most popular tourist destinations anywhere in Ohio, is entirely served by Hancock-Wood Electric Cooperative, which has been charged with that job since its 1967 consolidation with the former Lake Erie Electric Cooperative.

Hop on a huge ferry boat, and after a 20-minute ride through the choppy Lake Erie waters, you’ll arrive at the idyllic Kelleys Island, about 4 miles north of Marblehead, Ohio, and the largest American island on the lake. The island is home to about 140 year-round residents, though the population swells to well over 400 residents and 5,000 tourists during the busy summer months.

What is it that attracts us to lighthouses? Could it be their immovable stability in an ever-changing world? Mute guides to somehow show us the way, much as they do for wayward sailors?

Whatever the reason, people have been visiting the Marblehead Lighthouse on Lake Erie at the mouth of Sandusky Bay for nearly two centuries, ever since its construction in 1821. It’s the oldest lighthouse in continuous service anywhere on the Great Lakes.

Kelleys Island residents welcome the return each spring of their “feathered tourists” — songbirds, waterfowl, and raptors that pass through on their way to Canada.

So it was a rather obvious decision for the island’s innkeepers to band together to create an event around it. “Nest with the Birds” began in the 1980s as a way to drum up some early-season bookings by offering guided hikes and migration-related programs for birdwatchers.

Ohio is one of only three states that does not recognize a state fish, but if ever our lawmakers should decide to name one, there’s but a short list of great candidates: the yellow perch, for example, or the Ohio Muskie. A particularly strong case, however, could be made for the smallmouth bass — the gamest fish that swims.