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02-15-2004, 09:48 AM
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The right way to get credit for the record
CPD 02/15/04 by D'Arcy Egan
Thousands of Lake Erie anglers caught millions of yellow perch last year and one may have been the largest ever weighed by a sport angler.
Jacqueline O'Connor firmly believes the Ohio yellow perch record belongs to her. We'll never really know.
O'Connor is a pretty good hand at catching yellow perch with her husband, Tom. They live in the Old Brooklyn neighborhood of Cleveland and head out often on their boat.
O'Connor has earned the nickname "The Fisher Queen" because of her success with a perch spreader that boasts hot pink spinners to go along with the emerald shiners minnows she uses for bait.
O'Connor, the associate principal at Nordonia High School, knows plenty about filling out forms. When she caught her big perch on Sept. 21, she just didn't fill out enough of them.
"They weighed the perch at Dick's Tackle and Live Bait on the Chagrin River and filled out the Fish Ohio Award slip for me," said O'Connor. "I received my Fish Ohio pin and certificate. The length and weight are listed on it."
Both are very impressive. The perch was listed at 15½ inches long and its weight a solid three pounds. It could very well have been the Ohio state record, finally knocking off a 2.75-pound, 14½-inch yellow perch caught by the late Charles Thomas of Lorain on April 17, 1984.
But O'Connor's Fish Ohio Award form was not enough to validate an Ohio state record fish.
She still has the jumbo perch in her freezer. Unfortunately, it has been reduced to fillets. She also has a photo of her trophy catch taken at Dick's Tackle and Live Bait in Eastlake, now closed and its telephone disconnected, but a photo won't satisfy the rule makers.
"If the perch did weigh three pounds, she had the record," said district fisheries head Phil Hillman of the Ohio Division of Wildlife's district office in Akron. "It was certainly long enough to have weighed three pounds."
There is an official application form published by the Outdoor Writers of Ohio, the governing body for Ohio's record fish. It is available at www.outdoorwritersofohio.com and lists the rules for submitting a state record fish.
The first step is to have the fish weighed on a certified scale. They are easy to find with most grocery stores having scales certified by the county auditor.
Have the clerk sign the weight slip or a piece of paper showing the name and address of the store location and the certified weight. A copy of the county auditor's certification of the scale must be included.
Don't waste time showing off the fish. Put it on ice and have it weighed as quickly as possible. Take a close-up photograph, preferably with a ruler to show its length. Once measured, place the fish in the freezer. Do not send it to the taxidermist. All potential record fish must be examined by an Ohio Division of Wildlife fisheries biologist.
It's a lot of bother, but the reward is owning a state record that might last for 20 years, like the existing perch mark. Records are made to be broken, but George Keller's 1.97-pound rock bass has been the standard since 1932.
To reach this Plain Dealer reporter:%%endhead%%%%bodybegin%%degan@plaind.com, 216-999-6136
© 2004 The Plain Dealer. Used with permission. » Send This Page | » Print This Page
http://www.cleveland.com/outdoors/plaindealer/index.ssf?/base/sports/1076841277217800.xml
The right way to get credit for the record
CPD 02/15/04 by D'Arcy Egan
Thousands of Lake Erie anglers caught millions of yellow perch last year and one may have been the largest ever weighed by a sport angler.
Jacqueline O'Connor firmly believes the Ohio yellow perch record belongs to her. We'll never really know.
O'Connor is a pretty good hand at catching yellow perch with her husband, Tom. They live in the Old Brooklyn neighborhood of Cleveland and head out often on their boat.
O'Connor has earned the nickname "The Fisher Queen" because of her success with a perch spreader that boasts hot pink spinners to go along with the emerald shiners minnows she uses for bait.
O'Connor, the associate principal at Nordonia High School, knows plenty about filling out forms. When she caught her big perch on Sept. 21, she just didn't fill out enough of them.
"They weighed the perch at Dick's Tackle and Live Bait on the Chagrin River and filled out the Fish Ohio Award slip for me," said O'Connor. "I received my Fish Ohio pin and certificate. The length and weight are listed on it."
Both are very impressive. The perch was listed at 15½ inches long and its weight a solid three pounds. It could very well have been the Ohio state record, finally knocking off a 2.75-pound, 14½-inch yellow perch caught by the late Charles Thomas of Lorain on April 17, 1984.
But O'Connor's Fish Ohio Award form was not enough to validate an Ohio state record fish.
She still has the jumbo perch in her freezer. Unfortunately, it has been reduced to fillets. She also has a photo of her trophy catch taken at Dick's Tackle and Live Bait in Eastlake, now closed and its telephone disconnected, but a photo won't satisfy the rule makers.
"If the perch did weigh three pounds, she had the record," said district fisheries head Phil Hillman of the Ohio Division of Wildlife's district office in Akron. "It was certainly long enough to have weighed three pounds."
There is an official application form published by the Outdoor Writers of Ohio, the governing body for Ohio's record fish. It is available at www.outdoorwritersofohio.com and lists the rules for submitting a state record fish.
The first step is to have the fish weighed on a certified scale. They are easy to find with most grocery stores having scales certified by the county auditor.
Have the clerk sign the weight slip or a piece of paper showing the name and address of the store location and the certified weight. A copy of the county auditor's certification of the scale must be included.
Don't waste time showing off the fish. Put it on ice and have it weighed as quickly as possible. Take a close-up photograph, preferably with a ruler to show its length. Once measured, place the fish in the freezer. Do not send it to the taxidermist. All potential record fish must be examined by an Ohio Division of Wildlife fisheries biologist.
It's a lot of bother, but the reward is owning a state record that might last for 20 years, like the existing perch mark. Records are made to be broken, but George Keller's 1.97-pound rock bass has been the standard since 1932.
To reach this Plain Dealer reporter:%%endhead%%%%bodybegin%%degan@plaind.com, 216-999-6136
© 2004 The Plain Dealer. Used with permission. » Send This Page | » Print This Page
http://www.cleveland.com/outdoors/plaindealer/index.ssf?/base/sports/1076841277217800.xml