SANDUSKY, OH -- Lake Erie fishing charter captain Jim Fofrich, Sr. of Toledo was recognized recently by the Ohio Department of Natural Resources (ODNR) Division of Wildlife for his assistance in tagging smallmouth bass as part of a fisheries research study. Fofrich was presented the recognition award during a board meeting of the Lake Erie Charter Boat Association in Marblehead near Port Clinton on Monday.
Fofrich has assisted the division for the past three years by tagging smallmouth bass he and his charter patrons have caught while fishing on Lake Erie. The bass are returned to the lake after being tagged and wildlife biologists urge anglers to report any of the tagged fish caught. Information from tagged smallmouth will help fisheries biologists determine bass movements and survival to ensure that the population is not being overfished.
"Smallmouth bass are a challenge for us in our research because we don't capture many in routine netting surveys. Cooperative work with anglers was one strategy to increase numbers of fish tagged," said Roger Knight, supervisor for the division's Sandusky Fisheries Research Unit.
"I am very honored and humbled to receive this award," said Fofrich, who has been a charter captain on Lake Erie for more than 30 years. "The Division of Wildlife is doing much to restore Erie smallmouth. This will mean a brighter future for the resource. Each smallmouth we release is on a biological mission."
Captain Fofrich has more than done his share, Knight said. Over the past three years, he has tagged 1,289 smallmouth, accounting for about 30 percent of all bass that have been tagged. Moreover, he has created a fishing experience where his charter customers can contribute to our understanding and management of smallmouth bass fisheries while enjoying their time on Lake Erie.
Captain Fofrich tagged and released more than 550 smallmouth bass last year alone.
"Several times we have tagged fish in the morning and re-caught the same fish in the early afternoon. That's what I call putting the sport back in sportfishing. An unborn generation is counting on us to do what's right for the future of sportfishing," Fofrich said.