Mike Ferner and Susan Carter have been tireless advocates for Lake Erie during the last decade. Their organization (formerly Advocates for a Clean Lake Erie) is not afraid of controversy and welcomes media coverage on the topics they care about. Both live in Point Place and are concerned about the growing tide of factory farm manure that's making its way into the Western Basin watershed, and the lake, through rivers and streams. Our visit with the pair will explore Lake Erie Advocates, its current work and future vision.

Retired educator Sue Hartman has been tending to the Marblehead Lighthouse for years. As a member of the Marblehead Lighthouse Historical Society, she’s involved in day-to-day operations at the Marblehead Lighthouse State Park during the season as well as fund-raising and managing the park’s lifesaving station and museum. Let’s visit with Sue to find out more about the Great Lakes’ oldest continually operating lighthouse and the group that helps keep it one of the most popular tourism sites in the state.

At the Castalia Fish Hatchery, ODNR employees are tasked with producing about a half million rainbow trout and steelhead each year. Superintendent Andy Jarrett supervises the operation and talks about the ins and outs of raising fish including predators that want to eat them, feeding the fish and hosting anglers, hunters and visitors at the hatchery.

On Lake Erie’s Western Basin, East Harbor is hands-down the most popular and consistent ice fishing spot. During years when the lake doesn’t provide fishable ice, East Harbor always presents itself as the go-to place for panfishing – even if only for a week. This year it’s provided at least a month of fishing. So let’s chat with Bobby Nickel and learn a little about fishing for bluegill, yellow perch and whatever else may bite. Nickel has been heading to the harbor since he was a kid and returns every year to do some mid-winter hardwater fishing.

Let’s meet Michigan resident and charter captain Lance Valentine, who walked out of his banking job without notice more than two decades ago to become a “fishing educator.” Huh? We’ll talk fishing in general, safety and the ins and outs of teaching folks about fishing for walleye on Lake Erie. Valentine works on the water with anglers, creates written and digital content and aims to bring smiles to folks as they reel in fish.

Dave Barus talks about promoting fishing and the outdoors at the eastern end of Lake Erie, in Chautauqua County, New York. In addition he talks conservation, massive muskies, and all things Lake Erie and tributaries.

John Tibbels talks charters and the business of fishing from vessels his father built decades ago to get people onto the lake. From cleaning worms to teaching fishing, captains do all things required to ensure customers catch fish, have fun and return.

In this episode, we’ll chat with Travis Hartman and Matt Faust, ODNR fisheries biologists who work out of the Sandusky Fisheries Research Station. The pair, along with other staff in Sandusky and Fairport Harbor, monitor and manage Lake Erie fish populations and health including the two most popular fish, walleye and yellow perch

In this episode of Lake Effect we’ll visit with Marblehead resident D’Arcy Egan about his half-century of outdoor reporting including his 30-plus years at the Cleveland Plain Dealer. But mostly about his special relationship with Lake Erie, the evolution of walleye fishing on the lake and a little about sharing the outdoors with others and being a good person.

In this episode we’ll meet with Port Clinton native Rick Henkel. He’s a well-known Pittsburgh-based commercial illustrator whose odyssey to create a completely accurate architectural cut-a-way fine art print of the Marblehead Lighthouse took nearly a decade. We’ll hear about the ups-and-downs and ins-and-outs of his research and work on this personal project. And also about why he still loves Lake Erie – and the lighthouse.