Lake Effect

Alberto Rey fled Cuba with his parents as a child. More recently he retired as a distinguished professor from SUNY –Fredonia. The painter, Orvis-endorsed fly fishing guide and conservationist talks art, kids, water and fishing from his studio on the banks of Lake Erie tributary and steelhead stream, Canadaway Creek in Chautauqua County, New York.

Let’s visit with long-time Kelleys Island resident Vicki Finnegan and Ploy, one of her many “adopted” grandchildren. Ploy (Wassana Prommanat) is one of many international students who visit and work on the island and in the region each year during the summer season as a part of a U.S. Department of State program that allows college students from abroad to live and work in the country temporarily. Vicki takes students under her wing on the island, and they call her “Grandma….”

Dick Carstensen is one of thousands of landowners nationwide who participates in one of several programs that pays for or shares the cost of improving or restoring wetlands or creating new wetlands in critical areas. His 135 acre Jerusalem Township farm near Lake Erie is now about half marsh. He waterfowl hunts there and his wife photographs birds. In this episode we’ll visit with Dick and a friend on the marsh.

Kimberly Kaufman, executive director of Black Swamp Bird Observatory in Oak Harbor talks conservation, birds and the Biggest Week in American Birding, which takes place in early May. Each year tens of thousands of birders flock to northwest Ohio to check out all types of birds including the stars of the show, migrating warblers which pass through the area traveling from the Caribbean, Central and South America to their nesting grounds in Canada and Alaska. She also talks about the recent expansion of habitat conservation in the region.

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.