Tom Bartlett’s not waiting for Hollywood to come calling. His Big Sit is not as visually-stunning or as dramatic as the birding quest that led to the movie, “The Big Year,” starring Steve Martin, Jack Black and Owen Wilson.
The film chronicled the competition of three birders attempting to break the record of 721 birds seen in a single year. The movie was based on the adventures of Greg Miller, a computer consultant from Canton, Ohio, who spent an estimated $31,000 chasing the record.

The warm winter of 2012 had Lake Erie about a month ahead of where it normally would have been in March for walleye habitat and spawning. So FLW Walleye Tour anglers competing May 10-12 on Lake Erie may not see some of the spectacular weights seen in past years. Jeff Graves of Chagrin Falls, won the 2011 event with more than 117 pounds. It is predicted that the winning weight will be right around the century mark — still nothing to sneeze about and one of the reasons anglers look forward to this stop on the FLW Walleye Tour year after year.
 Hosted by the City of Port Clinton and Lake Erie Shores and Islands, the tournament features as many as 150 of the world’s best walleye anglers in each of the pro and co-angler divisions. They are casting for top awards up to $63,000 in the Pro Division and $10,500 in the Co-angler Division.

The Ohio Department of Natural Resources, Division of Wildlife, has issued a statewide directive to its enforcement officers to clarify guidelines for enforcing a new rule that specifies the condition of fish fillets being kept or transported.
“Many Ohio anglers have expressed that they were confused about the fillet rule so I asked our Division of Wildlife to clarify the rule so no innocent angler stands a chance of getting in to trouble when they are trying to follow the law,” said ODNR Director James Zehringer.