OHIO — Two recently closed court cases resulted in 10 anglers being charged with over-fishing walleye in Lake Erie.
The Ohio Department of Natural Resources Division of Wildlife enforces fishing limits on walleye to prevent overfishing and ensure sustainability of the species for future generations. The legal daily limit is six walleye, with a minimum length requirement of 15 inches.
The 10 anglers were discovered at the Huron Fishing Access Boat Launch in Erie County in Dec. 2024. Ohio Wildlife investigators Kelsey Brockman, Brian Bury, Jason Hadsell and Kevin Good found them double tripping, an unlawful practice of going over daily bag limits by taking several trips onto Lake Erie in a single day.
All 10 were charged in Huron Municipal Court in two cases.
In the first case, Robert Bragg, 34 of Antwerp; Brian Gerschutz, 49 of Oakwood; Noah Gerschutz, 26 of Payne and Joshua Longardner, 27 of Payne, were all charged for taking more than the daily limit of walleye. The four were found guilty and paid $210 in fines and court costs. The Division of Wildlife had 15 walleye forfeited to them.
Within the second court case, the six remaining anglers were charged and found guilty of taking more than the daily walleye limit and possessing fish in an unlawful form while away from a permanent residence.
The six anglers in the second case were Devon Devries, 28 of Rothbury, Michigan; Todd Devries, 52 of Montague, Michigan; Gregg Zack, 58 of Whitehall, Michigan; Nathan Zack, 31 of Whitehall, Michigan; Phillip Manthei, 62 of Twin Lake, Michigan and Jason Unger, 49, of Hudsonville, Michigan. Two of the defendants in this case had previous charges for surpassing the legal limit of walleye from Lake Erie.
