FREMONT, Ohio — For the last five years it’s been Peggy Courtney’s job to attract people to this area. Now Courtney, the executive director of Sandusky County Convention & Visitors Bureau, is advising people to stay away.
- Walleye and white bass season usually brings over 10,000 fisherman to the Sandusky River during a 6-8 week period starting in mid- March
- The City of Fremont’s mayor closed all of Fremont’s access points to the river as a coronavirus precaution
- Though necessary, officials say the move is costly
“It’s so disappointing when we spend all this time and all this money ramping up for the season,” Courtney said.
Courtney and Sandusky County were gearing up for walleye and white bass season, which brings over 10,000 fisherman to the Sandusky River during a 6 to 8 week period starting in mid- March.
“When you start to see those fishermen come in, it just heightens all your senses. It's exciting because you know that it's working, and you know that all your efforts are bringing all these fishermen into our area and that's a huge economic impact for us," she said.
The City of Fremont’s mayor Danny Sanchez closed all of Fremont’s access points to the Sandusky River as a coronavirus precaution.
“People may on the outside may be looking at Sandusky County and say, man, there's only five cases there in Sandusky County —are governments, local governments overreacting to a COVID-19? And the answer is no.”
Sanchez says he agrees with Governor Mike DeWine that fishing can be done while practicing social distancing.
“People can fish, most fisherman don’t want to get close to somebody else. I’ve fished all my life and I think people generally try to stay away from each other when they are fishing,” Gov. Mike DeWine said.
But inviting thousands of out-of-county and out-of-state anglers into Fremont could increase spread of the virus, and that’s a risk Sanchez isn’t willing to take.
“What made me really make this decision was walking down the river access and out of 100 cars, nearly, 75 to 80 percent of those cars were from outside the county,” Sanchez said.
Courtney says the changes are necessary, but costly. The COVID-19 restrictions will have an impact of over a million-dollars on Sandusky County.
We are funded solely on lodging tax, I mean it's a scary time right now, there's hardly anyone staying in hotels and you know I've already trimmed out my budget as far as I can and can't possibly trim off the numbers that we're going to lose in revenue, “ she said.
For the past 30 years, Bernie Whitt’s angler’s supply shop has thrived during walleye and white bass season, but Whitt closed voluntarily to help stop the spread.
“I have a real busy season, I have a limited time which is March, April and May. It kind of hurts me, it hurts my feelings, but then I can understand it, it’s mingling, it’s traveling,” Whitt said.
Whitt, a long time fisherman himself, says looking out on the Sandusky and not seeing hundreds of fishermen is something he doesn’t want to get used to.
“It’s kind of an eerie feeling, I’ve lived for this since I’ve been here,” he said.
Courtney says at this point, all she and anyone can do is look upstream and plan for the future.
“At this point the messages are we are here and we're waiting for you, we'll see you soon, and truly, that's how we feel, that you know as soon as we can, we are ready to welcome everybody back in,” Courtney said.