I was on a small private wetland about 20 minutes from nettle lake tonight. Caught a few nice girls. Ice was a tad over 3" crystal clear.

 I think a lot of what has been said is all correct in one way or another.

 Facebook is easier, although I don't have an account myself. And outdoor forums in general all seem to be slowing down. I am a moderator on 2 different forums and have slowly watched the post count drop every year. One of these other forums is geared toward a specific activity, much like ice fishing is and it seems like every year the number of people participating has slowly dwindled.

 Like Attica said, I have been coming hear for some time, and been a member for around a year, but just don't post much and for the same reasons he said. Not much activity up here in the corner of the state and what few members there are don't really post much. I do most of my ice fishing in Michigan so usually don't think it goes on the Ohio forum.

 First off let me say I am not opposed to limits on gills, I have seen first hand how it can help the quality of bluegill fishing. I have not seen where it has helped the quantity of fish though.
 
  I can give you one small example; the closest lake to me that is state owned is Oxbow lake. This lake used to be good for going and catching a ton of dinks (With a few nice ones thrown in) and was great for taking young ones out to get them on some fish. Both on the ice and in the summer. A few years ago the state implemented a 10 fish limit on bluegill and crappie (combined). In the years since this was put in place the number of bigger gills has exploded and the QUALITY of the fish is actually very good. I can go out now and catch a few 8"-9+" gills on a good day. But what I have found, and others have mentioned to me as well, is that we do not catch near as many smaller gills, in fact so far this year on the ice, I have only caught 2 that were under 8" and throwbacks. BUT, I have ice fished it probably 7-8 times and the most gills I have caught is 5 at one shot. What I have caught is a TON of small bass and a few larger ones as well.

 I have a good friend that works as a fishery biologist in another state and talked to him about this lake and he said that he is not surprised because with the limits as they are, he would expect the Bass to explode due to all the forage (IE, Small bluegill and bluegill fry) and the overall population of gills to decrease over time. He said that most lakes that have this type of limit do indeed improve over time QUALITY wise, but the Quantity is more often than not, decreased.

 As I started with, I am not opposed to limits on gills, the fishery in Michigan is phenomenal and has had a 25 fish limit for many many years. But I would wonder how far the reasons listed in the petition will get it. As I am not sure how science will prove out the more fish thinking. I also don't see Ohio EVER becoming a fishing destination for bluegill fishing. We just do not have enough lakes to be a big draw for panfish and panfish are not a typical fish that most anglers are going to travel long distances to chase. (particularly if they can only catch so many a day)

 As far as the electronics being so much better, yes that is true and basically impacts Ice fishing only. Which, sorry guys, is an extremely small percentage of the fishing that occurs. Frankly, as much as you and I LOVE to ice fish, we are a vast minority in the overall fishing population so our big picture impact is actually a lot smaller than we would like to think.

 I'm all for a decent limit on gills, and would support a scientific approach to getting one in place that makes sense to improve pan fishing.
 

I'm always open to an Erie trip. I've been ice fishing for 40 years, but only been on the big lake once on the ice and that was 2 years ago.

This is a great site. For me, I come here often to find out conditions in other parts of the state. Doesn't appear to be many active members from this corner of the state, so I don't know anyone here. I'm not an overly outgoing person, so don't participate, but its good to see the main group here interact.

 I don't fish much in Ohio, no real good spots in this area, so most of my ice time is in Michigan so figure the Ohio guys aren't all that interested.

All the lakes on the Coldwater chain are great panfish lakes. I fish these regularly during the summer/ fall months. I've never ice fished coldwater, but have all the other lakes, but that might have to change this year

 Found this site last year at the end of the season, just joined last week. I am in the northwest corner of the state and it looks like there are at least a couple of close by members.

 I've been ice fishing for as long as I can remember and look forward to all I can learn here and participating as much as possible!