By D’Arcy Egan | Special to cleveland.com
CLEVELAND, Ohio — Western Lake Erie fishermen are getting a Christmas present that should be ready for action in the spring. The popular Mazurik Access Area on the Marblehead Peninsula, adjacent to the popular East Harbor State Park, has recently broken ground on both a new restroom facility at the Mazurik boat launch and a Barracuda Fish Cleaning Station.
It will match the popular Barracuda station built by the Cleveland Metroparks at Cleveland Lakefront State Park in Cleveland Harbor.
One of the most heavily-used boat access sites to the busy walleye, bass and yellow perch waters of Lake Erie, the Mazurik restrooms and fishing cleaning station should be in use use next spring. East Harbor State Park is the largest state park in Ohio.
Restrooms and Barracuda Fish Cleaning Stations will also be constructed at the Avon Lake and Huron public launch areas. Expect that all of the stations will be popular, especially on weekends, said Aquatic Biologist Mike Durkalec of the Cleveland Metroparks.
“The Barracuda Fish Cleaning Station in Cleveland Harbor has been busy since the day we completed it in 2020,” said Durkalec. “With industrial strength grinders that are designed to last forever, it has been well worth it.”
The stations can handle a half-dozen fishermen at a time, and the grinders flush fish bones, guts and fish heads into a sewer system. Despite the crowds utilizing the station from early spring through late fall, there has been no vandalism or down time, said Durkalec.
“The station has met or exceeded our expectations,” Duralec said.
The Marblehead, Huron and Avon Lake improvements will be funded by the Wildlife Boater Angler Fund, which provides the Ohio Division of Wildlife one-eighth of a percent of the gasoline fuel tax for fishing and boating access around the Buckeye State.