The official name of the place is Lorain Municipal Pier, but I can't recall ever hearing it called that; it was always "Hot Waters".
The name comes from the fact that the hot water exhaust for the electric plant was there-the water never froze, and it steamed in the winter. The fishing was wonderful.
I wasn't into fishing, but I spent a lot of time there over the years, enjoying the proximity of the lake, watching the gulls wheel and dive endlessly, and talking to the people who were liable to be there no matter the hour, hauling in carp, white bass, sheephead, and the odd pike or walleye. I can't recall a time when the fishing was ever bad there, or when there weren't a bunch of people catching fish by the bucketful. Folks talking, laughing, kids playing and riding bikes, the cops rolling through every once in a while, just to keep an eye on things.
The power plant is gone, and I guess the water is no longer hot...I imagine that'd have some effect on the fishing. I haven't been there in over twenty years, but I can still smell that Lake Erie "fragrance", and hear the raucous squawking of the gulls overhead.
They used to call my Dad the Mayor of The Hot Waters. I think the only reason we were able to eat protein in the lean times was because he fished all Spring, Summer & Fall. We kept a freezer in the basement with enough frozen fish to last the winter. Most of our family preferred the perch; I've always been happier with white bass. Wish I had some now.
ReplyDeleteI was a perch man, myself, although I was never one to turn down a good piece of fish.
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