ASHTABULA, Ohio — Mike Adams and Pete Easton caught 12 walleye on Wednesday, but that's not the catch they'll be talking about for years to come.
The pair were out fishing when they spotted a capsized boat midday Wednesday and found three men floating in the water, wearing life vests and clutching boat cushions.
It happened at around 12:15 p.m. about eight miles from shore near Ashtabula.
Video from the scene captured the moment rescuers reached the men.
Easton told News 5 that one of the stranded fishermen told him he was 87 years old. None of the rescued fishermen have been identified.
The three men told their rescuers two waves came over the back of their boat at around 11:30 a.m., prompting a mayday call to the Coast Guard.
According to the Coast Guard, Adams and Easton spotted the boat and the fishermen about 41 minutes after that mayday call—before the Coast Guard arrived.
EMS was waiting when the boat docked.
The rescue comes more than two years after the Coast Guard all but closed its Ashtabula Harbor station and downsized its station at Fairport Harbor because of understaffing.
RELATED: Coast Guard to close Ashtabula Harbor station, downsize Fairport Harbor station
Watch that story from December 2023:
Several months later, the Coast Guard said it would staff the stations "when necessary" and on "higher demand days."
RELATED: Coast Guard to staff Ashtabula Harbor station 'as needed,' following December closure announcement
Ashtabula Fire Chief Geoff Cannon said that has not been the case this summer.
"I'm not sure what the definition of higher demand day would be, but we have not seen them routinely this summer," Cannon said.
Cannon said his department has responded to seven water incidents this summer alone, compared to the one or two it handled before the Coast Guard shuttered its Ashtabula Harbor station.
RELATED: Local leaders call for permanent reopening of Ashtabula Coast Guard station
"It's not as safe of a situation as it should be — only because we have some training but not nearly as much as them and we can't devote enough time to actually staff the boat 24 hours a day with people on it ready to respond," Cannon said. "We need the Coast Guard back here in Ashtabula. It's not a luxury, it's a necessity."
On Tuesday, September 1st, the Coast Guard responded to questions over whether the stations in Fairport Harbor or Ashtabula would reopen soon.
“Coast Guard Stations Fairport and Ashtabula are integral to maritime safety in Lake Erie and along the Northeast Ohio shoreline," Rear Admiral Russell Dash, Commander, Coast Guard Great Lakes District, said in a statement. "While service-wide workforce shortages forced temporary staffing adjustments, we remain committed to maintaining a responsive presence on the water and working closely with trusted partners like the Ashtabula Fire Department. We understand the community’s concerns and remain highly optimistic as the Coast Guard continues to assess needs across the nation. Thanks to historic funding and strong recruiting momentum, we are coordinating closely with Coast Guard Atlantic Area and Coast Guard Headquarters to assess the order in which scheduled mission stations can return to full-time status, as quickly as possible.”
Clay LePard is the Ashtabula, Geauga and Portage counties reporter at News 5 Cleveland. Follow him on X @ClayLePard, on Facebook ClayLePardTV or email him at Clay.LePard@wews.com.
