If location was the key to sales, Steve Wilczynski had found his spot on River Road in Maumee for his spring break business venture. He set up a peg-board stocked with jigs and twister tails to tempt fishermen who stream to the Maumee River every spring to fish the walleye run.

In this 1997 Blade archive photo, young Wilczynski sits near the curb, waiting for a customer.

Walleye swim upriver from Lake Erie to spawn when the water warms, usually from mid-March to mid-April.

The run is a major fishing event in the Toledo area, attracting crowds of fishermen from all over the world.

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First Published March 31, 2025, 3:30 a.m.