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Wollitz: Fishing on Lake Erie a special experience

We all know that feeling, that special optimism that seeps into our soul as we see the sun rise with yet another promise of good things and happy times. Sunrises not only help define the human experience, they provide the glow to fuel anglers setting out for another day on their favorite lakes. With the first rays reflecting off the smooth surface of Lake Erie, fishing buddy Ted Suffolk and I pushed away from the dock in Ashtabula recently and set off for a day away from the hubbub of all that makes life complicated. Our goal was pretty basic: Have fun. If along the way we ...

Words on Wheels: Lou Blaney Memorial

This Saturday, Sept. 21 will be the rescheduled 16th annual Lou Blaney Memorial one of the biggest races of the 95th season. Lou Blaney was fan favorite and a racing legend having won over 600 feature races and 7 championships. Inducted into the National Sprint Car Hall of Fame, Eastern Motorsports Press Association Hall of Fame, Northeast Dirt Modified Hall of Fame, Pittsburg Circle Track Hall of Fame, Curbstone Coaches Hall of Fame, Twin State Auto Racing Club Hall of Fame, Sharon Speedway Hall of Fame, Lernerville and Tri-City Hall of Fame. He was the Cavalcade of Champions Big ...

No one answer for different fish

Stand around a boat ramp or hang around a bait shop long enough and you’ll no doubt hear the most ubiquitous question in fishing: What are they biting? While it’s a common query, it’s actually the wrong question for those who yearn for the scoop on the best trick to score fish. Ask that question and you might get any of a hundred recommendations. Spoons, worms, crankbaits, spinners, buzzbaits, bladed jigs, stick worms, minnows and who-knows-what are among the plethora of options for inquisitive fishers. Facts are, however, the fish don’t prefer one bait over others. ...

Still time for summer fishing

It’s Canfield Fair time, which means summer’s on the run, but the good fishing continues throughout the region for largemouth and smallmouth bass, walleyes and crappies. The fishing isn’t easy at Mosquito, Pymatuning, Shenango, Berlin, Milton and West Branch, but it is proving to be good enough to be optimistic about trips to the lakes. Erie also is producing walleye limits out of Geneva, Ashtabula and Conneaut, as well as big smallmouth bass for those who are good with their sonar out on the ledges and humps. Despite several days of chilly weather, water temperatures at most ...

Wollitz: Catching fish species often a ‘game within a game’

By my unofficial count, I have caught more than 30 species of fish, a testimony to the variety of experiences awaiting anglers around northeastern Ohio and western Pennsylvania. In spite of that variety, some say fishing is “boring.” The same folks may say baseball is boring. But I say fishing and baseball are far from boring, considering the game within the game. There’s so much more to baseball than the duel between the pitcher and batter. And so it is with the game of fishing. Consider that during the years spanning my fishing life, I’ve reeled in nearly three dozen ...

Moments with friends make for fun on the water

A bit of advice: Take advantage of any day you can share on the lake with a bobblehead character or friend associated with the greatest. They’ll get a chuckle out of this, but it’s true. Over the past week, I was joined by fishing friends John Hirschbeck of Beaver Township and Ted Suffolk of Canfield. They’ve been in the Bass Cat several times over the years, and each time is another checkmark on my long list of fun fishing excursions. Ted and John enjoy bass fishing, so we click immediately every time we rig up and head out. Each outing, of course, peels back another layer ...