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Whetzel: Bidding farewell to the Valley and to sportswriting

As the saying goes, all good things must come to an end. In this case, it’s about both my time at the Tribune Chronicle and The Vindicator and my time in journalism as a whole, as Thursday marked my finale at the paper. I arrived in Warren back in 2021 with a reasonable idea of what to expect. After all, my then-girlfriend (and now wife as of last Saturday) grew up across the state line in Mercer County and we had made multiple trips over to various restaurants during our relationship. I knew this was a blue-collar area that took a lot of pride in its identity. I knew it wasn’t ...

Wollitz: Bladed jigs are incredibly useful for anglers

It’s bladed jig season and the largemouth bass are chasing them on the lakes throughout the Youngstown-Warren area. Actually, every month seems to be right for my assortment of bladed jigs, popularly known as Chatterbaits — the brand name that has become synonymous with the lure genre. As Kleenex is to facial tissues, Chatterbait is to bladed jigs. They are jig heads and hooks outfitted with a thin gauge hexagonal metal “blade” that catches water as the angler reels, creating a hard vibrating action. Bladed jigs’ vibration transmits two ways: down to the skirt and ...

Tech advances in fishing here to stay

Back a few years ago, my generation helped pioneer video technology that no doubt is paying huge dividends today on the fishing boats of hundreds of thousands of anglers. We were avid players of Pong, then Pacman and Space Invaders, and on to Super Mario Brothers and Tetris. My generation helped usher in the video game era, enjoying the then-leading edge of technology, even though we went to school when slide rules ruled and Texas Instrument calculators were forbidden in our math classes. Everywhere we turn today, smartphones, laptops and other devices help us think, learn, eat and ...

Helping youngsters was a day worth having

Their smiles were particularly sunny, considering we met under a sky heavy with low-flying clouds. But fishing was in the air when I shook hands with Leo Wilkes and Eddie McNicol at 6:30 a.m. Sunday near the boat ramp at Kennedy Campground on the banks of the Ohio River in Newell, W.Va. I had volunteered to coach for Harry Emmerling’s Student Fishing League, which provides teenagers with opportunities to learn about bass fishing. Eddie and Leo, freshmen at Beaver Local High School, wore ear-to-ear grins as they boarded the Bass Cat and prepped to go fishing on the Ohio River. ...

Lorain plays host to asphalt cars

Being in the heart of dirt track racing, asphalt tracks don’t see a lot of attention. This weekend Lorain County Speedway in Amherst will play host to the fastest short track asphalt cars on the planet — the IMSA Supermodifieds. It’s the first of only two appearances in Ohio for the series. These open cars with big block engines and working overhead wings thunder around the race track. The wings go flat down the straightaways and raise up to plant the cars to the track on the turns. Rarely seen in this part of the country, this is a must-see show. Most drivers come from ...

Lack of aquatic plant growth natural, not man-made

Mosquito Lake has been a hot topic on social media recently and not just because of the great catches of bass, crappies, catfish and walleyes. The fishing has been productive this spring. Anglers tallied more than 200 limits of largemouth bass during a major tournament on Mosquito in mid-May. A recent catfish derby featured a winning haul of more than 66 pounds and a 48-pound flathead. Crappie anglers are reeling in thick slabs all over the reservoir. Good fishing typically is a happy time for anglers, but many are worried and angry, based on recent dock talk and Facebook chatter ...