The magic of fishing’s ‘Opening Day’

April 4, 2026

Every day after ice out here in northeastern Ohio, a fresh corps of anglers pulls up to a launch ramp with a flood of emotions only a fishing person can understand. Whether we’re at Lake Erie or an inland reservoir, our arrival for our first launch of the season is accompanied by feelings of excitement, anticipation, adventure and, of course, giddy happiness. While many have already christened their fishing boats for 2026, a good many more are waiting for April’s fairer weather to head out on their favorite lakes for springtime walleyes, crappies, bass or whatever else might ...

It’s the perfect time for big bass

March 28, 2026

Spring is our reward for enduring winter, bringing us a new season of baseball, fair weather and big bass to the shallow water of our favorite lakes. April showers are in the forecast, the Cleveland Guardians are undefeated (as I write this) and the largemouths are swimming to the warming shallow water at Mosquito, Pymatuning, Berlin, Milton and West Branch. Spring is in the air. The next several weeks are prime time for anglers who hope to score with big bass. Home run hooksets can happen any time we’re on our favorite lakes in April. The bass are moving to the shallow coves ...

How to earn a Fish Ohio pin

March 21, 2026

Anglers live for noteworthy catches and rarely fail to celebrate and commemorate their successes. For as long as people have gone to the water with intentions of catching fish, the most and the biggest were measures of anglers’ skill and cunning. The ancients rejoiced at outstanding catches as villagers feasted on the bounty. More recently, we got pumped up when the bait store proprietor took a Polaroid and tacked it to the shop’s cork board. Today, we take a phone photo and post it on Facebook for all the world’s oohs and aahs. Whether for sustenance or for accolades, ...

Every angler’s love for fishing started somewhere

March 7, 2026

Consider the fact that you’re either an angler or you’re not. Even if you have only a foggy memory of a day long ago when someone took you to a pond and handed you a fishing rod, you are a fisher. So, the way I see it, everybody started somewhere or they simply never took the bait. Many are fortunate to have had the opportunity to lob a bait from the bank of a pond and stare down a red-and-white bobber with hope that a bluegill would make that bobber dance. It’s a very safe bet that the majority of people who are anglers today were introduced to fishing on a sunny day ...

Marquette: The future is bright for racing

March 6, 2026

In the 78-year history of NASCAR, no driver has ever won the first three races of a season. That is, until basketball legend Michael Jordan hired Tyler Reddick and set the 2026 NASCAR season on fire. In 2020, Jordan teamed with Denny Hamlin to form 23XI Racing. The team has won at various tracks, including Atlanta, Kansas and COTA. Reddick came from the dirt tracks, driving Late Models and was a protege for Scott Bloomquist. Early in his career, he raced at Sharon Speedway with the World of Outlaws. So far this year, the NASCAR guys have gotten their butts kicked by a dirt tracker. ...

Natural beauty is returning to the Mahoning River

February 28, 2026

Slowly but surely, our Mahoning River is reverting to the time when it flowed freely through a hardwood valley unencumbered by modern times. Our valley’s lifeblood river hasn’t always had a happy existence. In the 19th century, as Youngstown and her sister cities grew along the banks of the Mahoning, citizens sought to tame the river. The generations that moved to Warren and Youngstown in the 1800s soon established businesses, including iron- and then steel-making, that required water to cool furnaces, but not so much that flooding might quench their fires. Industry shaped the ...