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Game fish hungrier than ever this time of the year

Game fish species here in northeastern Ohio and western Pennsylvania have kicked up their feeding as our days get shorter and water gets cooler. Their appetites are impressive. Imagine if people could eat quantities that are the equivalent of the proportion of body weight that bass, walleye and northern pike are eating this month at Mosquito, Milton, Shenango, Berlin and West Branch. I’ve been bass fishing two times a week since Labor Day and have been amazed at the bulging bellies of the largemouth bass and even a few smallmouths. I have kept a few fish in the livewell to weigh ...

Walleye, perch forecasts excellent

Lake Erie is the gift that keeps on giving. The lake has become world famous for its outstanding walleye fishing, and the yellow perch aren’t about to be upstaged either. Since Erie began its rebound in the 1970s after two decades of decline, thanks to poor water quality and over-harvest, the big water has had more up years than down. It would appear the “up” will continue for the foreseeable future. Based on survey results by fisheries biologists at nearly 40 locations from Toledo to Huron, walleye experienced an outstanding hatch during this year’s spawn and yellow perch ...

YSU ‘grit’ campaign has its positives

YOUNGSTOWN — A little lumberjack, a little grit and maybe even a little swag. That’s the best way to describe the new sideline props of the Youngstown State football team, and if that doesn’t also accurately depict the Mahoning Valley, I don’t know what does. Maybe you caught a glimpse of the team’s sideline after a big play at some point this season. The new fad was clearly evident in the Penguins’ nationally televised season opener against Samford, and it mimics the “turnover chain” of the Miami Hurricanes, Alabama’s “ball-out belt” and Boise State’s ...

Get your northern pike experience close to home

You can spend big bucks on a dream trip to a North Woods wilderness lodge where northern pike prowl the cold waters. Or you might just drive up to Bazetta and Mecca townships and work the weedy waters of Mosquito Lake. Northern pike have been slashing and crashing anglers’ baits all across Mosquito the past week or so as the post-Labor Day cool-down has invigorated the food chain and activated big predator fish. Schools of shad and yellow perch are the feedstock for Mosquito’s walleyes, largemouth bass and northern pike. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers has been pulling water ...

Continue to be patient with us

Well, we are a week into this thing and all we can do is ask you to continue to be patient. When the Tribune Chronicle took on the publishing of a Vindicator edition for Mahoning County residents, we took on a lot of challenges, some obvious, some not so apparent. Obviously, the addition of thousands of new customers less than two weeks before getting started has created delivery problems. Our circulation department is doing what it can to get things straightened out. With the sudden increase in customers, the time it takes to print all those newspapers has increased accordingly. ...

Optimist always hits with next cast

For anglers, the next cast is one that still holds the promise of a magnificent catch. Fishing is the epitome of optimism. Its practitioners take new hope and big dreams every time they go to the water. Every trip is a fresh opportunity. Every cast has new potential. No matter how many failed attempts have preceded it, the next cast is the one we believe may connect. Like the golfer who believes every shot has a chance of rolling into the hole, the angler believes the next cast may result in a 6-pound walleye, a fat largemouth bass or a crappie as wide as the dinner plates in ...