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Two new must-have books for area anglers

The twitchy weather pattern over the next few weeks is a reminder that January is not the best month for fishing and a cue that the extra hours of free time can be wisely invested in reading about our favorite sport. Good books can be a friend and advisor, reliable tour guide and entertaining tale spinner for readers who take time to absorb the words on their pages. There is never a bad time to read a book, but for sure January is prime time for catching up on our reading. Anglers looking for a bridge to the 2026 fishing season can span the time by reading two books that recently ...

Lake Erie retains status as top fishing destination

The future of the fish responsible for Lake Erie’s claim to world-class supremacy is looking good as we begin the new year. Year-end headlines from the Ohio Department of Natural Resources Division of Wildlife announced last year’s walleye hatch was the sixth largest of the past 38 years. That is great news for Lake Erie’s walleye population and the corps of anglers who invest their spring, summer and autumn fishing time on the big lake. Ohio’s Division of Wildlife uses trawl surveys to gauge spawning success and survival rates. The 2025 surveys were exceptional. “The ...

A tip of the hat to 2025

There’s still a few days left in 2025, and it was another year of memorable moments for the Mahoning Valley. So with it being the last weekend before the calendar turns to 2026, a couple of the notable high school seasons should be acknowledged. There were plenty to pick from, especially with the divisions expanding in boys and girls basketball, baseball and softball. So if your team isn’t on the list, it’s not a knock on their season, but I think these are the top stories. Let’s start with winter sports. Girls basketball saw a trio of young teams make it to the regional ...

Shenango Lake is home to great fishing and plenty of memories

On this Saturday after Christmas, as we close out another fantastic fishing season, I reflect back through the misty years and see the jolliest of anglers happily sharing some of his favorite spots on a lake I have grown to love. The life of a fishing writer includes some stark realities (ha ha). Editors demand exciting stories that require many days of grueling research on unfamiliar waters trying new tactics. It isn’t easy, but somebody has to do it. So it was that warm Saturday more than 40 years ago when I teamed up with the late Bob Mullen and his son, Dale, at Shenango Lake ...

Riffle to compete in kayak championship

Competitive bass anglers are well known to have a hankering for metal-flaked boats with mega-horsepower engines, but an angler from nearby Uniontown has punched his ticket for the biggest stage in the sport by fishing from a kayak. Brandon Riffle, a Portage County deputy sheriff, will compete in this spring’s Bassmaster Kayak Series Championship on Chickamauga and Nickajack lakes thanks to winning the Ohio Kayak Fishing Angler of the Year honors. En route to the title, he won the circuit’s Salt Fork tournament. Riffle will join five other Ohioans in the March 11-13 ...

Don’t duck Pymatuning

A popular weekend experience for northeastern Ohioans and western Pennsylvanians is visiting the Pymatuning Reservoir spillway in Linesville, Pa., to feed the churning school of carp as ducks walk across their backs. While Pymatuning is famous for its carp-feeding entertainment, that is but one small piece of the lake’s fishy entertainment. Walleye, bass, crappies and muskies thrive in the reservoir straddling the Ohio-Pennsylvania border, and attract thousands of anglers every year. My experience at Pymatuning dates back to 1980, when the editor of Ohio Fisherman magazine asked ...