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As I prepare for the beginning of the 2023 fishing season, I have been thinking about past successes on our Northeast Ohio and Western Pennsylvania lakes.
Anglers look forward to those glorious spring days when the water is calm, the sun is warm and the redwing blackbirds are trilling in the wetlands surrounding our favorite lakes. Those days are coming soon, but in the meantime, we plot and plan for success early and often.
So what constitutes a successful fishing trip?
One cool thing about fishing is your idea of success may be completely different than mine. I might rejoice at a limit of largemouths and you might curse every bass that bites your walleye jig. You might be pleased to battle a channel catfish while the crappie angler is disappointed when a big cat trashes his ultralight set-up.
One angler's trash is another angler's treasure.
I did some thinking last week about fishing successes I hope to achieve in '23. Some are not much of a reach, while others admittedly are a stretch.
One of my easy goals is to get back in the groove at Berlin and West Branch. For many years, the two Mahoning River watershed reservoirs were on my must-fish list. But for several reasons, I've skipped them for the past three years.
Berlin is a pretty good walleye lake in May, so I'll be fishing there in the spring with high hopes for a limit or two. In June, I will stow the walleye gear and rig up to flip the willows for largemouth bass.
I have enjoyed pitching for bass in May at West Branch, always with expectations that one or more of my hooksets would light the fuse on a 40-inch muskie. West Branch has delivered more muskies than bass some days, and I have never targeted them specifically, so I plan to do a trip there with muskie man Chris DePaola to see how good the lake really is.
Another success for 2023 would be to lock in on a pattern at Mosquito Lake for bigger-than-average largemouths. The hundreds of acres of lush aquatic vegetation have been good for the bass population, but the 3-pound-plus largemouths I used to pluck from the shoreline laydowns and buck brush are scattered now in the offshore waters.
During the past few summers, I have had little trouble picking off 2-pounders at Mosquito, but success for me in '23 will be five-bass limits topping 15 pounds.
Success at Milton, meanwhile, is smallmouth bass off the docks. They rarely are big fish, but they make up for size with their willingness to bite and their acrobatic leaps.
On Lake Erie, success depends not so much on whether we catch fish, but how big and how many. I love the Erie smallmouth bass bite out of Ashtabula and Presque Isle, Pa., from late May through the Fourth of July. Of course, the smallies are easy to catch earlier in the season, but I prefer to leave them alone during their nesting season.
Angling success comes in all shapes and sizes. The days of big fish and lots of them are fun and welcomed without question. But the moments when a big fish blasts a topwater lure are incomparable.
The ultimate success for me in '23 will be the biggest fish of the year on a topwater popper, frog or buzz bait. It may be an Erie or Shenango smallie, a West Branch muskie or a big Mosquito bucket mouth.
Regardless, of the circumstances, it will be fun.
Perhaps you have your own expectations for success. Drop me a line and we'll share it with readers.
Jack Wollitz's book, "The Common Angler," is an immersive look at why anglers are passionate about fishing. Send a note to jackbbaass@gmail.com.