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It's Canfield Fair time, which means summer's on the run, but the good fishing continues throughout the region for largemouth and smallmouth bass, walleyes and crappies.
The fishing isn't easy at Mosquito, Pymatuning, Shenango, Berlin, Milton and West Branch, but it is proving to be good enough to be optimistic about trips to the lakes. Erie also is producing walleye limits out of Geneva, Ashtabula and Conneaut, as well as big smallmouth bass for those who are good with their sonar out on the ledges and humps.
Despite several days of chilly weather, water temperatures at most area reservoirs range from 78 to 80 degrees, which means most of the game species have not started their transition to autumn behavior.
Steelhead trout apparently haven't checked their weather apps, however, as they are showing up around Ohio's harbor towns. Steelhead fishing gurus John Breedlove and John LaCava already have scored on Erie chrome.
Warm temps, mild winds and puffy clouds combined to make great conditions several days this week, but one day when the wind was nil proved how useful moving air is to activate the food chain.
A friend and I ventured out Tuesday and scratched out only a few bass, while two days later on the same lake, the fish got busy in the breezy conditions.
Thursday's highlights included lots of topwater action on buzzbaits and hollow-body frogs. The wind-ruffled surface under the patchy overcast begged me to break out the surface lures. Bass anglers everywhere will verify that one topwater bite equals three or more on underwater lures.
One strike, in particular, lit my fuse Thursday.
We had come up to a patch of water lilies where I've had success in the past. I made around a dozen casts with the venerable Snagproof frog without raising so much as a boil from the largemouths I knew had to be cruising just under the floating plate-size pads.
As I reached the end of the patch, I launched a cast out across the area where the lilies were more scattered in small clusters rather than the solid half-acre I'd just worked. Just as the green frog bait wobbled off a had, the water erupted in the most spectacular fish strike I've experienced since the day an Ohio River muskie attacked my popper.
The strike was vicious enough to actually startle me. With mouth agape, the bass lunged and engulfed the lure. I use stout rods and lines when I'm frogging, because the cover is thick and the fish are aggressive, so the hookset was solid and the battle was on.
The bass leaped twice during the short battle, shaking a spray of water from its oversized head and falling back in showery splashes. I stepped down into the Bass Cat's cockpit, guided the bass toward my hand, grabbed its lower jaw and hoisted it aboard.
The fish was the longest of the day, but on the lanky side, so it weighed a few ounces shy of the day's largest bass. The spectacular strike belied its size, however, as I'd have guessed the fish at six pounds or more based on the explosion.
Strikes like that do point to the fact the fish know summer is running short, so it's time to eat - whether walleye, bass or crappies.
For these reasons and more, I love summertime fishing, but do look forward to the autumn uptick in action.
Jack Wollitz has written this column since 1988. He also is the author of hundreds of fishing magazine feature articles and a book, "The Common Angler." Email jackbbaass@gmail.com