Change. It’s inevitable. Nothing stays the same for long. Just when we are getting cozy with an idea, a place or a thing, along comes a change.

That includes the lakes where we go fishing.

From time to time, I think back to the days when Barb and I first ventured out to Mosquito, West Branch, Berlin, Lake Milton and Shenango in our brand new Arrowglass tri-haul. It was 1977 and we had been married only a year when we made a snap decision to buy the boat on display in the concourse of the Southern Park Mall.

Thus began our up-close-and-personal experiences on our local reservoirs, as well as the near-shore waters of Lake Erie and the hard-working Ohio River. In the first couple of years of our ownership of our first runabout, we fished just about every public waterway within an hour of Youngstown and Warren.

We grew familiar with the traditional hot spots like the Red Barn at Mosquito, the Jay Lake area at West Branch, the gnarly stump flats at Shenango, the flooded willows near the Mahoning River’s confluence with Berlin Reservoir and the river channel bends in Lake Milton.

We learned as we fished and grew familiar with the nuances at each of our favorite fishing holes.

That was then. This is now.

Mosquito grew weeds. Milton was drained and refilled. West Branch became one of the better muskie lakes in the Midwest. The numerous willow islands in Berlin’s upper reaches disappeared. More than half of the stumps I knew in Shenango have crumbled. The murky water I fished on Lake Erie and the Ohio River flows cleaner and clear.

All of the lakes I knew so well in the 1970s and ’80s are much different today. Changes in our lakes’ environments and habitat have resulted in different fishing conditions. Many anglers say the fishing has changed. I say it’s changed for the better.

I remember days when most of the crappies I caught would barely stretch across the palm of my hand. My memory includes the period of time when a day at Berlin might produce only one or two scrawny 12-inch largemouths. When I started pitching to shoreline cover for Mosquito bass, a good day was a trio of fish for eight hours of effort.

It is easy to lapse into nostalgia for the good ol’ days. I suppose that is human nature. We hear it every day about experiences ranging from young people and schooling to employment and sports, and everything else in today’s society.

But in fishing, the good ol’ days are here and now. Our healthy Lake Erie is the world’s greatest walleye fishery. The Ohio River that formerly was choked by industrial and municipal discharges flows crystal clear and is home to growing smallmouth bass and walleye populations. The DNA of the 1980s bass that I caught from the shoreline brush and laydown trees at Mosquito Lake is locked in the genetics of the big bucketmouths we anglers yank from the offshore stumps and grassy flats.

The saying “fish where the fish are” rings so true. The lakes changed. The tactics that worked 40 years ago may still bring a few fish to our boats, but savvy anglers know that they will score better when they adapt to the new conditions.

Jack Wollitz has written this column weekly since 1988. Contact him at jackbbaass@gmail.com.