The angle of the shadows and the splash of colors of the trees aligned perfectly last week as my cue to tow the Bass Cat to my favorite autumn lake. Since the day long ago when I first fished its waters, Shenango Lake has been on my short list of best local fishing holes spring, summer and ...
Like the characters in Samuel Beckett’s “Waiting for Godot,” anglers’ existence revolves around preparing for the arrival of a mysterious visitor. I read Beckett’s classic play many years ago as a college student studying English literature. Funny how such a long-ago experience ...
A ride up the Ohio River is a fishing trip through work-a-day America. The rush of wind buffeted our ears as Ted Suffolk and I dashed up the river in search of smallmouth bass. For many anglers, “smallies” are a pinnacle catch. They are well worth the labor to find and catch them in a ...
If you are like me, you now have some very difficult decisions to make. As Cade Smith slammed the door in the bottom of the ninth at Fenway Park Thursday night, he kicked it open for the Cleveland Guardians’ appearance in the American League playoffs. For me and a million other Ohioans, October baseball is what we cheer for. So Cleveland earning a playoff berth is thrilling. I am as excited as a kid getting his first fishing rod. But here’s my dilemma: I’m also a football fan, so now I have to pick between baseball, football and (you guessed it) fishing. October is a ...
Once upon a time, a 10-year-old boy stepped to the bank of his neighborhood creek with a single rod and reel spooled with fishing line of unknown vintage, a rusty hook, a few split shot and a cup of garden worms freshly dug a few minutes before he set out for the creek. The young fellow was ready for anything – or at least whatever swam in the runs between the riffles. He was a happy fisher. His frequent visits to the banks of the creek were the building blocks for the foundation of his lifelong passion for fishing. Decades later, the happy fisher boy is a happy fisherman, and I ...
We can feel the season changing as footballs fill the air and largemouth bass prowl the flats. Many bass move away from shallow cover during the hot summer months, but they return once the water temperature dips into the middle 70s. When the bass are cruising shallow water, I reach for what has become one of the most reliable baits in my boat. They are the arsenal of bladed jigs I have stockpiled in the Bass Cat. The sun barely crested the horizon last week as I fancasted the 3-foot-deep flat in front of my boat with a quarter-ounce vibrating jig tipped with a 3-inch boottail ...
