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Preparation is key when getting ready for fishing season

“Where’s Jack?” That is a question Barb has no trouble answering April through October. If I’m not fishing, golfing or otherwise occupied away from the house, she knows the likely answer is, “He’s out in the garage.” Our garage is Fishing Headquarters once the season rolls into high gear. It’s the home-off-the-water for the Bass Cat when it isn’t on a lake or river and it’s the base of operations for strategic planning and tactical preparation. I enjoy puttering around the boat when I have idle time. And when a fishing trip is on the horizon, I can think of few ...

May means business for Northeast Ohio anglers

May means business for Northeast Ohio anglers, as the lakes are full, the rivers are running strong and the fish are at their friskiest. Whether you pursue bass, muskies, walleyes or crappies, May is first or second on most anglers’ rankings of their favorite months to go fishing. I love May in Ohio. The wetlands are alive as the waters warm and the plants gain their greenery, while the spring peepers’ choruses grow louder every day. The trees are budding and the birds are nesting. May means the walleye spawn is completed here in our local streams and rivers and the adults are ...

Racing returns to Sharon Speedway

The “Grand Old Lady” of auto racing Sharon Speedway will swing open the gates for its 93rd year this Saturday. The first event of the year will feature the ever exciting ULMS Late Models. The regional touring series will have some of the Tri States best drivers. The Late Models slip and slide, dip and dive two and three abreast for great racing. The red clay surface on the Hartford 3/8 oval has become a driver and fan favorite, providing multiple grooves, plenty of passing and is easy on equipment. Joining opening day competition will be the UMP Mod, Pro Stocks, and RUSH ...

Fishing can create a special bond for any marriage

So April 24 has been a pretty big deal around the Wollitz house for quite a few years. By April 24 most years, Northeast Ohio weather starts to settle into a reliable spring pattern of warming temperatures and enough rain to wet the roots of the flowers we expect to enjoy in May. By April 24, the trees buds are bursting and the bass are up in the flooded bushes to eat heartily as the spawn period approaches. Everything outdoors is really revving up by the tail end of April. One more thing about April 24: It is also the anniversary of the wedding of Barb Woods to this writer. Thank ...

Penguins find success with transfer portal

A year ago, the Youngstown State men’s and women’s basketball teams picked up some of their biggest contributors from the transfer portal. They appear well on their way to doing it again this recruiting cycle. On the men’s side, the Penguins added Dwayne Cohill (Dayton), Tevin Olison (Cumberlands — NAIA) and Chris Shelton (Hampton) last year via the portal, and Cohill and Olison cracked the starting five while Shelton regularly worked into the rotation. On the women’s end, YSU picked up Lilly Ritz from Division II Wheeling and also nabbed Megan Callahan (Robert Morris), ...

Officials believe Mosquito walleyes will bounce back

The year was 1977 and four friends piled into a new red runabout for a sunny and warm spring weekend of boating and walleye fishing at Berlin Reservoir. We knew relatively little about catching walleye beyond drifting and dragging nightcrawler harnesses and a few trips to Lake Erie to sample the popular technique of casting and swinging Erie Dearies and other weight-forward spinners. Around dinnertime on the first of our two days, I dropped the anchor on a sandy hump with a clump of willow trees. The side of the hump sloped gently down to six feet of water where the four of us ...