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A 2021 letter to Santa …

This Christmas season, I’m going to have a talk with the big guy with the red suit to see if he can do something about the state of sports, namely major league baseball and college football. Things have gone a little haywire with these two pastimes. Santa Claus wasn’t particularly good to two Ohio teams with red uniforms in 2021 — namely the Buckeyes from Ohio State and the Ind...er Guardians from Cleveland. By the way, will the Guardians still be wearing red in 2022, if there is a 2022 season. Santa, what can you do about getting that lockout fixed? Don’t you have a ...

Experienced local angler navigates steelhead rivers

Chris DePaola has soaked up so much fishing experience in his lifetime as an angler that one might guess he doesn’t have much more to learn. Not true, admits DePaola, of Austintown, particularly as it applies to his frequent fishing trips on several of America’s great steelhead rivers. But DePaola isn’t jetting to the Pacific Northwest to work the runs, seams, and riffles of the famous Trinity, Rogue, and Deschutes. Rather, he’s motoring north on Ohio 11 and pulling on his waders at the side of streams named Ashtabula, Conneaut, and Elk. DePaola is a true-blue Lake Erie ...

Anglers get in their last hurrah of 2021

For many anglers, the last hurrah of the 2021 fishing season has arrived – and it is shaping up as quite the celebration. Our lakes soon will be freezing, a fact that is not lost on the fish populations. Snow flurries may be flying, but the fish are eating big-time during these final days of relatively mild conditions in preparation for the scarcity they must survive over the long months in 35-degree water. Anglers are taking advantage of the annual Thanksgiving week feed-fest throughout northeast Ohio and western Pennsylvania. Walleyes, steelhead and lake trout, smallmouth ...

Penguins end season with a bang

In like a lion and out with a roar. It was a frustrating 2021 football season at Youngstown State, no doubt, but also one bookended by major victories. All told, YSU finished 3-7, but each of the three victories came over teams that qualified for the FCS postseason. The Penguins opened their season with a thrilling 44-41 win over Incarnate Word (How long ago does that feel?) and finished it with a dominant 35-18 upset of Southern Illinois. YSU also upset Missouri State in October, 41-33. Between those victories were seven losses. Some were pretty expected, like the blowouts ...

Grassy battle brewing at Mosquito Lake

Grassy lakes are generally considered healthy environments well suited as habitat for thriving populations of fish, amphibians, crustaceans and other animals. Aquatic vegetation provides shelter for small fish, crawfish, shrimp, tadpoles and emerging insects; hunting areas for predator fish, otters, minks and raptors; and food for geese, ducks and other herbivores. Grass is good, but too much is problematic and creates a potential bone of contention between people who love it and those who hate it. Battles over aquatic vegetation have been fought for decades at lakes around ...

Bladed jig lures provided a solid year

Looking back on my 2021 fishing trips, it is clear that the category of lures known as bladed jigs accounted for a significant percentage of the bass that boarded the Bass Cat. Bladed jigs gained traction in the bass world 15 years ago after a South Carolina lure tinkerer told his fishing buddies he had been working on a new bait that vibrated so hard it made his teeth chatter. The name ChatterBait took hold and soon hooked thousands of bass anglers. I was among those who bought a few ChatterBaits during the initial surge in their popularity, but they served only as back-up baits for ...