JACK WOLLITZ Berlin won't let you get lazy

Despite the fact it receives an enormous amount of people pressure, Berlin Reservoir remains one of this region's most productive fisheries.
Almost equidistant between Akron and Youngstown, Berlin is a popular weekend playground. Add visitors from nearby Cleveland and Pittsburgh and the lake is bulging with throngs of anglers, boaters and skiers from Memorial Day through Labor Day.
What's maybe more important than the good fishing is the fact Berlin is a diverse habitat where anglers can learn lessons that can be applied at virtually any other lake in the country.
It's that "proving ground" function that continues to draw me to Berlin. I have learned more on good old Berlin than perhaps any other lake I've fished over the years.
And one of the better lessons I learned happened last year on Memorial Day weekend.
Like many anglers, I often get stuck on certain tactics when I fish a lake. Berlin is no exception. I like to flip jigs and soft plastic tubes and lizards in shallow cover and over the past 15 years or so have come to rely on tried-and-true locations around the lake.
On that day late last May, however, my typically productive spots had sputtered and stalled. The fish either weren't in the willows and grass I was working or they had a serious case of lockjaw. So I went hunting.
I decided to avoid stopping at any stretch that was familiar. Instead, I sought places that I might find worth adding to my Berlin hotspots.
After a couple of ill-advised choices -- or so they seemed based on the fact my lure went unmolested -- I hit a stretch of flooded willows in two feet of water. The depth finder showed the lake bottom in front of the bushes quickly dropped to five feet and then down to 10.
I dropped a watermelon-seed-colored tube into the shady spots and soon enough got a bite. Hmmmm. Seems I was on to something.
A few minutes later I set up again on another good largemouth bass. The evidence was mounting. When I attracted a third strike after a few more pitches, I knew I'd found a new spot to add to my usual Berlin milk run. That's the beauty of fishing. Every day is a new opportunity.
Christmas gifts
Looking for a good gift idea for the angler on your shopping list? Consider logging onto the Internet and checking www.bassmast-er.com. The site features a B.A.S.S. Tackle Guide and online store.
A quick trip through the site make make Santa's job a bit easier.
jwwollitz@aol.com