JACK WOLLITZ Anglers prep to jump-start season

Fishing still is in low gear around the area as winter makes its last gasps over northeast Ohio.
A few hearty souls, however, have strung up their rods and reels and are prospecting for walleyes and crappies. The bite is slow, but it won't take long to shift up to full speed - as long as we can avoid sliding under one last arctic clipper.
Anglers have several options as they prepare to jump-start the season.
The choices: Choices include fishing the faster-warming small ponds and quarry lakes.
Others target cold-water species like northern pike and trout. This also is a good time to visit the Ohio River to jig up saugers and hybrid striped bass.
Life is beginning to stir in shallow ponds that soak up solar energy. It's not too soon for pond fishers to start picking up bluegills, largemouth bass and catfish.
Quarries typically are spring-fed, so their temperatures are warmly influenced by the water that bubbles up from the bottom. Whether you are at a pond or strip pit, select the side of the lake that receives the most sunlight.
For bluegills, try tiny hooks and jigs tipped with maggots. Hang them under a small bobber and experiment with depth settings until you locate the fish.
Even in the warmest ponds and rock pits, largemouth are still lethargic.
Jigs and small soft plastics will tease up action, as will a jerk bait such as a suspending Smithwick Rogue or similar lure. Retrieves should be reduced to crawl speed.
Big-game anglers can turn to the shallows at Mosquito Creek Reservoir for northern pike on the prowl for food and nesting sites. Lunker pike cruise Mosquito's drainage bays after ice-out and will bite suckers and large chubs fished under floats just off the bottom.
By week's end, a few walleye anglers had returned to their favorite early spring spots and were dragging jigs. The fish are on the move between the deep flats where they wintered and the long sandy points and the rip rap at local reservoirs‚ dams and causeways.
Down on the Ohio River, meanwhile, anglers are continuing to catch saugers, walleyes and hybrid stripers below the locks and dams on the New Cumberland and Pike Island pools.
The river's water is in good condition, considering the lack of snow runoff this year.
The name of the game below the river dams is current. Game species feed most voraciously when the water is moving, so river anglers should determine when they arrive at a particular spot whether it is worth staying or moving to a more likely location.
A good all-purpose lure for the Ohio's March saugers, walleyes and stripers is the venerable 1/8-ounce ball head jig. White and chartreuse bucktail or marabou dressings are good, as are 3-inch twisters. Many anglers sweeten their jigs with a medium-sized fathead minnow.
Walleye tourneys: News from the popular Western Reserve Walleye Association is that its 2002 tournament schedule is set. Dates and locations include: April 7, Mosquito; April 21, Pymatuning; May 5, Mosquito; June 1, Berlin; June 9, Lake Milton; and June 22-23, championship tournament at Mosquito.
For information about the Western Reserve walleye tournaments, phone Jim Breedlove, Girard, at (330) 530-3909.
Oops: In a recent column, the date for the Youngstown/Mahoning Valley United Way Bass Classic at Evans Lake was listed incorrectly. The correct date is July 13. Interested anglers can contact Jennifer Johnson at Consumers Ohio Water Co., (330) 726-8151, ext. 550.
jwollitz@shermanassoc.com