Tuesday, July 29, 2003
About 200 years ago in England, Samuel Taylor Coleridge penned a line that is on the lips of Youngstown area fishermen this weekend.
"Water, water, every where," Coleridge wrote in "The Rime of the Ancient Mariner," an epic tale told around a theme of hardship.
As the sky fell last week and creeks swelled over their banks, reservoirs flooded to levels never seen in July in northeastern Ohio and western Pennsylvania.
The floods have put anglers in their own state of despair. "Water, water, every where, so where in the world are the fish?" is the question of the week.
Where will you find crappies at Mosquito or walleyes at Berlin or bass at Shenango? There are no simple answers.
The best advice is wait for the water to recede. Or you might try Lake Erie, the level of which will not be affected by all the rain. Another choice is find a private pond and fish for bluegills and bass.
As with Coleridge's ancient mariner, who rejoiced on surviving his hardship, we soon will appreciate the return of normal water levels and fishing conditions return.
Until then, keep your life jacket handy in case it rains again.
Local anglers excel
Dan Mansky of Youngstown and Dave Lefebre of Erie, Pa., are among the top 20 anglers in last week's first two rounds of the FLW Everstart Northern Division tournament out of Detroit.
Fishing the Detroit River, Lake Erie and Lake St. Clair, 200 pros and 200 amateurs harvested a bumper crop of smallmouth bass as they focused on the areas known to hold quality fish.
Mansky survived the first cut down to the top 20, nestled in 17th place with a two-day catch weighing 31 pounds 2 ounces.
Lefebre was in second place on cut day, with 34 pounds 12 ounces. They and 18 other pro anglers earned the right to continue on in the four-day tournament.
It was not known as this was written how they finished in the final standings Saturday afternoon.
Lefebre heading to Classic
Shortly after he gets home from the Detroit River Everstart tournament, Lefebre will be heading down to New Orleans for the 2003 CITGO Bassmaster Classic Presented by Busch Beer.
Lefebre used the tournament as a warm-up for this year's Classic Aug. 1-3 on the sprawling Louisiana Delta. He is one of only 60 anglers from around the world to qualify for the world championship Classic.
In the official pre-tournament practice period last month, the Classic contenders found difficult conditions due to an unusually wet and cool summer. The water was high and the bass seemed to be spread far and wide in the Delta's sloughs, canals and bayous.
Known as an excellent shallow-water fisherman, Lefebre may be a dark horse for the Classic crown. Officially a "rookie & quot;, the Erie, Pa., native has years of experience pitching jigs into bass hiding places in skinny-water cover, particularly vegetation.
Since vegetation is by far the most dominant fish-holding cover on the Delta, Lefebre will be right at home doing what he likes to do.
Should he win, he will be only the second "northerner" to claim the Classic championship. The other is Kevin VanDam of Kalamazoo, Mich., who won the Classic on the same water in 2001.
jwwollitz@aol.com