JACK WOLLITZ Mosquito Creek Reservoir bass are hitting hard

Ask local anglers to list their favorite walleye or crappie lake and it's almost certain Mosquito Creek Reservoir will occupy one of the top two spots.
But largemouth bass are making headlines at Mosquito this spring.
Bass factory
The Trumbull County reservoir is proving to be a bass factory. Last Sunday's X Series Bass Tournament featured the largest field of bass anglers in recent memory at Mosquito and more than half of them visited the weigh-in with limit catches.
X Series Tournament Director George Byers reported the tournament entry list swelled to 108 two-person teams. More than 60 of them brought in limits. A total of 413 fish were scored. Just 13 teams zeroed.
"It was amazing," Byers said. "Everybody had fish. It was easy to catch keepers and the top teams were those who managed to find a couple of nice kickers to boost their total weight."
Byers said fish numbers rivaled only X Series tourneys at such fish-filled lakes as Erie and Chautauqua.
Ohio bass tournament anglers are accustomed to generally tough conditions and limit catches are the exception rather than the rule. So when more than half the fishermen in an event sack limits, it's pretty special.
Favorable conditions
To be sure, the conditions at Mosquito last Sunday favored the anglers. The lake's largemouth population, spurred by warming temperature and favorable weather, was migrating to the shallow banks in search of spawning water.
The catch, nevertheless, was exceptional. To compare, that same weekend a tournament at West Branch had only one limit catch and most of the field failed to catch a single fish.
Mosquito is a good springtime lake for all species due to its physical characteristics. The walleyes spread across the massive flats in mid- to late April.
Crappies, like bass, migrate to the shallow cover to feed and prepare for their own spawn.
Mosquito's extensive areas of shallow cover warming quickly under the spring sun, bass tournament circuits like to have events there in April and May.
Bass anglers, well-schooled in spring techniques, enjoy the opportunity to poke around in the limitless supply of flooded willows, buck brush and laydown oaks.
Sunday's X Series weigh-in was a great demonstration of Mosquito's productiveness.
Good fishing
Good bass fishing will continue through Memorial Day and into early June. Those who wish to sample the action should be willing to explore the shallows. In fact, as we move into May, even more fish will be up in water that is a foot or so deep.
During one of my more successful outings over the past two weeks, I found plenty of largemouths willing to eat my Texas-rigged tube flipped into shallow cover. The fish averaged around 14 inches, with enough 15- to 17-inch fish to keep me on my toes.
Flipping and pitching for Mosquito bass requires sturdy equipment and strong line. It's no place for buggy-whip rods and spider web line.
I prefer a heavy-action 61/2-foot pitching rod and 71/2-foot flipping stick; both are fitted with baitcasting reels with 20-pound test line.
You'll need to put your lure into places where retrieving it even without a two-pound bass thrashing on the line might be difficult. Soft plastics like tubes, worms and lizards should be rigged Texas-style to prevent snagging. Bass-style jigs, with fiber guards over the hook point, also work well.
The fish tend to move around in the cover based on weather and the position of the sun. Savvy bass anglers experiment with their lure presentation to determine how the fish are relating to the bushes and logs.
In general, the fish are tight to the cover, often right down in the darkest shadows, when the sun is high and bright. On overcast days, it's more likely they will stray from their lairs.
All in all, Mosquito is the best place in this region to learn the ins and outs of shallow-water bass fishing. And, as the recent numbers prove, the fish are there to be caught.
jwwollitz@aol.com