Maybe those were the days, but these are the days, too

Warm and sunny spring days jog vivid memories from years packed with fishing trips that span a wide range of experiences.
Fishing can be simple or complex -- any way we want it, actually. You can travel light with a single rod, a pocket-size box of lures and an apple for lunch. Or you can load the boat with tackle worth a king's ransom and a cooler stuffed with a picnic feast.
Thirty years ago, my fishing was pretty basic. I had just bought my first boat, a bright red tri-hull with a 35-horsepower Johnson and one 12-volt battery. It had seats for four, but that little outboard struggled under such a load.
It nevertheless was perfect for quick trips to Mosquito Creek Reservoir after work to catch a few walleyes and watch the sunset.
Those were the days, I recall when I think back. Two people, a couple of rods, a box of jigs and worm harnesses, and a sense of wonderment about each and every bite. I didn't need GPS. If I wanted to know the water temperature, I stuck my hand in the lake. I checked the depth with the anchor.
How it's changed
It's much different these days. I feel ill-prepared if I don't have at least five rods rigged for myself and another five for whomever is in the boat with me. My boat has a big outboard to race to fishing holes and an electric motor for maneuvering once I kill the engine. I've got two sonar units, digital water temp readout, a GPS to tell me where I am and where I might go, and three batteries to run all that stuff.
Ah, but I still take that sense of wonderment, too.
That's because these are the days. I'm more convinced than ever. While popular thinking is that our fishing has deteriorated over the years as more anglers flock to the water and as urban creep swells toward the lakes, it's a fact that fishermen continue to succeed.
I catch more fish today than I did 30 years ago. That's probably a function of more education and better equipment. What's more, take a look at the catches that walleye anglers are bringing to the dock at Mosquito this spring. And Lake Erie is on the verge of yielding another bumper crop of walleyes, perch, steelhead and other game fish.
Thirty years ago, I was content to take a spinning rod, jigs and minnows to the causeways at Berlin and Mosquito in the spring. I'd catch a few walleyes and crappies.
April and May trips to the tailrace of Berlin required chest waders, but the extra effort paid off with nice strings of white bass and spring-run walleyes in the pools and riffles of the Mahoning River.
How it was
But three decades ago, once the "easy" fish were gone and the dog days settled over the Mahoning Valley, anglers either lost interest in fishing or complained about fishless days.
In recent years, however, the walleye anglers in our area have stayed in touch with the fish throughout the summer. They've mastered trolling and jig-fishing techniques that result in nice catches at Berlin, Milton, Mosquito and Pymatuning throughout the summer.
Bass fishermen do pretty well in the spring on the reservoirs around Youngstown and Warren and the dog days of summer are productive, too, for those who've learned the wisdom of changing their tactics to match the moods of their preferred species.
Today, more than ever, anglers go to their favorite lakes with optimism, that sense of wonderment that holds promise for success - and, more importantly, fun.
So these are the days. Enjoy!
jwwollitz@aol.com