43
Just the way I like it
If this isn’t the weekend you get your lures wet, then there’s no helping you.
The early promise of spring in March – following our unusually mild winter – put a lot of Youngstowners in the mood for fishing. But the mood shifted for sure April 9 when our region endured a polar blast that dumped several inches of snow and iced up the boat ramps.
While most of April and much of May have been chilly, wet and blustery, our Memorial Day weekend is shaping up hot and muggy.
That’s the way I like it. It puts the bass in a predictable pattern and, frankly, I like predictable.
So if you are looking for me this morning, look no further than Pine Lake. I’ll be out there scouting for largemouths to catch June 4 in the 17th annual Muransky Companies United Way Bass Classic. Aqua Ohio has been the host for all 17 years of the fundraising tournament benefiting the United Way of Youngstown and the Mahoning Valley, and the water utility’s Evans and Pine lakes are perfect venues.
The lakes will get their ultimate tests next Saturday. For the first time in Ohio, a large-field tournament will be scored under the innovative Major League Fishing catch-weigh-release format. Just as the pros experienced when they fished Pine, Evans, Mosquito and Milton in the recently televised Bass Pro Shops Selects tournaments, the 116 competitors in the United Way event may score every bass they catch.
Several observers, including defending Evans champion Tony Holzer of East Palestine and former Pine champion Ray Halter of Cleveland, are forecasting a bumper crop of bass at both lakes.
With every keeper-size bass counting, the weights at Pine and Evans may soar past 50 pounds. Halter projected a 60-pound haul will be needed to win at Pine Lake and the winning pro-am team may score as many as 35 bass.
Evans may be even heftier, based on the five-bass 20-pound catch that Holzer and his am partner, Dr. Chuck Yourstowsky, weighed last year. If the winner catches 25 bass at Evans, it’s possible they’ll total 75 pounds.
The new weigh-them-all system is possible because it removes the necessity of bringing fish alive to the weigh-in stage. There will be no need to hold the bass in the onboard livewells because each fish will be weighed immediately by volunteer marshals aboard each of the competition boats.
If the system proves to be practical on the United Way fundraiser, it’s hoped that it will expand to other Ohio tournament organizations.
The Aqua Ohio lakes aren’t the only place big fish are biting this weekend.
Walleye, crappie and bass are in full swing at Mosquito and Pymatuning. Anglers were doing well at both lakes as headed toward Memorial Day.
Water levels have been up in the bushes at most of our area reservoirs, which has provided perfect hiding places for swarms of crappies moving up as the waters warm.
At West Branch Sunday, while pitching to the willows in search of largemouth bass, I stuck five of the largest crappies I’ve ever caught.
All of them would easily qualify for Fish Ohio certification. The smallest was 13 inches and the biggest was nearly 16, and all of them were longer than any bass I caught that day.
All of this is good news, but even better days are ahead. With the water warming, the fishing is improving. If you aren’t fishing by this point in our season, then there’s not much more we have to talk about.