WOLLITZ: Austintown angler goes big for muskies

When Chris DePaola goes fishing, he’s going to go big or go home.

DePaola is a specialist with two seasonal favorites. Both of them grow larger and fight harder than the fish most anglers are accustomed to catching. In autumn and winter, he’s a steelhead fanatic whose performance on Lake Erie tributaries is second to none.

In spring and summer, however, DePaola is a muskie man, through and through. He eats, sleeps and fishes muskies from Ohio to Ontario and all the quality water in between.

DePaola is a card-carrying member of the Cleveland Chapter of Muskies Inc. Now, as summer draws near, he’s looking forward to another successful year in our corner of Ohio and its surprisingly good muskie fishing.

“The cold fronts like we’ve had this spring really affect the muskies, more so than some of the other species here in Ohio and western Pennsylvania,” said DePaola, of Austintown. “Once we get some consistent hot weather, the muskie fishing should be really good.”

Like most of the region’s muskie anglers, he sees West Branch Reservoir as the best local muskie water.

“West Branch is the hot one, for sure. But we do have some other excellent lakes. Milton is the steady Eddie and Pymatuning is the wild card. It has been coming on strong again,” he said.

DePaola also enjoys the muskie action at Lake Chautauqua in western New York, where he keeps a trailer for his weekend getaways there. He also fishes hard at Shenango Reservoir near Sharon, Pa.

When their schedules permit, DePaola teams up with his good friend, noted rod builder Don Clowes. His muskie travels have taken him to the St. Lawrence River, Lake of the Woods, Lake St. Clair and other famous waters in Wisconsin, Ontario, Pennsylvania and Ohio.

With such a full resume of experience on world-class fisheries, DePaola’s personal best muskie came from a lake close to home. It was a 51-inch monster muskie he landed at Shenango and released to provide a thrill for another angler.

It is not surprising, then, that DePaola also picks a local lake to answer the question of where he would go if he had to pick just one waterway.

“I would say I’ve got to go to West Branch,” he said. “The fishing is always good — it’s loaded with fish and a lot of big ones, too. I love casting for them, but a lot of people do really well there trolling crankbaits — 4- to 5-inch custom-made lures — around the emerging weed beds.”

When he’s casting, DePaola often is tossing Red October tube baits, oversized hollow-body lures with tentacles slashed into the trailing third of the body.

He rigs them with a 2-ounce jig inserted into the tube and adds a treble stinger to nab short-strikers. To prevent bite-offs, he connects the tube bait to his main line with a steel leader.

“I like to pop the tube pretty aggressively and let it dart on the fall, which can trigger fish to react when they aren’t totally committed to eating,” he said.

Commitment is not a problem for DePaola. He’s as enthusiastic as they come when it’s time to go muskie fishing. His eyes flash and his smile spreads contagiously when he thinks about upcoming trips.

“I think it’s going to be a really good summer.”

Jack Wollitz enjoys writing about the things he’s learned while fishing so that others may discover the fun. He would be delighted to report what you’ve learned, too. Email him at jackbbaass@gmail.com.