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Fishing season had many positives

Looking back on the 2020 fishing season brings a flood of memories about big fish, beautiful scenery and happy diversions from the chaos of a year we all cannot wait to forget.

From a fishing perspective, ’20 was a year of success for many anglers. Judging from the photos I see on social media, the good fishing continues for the hardy anglers who refuse to let a little cold weather get in their way.

But this year no doubt has been difficult for most of us in the wake of COVID-19 and the resulting illness, heartbreak and hardships the virus created. Fishing was good medicine to help us persevere, and we all look forward to better times in 2021.

Before we flip the calendar, however, I look back at the high points of my fishing year.

One of the best things about fishing trips is the opportunity to experience our planet at its absolute freshest. Sunrise at a lake, any lake, is a time when yesterday’s slate is erased. Morning is the daily promise of a fresh start with a bounty of beauty and opportunity.

Two spectacular mornings stand out. One was in July on the north end of Pymatuning Reservoir. The sky was cloudless. As sunshine broke over the horizon, it illuminated the distant shore in vivid green in sharp contrast to the deep blue of the water and sky.

A few weeks later as I idled out of the opening in the breakwater at Mosquito State Park’s marina on a dewy morning, I reached for my phone at just the right moment. The sun burned an orange hole in the fog and reflected off the slick water. The light made my photo of the silhouette of a boat and two anglers appear almost like a watercolor painting.

Picturesque sunrises are great, but fishing is all about the action. Memorable moments happened throughout the spring, summer and fall, but I was particularly impressed by a series of morning encounters with smallmouth bass at Shenango Reservoir.

The smallies pushed schools of shad against a particular sand point each morning and feasted on the easy pickings. I discovered their breakfast binge at that location repeated daily; they were there during each of my subsequent half-dozen fishing trips to Shenango and more than willing to whack the popper I tossed into their feeding frenzies.

Smallmouth bass were the main characters in two other fishing trips. The fat and feisty Lake Erie smallie I caught during a July outing was memorable for the height it gained in a spectacular leap bare moments after I set the hook.

In September on the Ohio River, I watched in awe as a smallmouth bass materialized out of the depths as I worked a slim minnow jerkbait. The water was clear enough that I could see the fish react, turn away and then attack as I twitched the lure, a good lesson for the value of applying lively action to my lures.

COVID concerns resulted in the cancelation of the June date of the Muransky Companies Bass Classic benefiting the United Way of Youngstown and the Mahoning Valley. But anglers who supported the canceled fundraiser were given a special opportunity to fish Aqua Ohio’s Evans Lake as a consolation for missing out on the regular tournament.

It was a thrill to see a number of Bass Classic anglers catching Evans largemouths as a return for their generous donations to the United Way and as a way for the fishing community to contribute to efforts that help others in our communities cope with the disruptions the virus has inflicted.

Now as we get ready to close the book on 2020, good fishing and good times provide a sneak preview and a ray of hope for bigger and better things in the new year.

Jack Wollitz is a writer and angler who, always with high hopes, enjoys fishing the waters in northeast Ohio and western Pennsylvania. He also appreciates emails from readers. Send a note to Jack at jackbbaass@gmail.com.

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