Anglers yearn for hot lures, high-tech electronics, sleek boats and the coordinates for the local honey holes, but the truth is they alone are not the real secrets to fishing success.

Many people hit the lakes with 100 pounds of lures, thousands of dollars worth of sonar and GPS, 75-mph boats and waypoints snagged from their buddies, but still go home disappointed. All of the gadgets and shortcuts are great. But nothing is more important than putting in the hours, days, months and years that are the foundation for every cast anglers make.

Several people told me recently they know a guy who sets the standard for smart time on the water. He is John O’Farrell, who has become a frontrunner in Northeast Ohio bass tournaments.

“I don’t know anyone who works harder,” Austin Dunlap said. “I wouldn’t lie to you, he puts a lot of time in. He’s won Madness twice, and that’s not easy to do.”

With such a credible endorsement, plus his victories in the annual Mosquito Madness bass fishing championship, I decided to find O’Farrell and share his formula for success.

O’Farrell lives in Cuyahoga Falls. He’s no stranger to hard work as he is an English teacher for students in the Summit County Juvenile Detention Center as well as a manager for a Play it Again Sports store. A lifelong angler, he started fishing bass tournaments in 2003.

“I was lucky enough to have a dad who fished Mogadore Lake since he was a kid,” O’Farrell said. “He taught me a lot. We also would spend a week every summer on Pymatuning and have 100-fish days. So I was serious about bass fishing before I ever started fishing tournaments.”

Mosquito Madness is the annual bass tournament that draws entries from more than 200 of the region’s best anglers. O’Farrell teamed up with Mack Hamrick to win Madness in 2023 and 2025, setting the all-time weight record of 36.39 pounds over two days of competition. He also competes regularly with Fred Clapp in X Series, Mosquito Creek Bass Club and other events.

He does not get a lot of free time, but he manages to squeeze in quality fishing time.

“I have two full-time jobs, I’m a full-time dad to 4- and 6-year-olds, and I have a great wife who supports my addiction to fishing,” he said.

In addition to support at home and early mentoring from his father, O’Farrell said he learned valuable lessons from his students and his fishing friends.

“I do learn a lot from the kids in my classes, as they work just to survive out there,” he said.

He gave a nod to Dunlap, too.

“AJ (Dunlap) gave me my start at Mosquito after fishing tournaments for a few years with Dad. … I decided I wanted to learn about lakes other than Portage (in Akron),” O’Farrell said.

“I would say there is very little that sets me apart, other than I just fish hard. You can’t pattern big fish; you just fish hard and have to believe there is a big fish where you’re fishing. If it means fishing eight hours in a 100-yard section, that’s what you do. Some guys run around all over the lake and catch bigs here and there. I just put my head down and fish hard.”

His advice for anglers interested in catching bass at Mosquito?

“Go there in early May or earlier or August through October. Don’t fish history there. I go with an open mind, no preconceived notion about depth or location,” he said. “Remember if it looks like it will hold fish, it’s likely it does hold fish, if not then, then soon. I pretty much ‘junk fish’ with 12 rods on the deck to be ready for every situation.”

He often rigs a purple Senko, a small brown jig (“like Ron Yurko used to throw”), flukes and small spinnerbaits.

“I’m getting fonder of large swimbaits,” he said. “If you’re not catching pike once in a while, you aren’t going to catch the larger bass.”

His favorite swimbaits include the larger Kitech boottails and Magdrafts.

“I chuck and wind a lot,” O’Farrell said. “I work deep crankbaits on occasion and spoons even. I used to throw a frog out there, but the locals are beating up the shallow fish, so they are not responding as well to my buzzbaits and frogs.”

O’Farrell said efforts to control hydrilla at Mosquito have impacted the fishing dynamics.

“What weeds are left are mostly shallow now, so that’s why I throw smaller spinnerbaits,” he said. “If the state lets the grass grow back, chatterbaits and other aggressive baits will work out on the deeper edges.”

The real secret, he said, is that anglers simply must put in lots of quality fishing time to really take advantage of what the lake is capable of delivering.

Jack Wollitz has written about Mosquito Lake frequently and has observed many changes in the fishery over the past 40 years. Contact him at jackbbaass@gmail.com.