An associate yesterday quipped that I should stop writing on a typewriter because there are gadgets called computers that make things easier for a writer these days.

(So picture a laughing-face emoji here.) I know my friend was teasing. I have been fishing and writing longer than many readers have been alive. I may be an anachronism, but I am no fuddy-duddy.

I did start writing on a typewriter, but those days are way back in the rearview mirror.

I consider myself to be fairly tech savvy. I have modern electronics on my boat. I rely on forward-facing and down-scan sonar as well as GPS to show me where I am and what’s swimming around me. And, in fact, I rely a lot on my laptop, smart phone and the internet in my daily effort to stay well informed about fishing here in the Mahoning Valley and across the nation.

News travels faster than most of us can even begin to comprehend. Whether we want it or not, information smacks us between the eyes every time we consult our digital devices. We don’t even need to have a discussion with our fishing friends to learn everything and more.

For example, I don’t ice fish these days, but I’ve learned the ice on Mosquito Lake is a foot thick and the crappies, perch and bluegills are biting.

I spend most of my fishing time chasing largemouth and smallmouth bass, but I know the walleye folks are wondering what is going on with their favorite fish everywhere from Lake Erie to Mosquito and beyond.

Where are the Central Basin perch? That’s an often-asked question on social media. The weeds at Mosquito? Everybody is complaining about their disappearance.

And so it goes. The internet, especially social media, is the learning center for anglers these days.

When I began writing this column in 1988, the best sources for information (other than your neighbor’s cousin’s uncle) were the people selling minnows and nightcrawlers at lakeside bait shops. Today, good info is just a click or two away. We can learn in 60 seconds what formerly required hours of research.

(Picture the thumbs-up emoji here.) I opened my laptop Monday and learned pro angler Hank Cherry won a Bassmaster Elite tournament on Lake Guntersville last week by swimming a chartreuse grub on a jig head, an old-school tactic, for sure. Back in the day when swimming a grub was a new-school thing, the news of Cherry’s win would have taken weeks to reach my eyes.

Every Monday from Labor Day to freeze-over, I catch up with John Breedlove’s amazing successes with the steelhead that swarm Erie’s rivermouths. Throughout the summer, I learn the winning weights at bass tournaments on Mosquito, Berlin, Milton, West Branch, Shenango, Portage Lakes and the Ohio River – all that information served up through my fingertips in a matter of minutes.

A stroll through Facebook often reveals an update on Mahoning River kayak opportunities, a great fly-fishing tip from Lisbon native J.R. Jackson, a lure or knot video by Frank Scalish Jr. or any of a dozen other fishing tidbits.

Back in the day, I wrote my stories on an Underwood manual typewriter at The Salem News. The newsroom was alive on deadline with the clatter of keys, a tell-tale rhythm that meant news was being reported. The typewriter is gone, replaced by a keyboard far more efficient in time and convenience.

(Picture here a heart emoji.) I love that you are reading this today. It is my pleasure to share what I know. Whether it’s from my on-the-water sources, a lakeside bait house or the worldwide web, information is our lifespring for our upcoming fishing.

Jack Wollitz has written this column for Warren and Youngstown readers since 1988. Contact him at jackbbaass@gmail.com.