Ice and snow may come and go, but spring is the promise nature never fails to fulfill.

People who love to fish are biding their time in this “tweener” season as winter fights to maintain its frigid grip while the winds shift and the sun beams more energy across our region. The annual tug of war between winter and spring will end as it always does, with warm days welcoming anglers to our boat ramps, causeways, break waters and dam tailraces.

Snow may be in the forecast, but sufferers of cabin fever are looking beyond the next week or two to March madness with crappies, walleyes, steelhead and bass.

March, in fact, is my annual reminder of how fortunate we are. For most of us in the Mahoning Valley, great fishing for our favorite species is available just one hour or less from our homes.

Soon the ice will be gone and the walleyes will be on the move at all of our local reservoirs. Mosquito and Pymatuning, in particular, will get a lot of attention from anglers as the walleyes instinctively move shallow to pick off shad and other baitfish.

Crowds of anglers will gather on causeways and dams to cast jigs tipped with minnows or twister tails. Others will wade flats to work sandy, gravel or rocky bottoms. The best fishing will be in the hours immediately before and after sunset.

The first walleye every spring is a prized catch. It is the reward for surviving the long haul of shoveling snow, driving in slush and shivering in the wind.

But that first walleye also can be a reminder that winter is a sore loser. My first walleyes often hit during nasty weather with flurries flying and a north wind driving waves to splash at my feet while I cast jigs off the dam of Mosquito Lake. For several years, my first walleyes took my jigs as I stood thigh deep in the icy current below the Berlin dam.

Spring is for real when the crappies move toward the banks. Boat docks, tree tops, willows and buck brush attract the early arrivals seeking food to fatten up before they start their spawning seasons. It’s always fun, too, when feisty yellow perch take the crappie jigs. Perch are always welcomed by anglers fishing for the fixings of a spring fish fry.

To our north are the rivers where Lake Erie’s burgeoning population of steelhead trout have been wintering. This winter has been especially harsh, making for difficult, if not impossible, conditions for anglers who specialize in flyfishing, centerpinning and noodle-rodding the streams for Erie chrome.

Soon the ice jams will melt and the fishing will improve on favorite rivers like Ashtabula, Grand and Conneaut in Ohio, and Walnut and Elk in Pennsylvania.

For many, of course, spring becomes official with the first bass of the year. Ice-out will bring a rush of bass anglers eager to hook some of the biggest fish of the season, as the early arrivals seek shad, perch and other nutrient-rich baitfish. The same shallows that attracted the crappie crowd are favorite spots for spring’s first bass anglers.

The bass people will be twitching jerkbaits, chunking chatterbaits and lobbing lipless crankbaits – most favoring red colors – for the largemouths moving up from their wintering holes in Mosquito, Berlin, West Branch, Pymatuning, Milton and Shenango.

Punxsutawney Phil predicted a late end to the winter of 2026, but smart money is on the anglers who will be lakeside in the next week or so. C’mon, spring. We’re ready.

Jack Wollitz writes this column weekly for readers of The Vindicator and Tribune Chronicle. His new book “The Common Golfer” will be released in April by Tucker DS Press. Contact him at jackbbaass@gmail.com.