“Mesmerized” is the perfect word to describe my earliest recollections of a place where my fascination with fishing intersected my aspirations to do it well and often.

On a mid-summer morning sometime late in the Eisenhower administration, Dad and I first crossed the threshold of a small-town fishing tackle store into a new and exotic world. The wood floors creaked under our feet and the distinctive scents of nightcrawler dirt and minnow tanks wafted to our nostrils.

My eyes feasted on walls decorated with oversized posters of heritage brands like Arbogast, Heddon, Rebel and Pflueger, and shelves stacked high with imported Rapala balsa minnow plugs, Garcia Mitchell spinning reels and other tackle and gear prized by anglers.

It was a world where a youngster could immerse himself in the wanderlust of fishing for giant pike, walleyes and rainbow trout.

Since my first mesmerized stroll through Northland Sports Co. in Indian River, Mich., so many years ago, I have experienced that same satisfying at-home-on-the-lake sensation every time I enter a retail store stocked to the max with the fishing products I know, trust and desire.

Now, according to the recent headlines, our Mahoning Valley is going to be home to a new Bass Pro Shops Outpost, the latest iteration of Johnny Morris’ vision for the BPS retail concept that places his customers as close as possible to their favorite lake, river, ocean or deer stand.

Warren- and Youngstown-area anglers have been fortunate for many years to have popular mom-and-pop bait stores near our favorite fishing holes like Mosquito, Berlin and Lake Erie. They were places where you could count on picking up anything you needed for a successful fishing trip – from hooks and sinkers to minnows and nightcrawlers.

Our local shops – and thousands of others across the United States – were places to grab-and-go or linger with coffee to pick up the chatter about what was biting where.

I am among the angling aficionados who can spend an hour or more in a tackle store just looking. I’ve been a frequent shopper at Fin Feather Fur Outfitters and Dicks in Boardman. I’ve made many a trip to Fisherman’s Central near Akron.

Typically I go with a purchase in mind and often happily discover a new hot-prospect lure. Always I leave with the sense that I’d just spent quality time nearly as satisfying as actually fishing.

Before it closed a few years ago, the Gander Mountain store at the Eastwood Mall complex was a regular stop in my fishing schedule. Now that property will be converted into the new Bass Pro Shops Outpost store, opening sometime in the next 12 months.

Interestingly, the Niles store won’t be the first Bass Pro Shops presence in the Mahoning Valley. Some will recall that Youngstown bass angler Don Thompson operated a Bass Pro Shops store near the intersection of Mahoning Avenue and Ohio 46 in Austintown in the early 1980s. BPS no longer has independent retail operators.

The mesmerizing allure of a genuine fishing store has never waned. Having enjoyed the immersive experiences of BPS and sister brand Cabela’s stores in Cincinnati, Hanover, Md.; Wheeling, W.Va.; Hampton Roads, Va., and Fort Myers, Fla., I look forward to making regular excursions to the new Eastwood Mall store.

I’m sure I will see you there – and also at Fisherman’s Central or Fin Feather Fur – mesmerized by the atmosphere and immersed in the stuff that makes us happy.

Jack Wollitz’s book, “The Common Angler,” is an immersive look at why anglers are passionate about fishing. Send a note to jackbbaass@gmail.com.