Cyclones are swirling everywhere these days, but instead of running for cover, many people are leaping headfirst into the maelstroms.

Name a topic and we make it controversial. Sports? For sure. Politics? Absolutely. The economy? Oh, boy. Seems to me more and more people are willing to fight to the death arguing whether the chicken or the egg came first.

And fishing? Yes, even fishing can ignite fire and brimstone. Cabin fever reaches its peak around this time every winter, and even with spring just a few weeks away, the promise of open water, sunshine and warm breezes is not enough to nip the negativity of those who are aggravated about something in their fishing experiences.

Several Ohio fishing hot buttons come to mind – the annual netting of walleyes at Mosquito Lake, the muskie program at West Branch, and the vitality of our reservoirs’ bass fishing.

When the nets appear every March at Mosquito, the rumor mill starts grinding. A large contingent of anglers, meanwhile, is convinced muskies have devastated West Branch’s crappie and bass fishing. In the bass community, vocal anglers decry the lack of stocking as the reason our fishing doesn’t compare well to the nation’s super fisheries.

Questions arise and are never properly answered via social media posts, which are truly fuel for the fires. The fires kindle aggravation, which leads to sarcasm, anger and arguing. I reckon it is the way our world turns these days. If we have an opinion, we state it as fact and turn deaf ears to those who disagree.

So here is an idea: If you have questions about Mosquito’s walleye nets, call or email the Ohio Division of Wildlife District 3 office in Akron. If you worry that muskies are killing West Branch, ask the fisheries experts. If you think stocking largemouth bass will elevate Ohio in America’s bass rankings, talk to the people who understand our reservoirs, their habitat and forage base.

Or you can grab your phone and post to the world that you know more about fisheries management than the paid professionals.

In the spirit of full disclosure, I once was a critic of Ohio’s fish management practices. I based my opinions on my own empirical evidence – what I saw and experienced on our lakes – and believed we could do a lot better. Stocking, I thought, was the answer, the key to converting Berlin, Milton, Mosquito and West Branch into bass factories rivaling the nation’s great fisheries. I was naive.

Over time, I opened my eyes and ears to absorb the information shared by the people who made their careers studying Ohio waters and fish. Our state has its own unique circumstances. We have only two reservoirs spreading more than 8,000 acres and one of them we share with Pennsylvania. Our small lakes are aging due to siltation and habitat degradation. The forage base is limited by the lakes’ ability to sustain it. Located near major population centers, our lakes’ angler-hours-per-acre are very high.

While stocking has worked in Ohio for walleyes, muskies, catfish and steelhead, our biologists determined that Ohio anglers would not receive the benefits realized by bass anglers in Alabama, Texas and other states with tailored bass stocking programs.

The facts are there. They make sense. It also stands to reason that if bass stocking could possibly be a good practice and wise investment for Ohio, why would the Division of Wildlife not stock bass?

But don’t take my word for it and don’t get sucked into the tornado of opinions. Ask Ohio’s fisheries biologists.

Jack Wollitz writes weekly about the NE Ohio fishing experience. Contact him at jackbbaass@gmail.com