My angling interests are firmly rooted in walleyes, thanks to the proliferation of the species in the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers’ reservoirs near Warren and Youngstown.

Our local lakes were dammed to serve the region’s steel industry in the 1940s, ’50s and ’60s, with the added benefit of supporting populations of walleyes to feed the fish-hungry residents of northeastern Ohio.

When I was old enough to strike out on my own to explore our local waters, I quickly learned early spring was a great time to cast jigs for walleyes in the tailraces below Mosquito, Berlin and Milton.

By mid-March, after the ice melted, the walleye were running to the shallow gravel bars below the dams in search of spawning sites.

I looked forward to the spring runs with great anticipation. In fact, I grew to associate the official start of spring with my first walleyes of the season.

To me, in my youthful days, walleyes were big game. They were the stars of fishing adventure articles I read in Outdoor Life, Field & Stream, and Sports Afield, and they were a far cry more exciting to catch than pond bluegills and Yellow Creek suckers and chubs.

Today we’re on the brink of another fun-filled fishing season. Anglers are oiling their reels, spooling fresh line and restocking their jig boxes. Soon, the word will be spreading of walleyes rolling on the rip-rap at Mosquito, roaming the sand flats at Pymatuning and gathering in the current below the reservoirs.

Already, the sport boats are rigging for early spring walleye fishing along Ohio’s Lake Erie coast.

Spring’s official arrival is still a week away, but that only intensifies the itch to get out there and enjoy the thrill of setting the hook on the season’s first ‘eyes.

Memories of my earliest walleye fishing trips with Dad are fuzzy, but I do recall us trolling Junebug spinners and Flatfish at Berlin Reservoir and Lake Milton. Those were summer trips when I was just old enough to sit still for a few hours in the boat.

Sharper in my mind are the river outings a few years after those early trolling trips. I loved casting 1/8-ounce marabou jigs with twister tails out into the current in the Mosquito tailrace and the runs and eddies below the roller dam down from the Berlin spillway.

I learned to cast upstream and tightline the jig at the exact pace of the current so that the lead-head ticked the bottom without snagging. I learned to detect the difference between bites and snags and when to set the hook. I also learned to release fish that were snagged in the back or belly, as the rules strictly prohibited keeping foul-hooked walleyes.

The walleyes hooked in the mouth were not so fortunate. They went home with me and met their fate in a frying pan.

Those were the days before I had a fast boat, sonar fish locators and enough rods and reels to outfit the YSU bass fishing team. Those days, I know now, were the necessary foundation for fishing the way I enjoy it today.

Good times, for sure. I learned to associate spring with the fresh scent of the woodlands, the warm sun on my shoulders and the art and science of making a lure look real enough to trick a wary walleye.

Jack Wollitz has been fishing for walleyes around Youngstown and Warren for as long as he can remember. Contact him at jackbbaass@gmail.com.