It’s time of year for fishing and its pleasures

Anyone can be a fisherman in May, Ernest Hemingway observed. In Ohio, that’s true only next Saturday and Sunday, when citizens aren’t required to possess a license to fish. All the other days of the year, anglers looking to avoid a court appearance must pony up the $19 fee to have a permit. About 650,000 resident fishing licenses are sold in Ohio each year, suggesting that although anyone can be a fisherman, far from everyone chooses that transcendent path, however empty and frustrating it might be at times. Fishing...