OPINION —
AS YOU’RE reading this column, I’m traveling back from a weekend of smallmouth bass fishing on the Middle Allegheny River in Warren County.
I can’t tell you exactly what occurred over the weekend or how many fish we caught because none of it has happened yet, as I write this on a Thursday night.
Something really bad or really good might have transpired in the interim, and my life may have changed dramatically. I doubt it, but it’s fun to wonder.
We plan to put our canoes and kayaks in way upstream under the tailrace of the Kinzua dam.
Why? Because it’s been a murderously hot summer for the river and the fish, and the cold torrents that empty out of the deep-water reservoir deliver cooler, fresher waters than the sun-baked currents 25 miles downstream near our home base of Tidioute. Besides, the Kinzua tailrace provides more fish and a greater variety of species than anywhere else I know in the river. I have personally taken 20-inch brown trout to seven-inch bluegills below the dam and everything in between, including smallmouth and largemouth bass, suckers, crappies, northern pike, rainbows, perch, rock bass and more.
Two years ago I traveled up with outdoor writers Ben Moyer, Harry Guyer, and Gregg Rinkus, and we fished the same waters.
Ben caught three smallies right away on a soft plastic crayfish imitation, while I plied the Allegheny with a Mepps Comet, a plastic minnow lure with a weight and spinner attached, which had proved our top smallmouth bait the year before. But instead of a bass, I caught a trout with it, and then another, and then another still. Rainbow trout but small, eight to 10 inches, which was unusual for that stretch of the Allegheny, home of bruising browns and rainbows up to two feet long.
I ended up catching eight fine little rainbow trout during the first hour, and I attributed the success to my remarkable angling skill. It wasn’t until three days later that I found out a major contributing factor: 10,000 juvenile rainbow trout had been dumped into the Allegheny near the tailrace because of a damaged trout hatchery in the area. I still think I angled skillfully that day, but I don’t brag about it anymore.
Last year our midsummer smallmouth trip took us much farther downstream, from Tidioute to West Hickory.
We made the mistake of putting in at noon and fishing until 6 p.m., so our entire fishing venture occurred during the dog day afternoon. Everybody caught a couple, and in my case it was exactly two, which makes for a long, slow day. We decided we’d alter our hours and tactics next time.
There came a stretch when nobody caught a single fish for two hours, and we were all losing interest, when Brad Isles pulled up against a riverside boulder, where a strong current poured down over a drop-off and filled a deep pool with current down the center and eddies along the edges.
Brad tossed his Rapala minnow lure upstream and began reeling and jigging it downstream. He felt a strike and yanked his spinning rig upward, resulting in a great bending of the flexible rod and much roiling turmoil on the end of the line. The smallmouth wasn’t all that big, but it was a fighter for sure, breaking the surface three times in five minutes, and Brad drifted downstream while fighting the fish.
That left his sweet fishing spot open, so I cruised in with my kayak and started casting there even before Brad boated his catch. Some people would call this maneuver a classless lowlife angling tactic, to coppersnake a buddy’s honey spot while he’s got a fish on, and I certainly don’t recommend doing this to a stranger, but it’s all in good fun with your regular fishing buddies. Brad only spat at me once and barked twice.
After we pulled our watercraft out below the West Hickory bridge, we drove our loaded trucks back up to the Tippycanoe Inn and selected two Designated Drivers, so the rest of us could enjoy the Tippy’s cold refreshments.
As always, we soon headed back to camp, where Todd’s venison stew slow-cooked in the crockpot, and the campfire ring stood waiting for a gathering of fishing friends late into the night.
Good luck out there. And have a great week outdoors.
Don Feigert is the outdoors writer for THE HERALD and the ALLIED NEWS. His latest book, The F-Troop Camp Chronicles, and his earlier books are available by contacting Don at 724-931-1699 or dfeigert@verizon.net.
Visit his Web site at www.donfeigert.com.
Sports
Related Photos
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Brad Isles shows off a smallmouth bass he caught in the Allegheny River. Todd Puleo
THE EVENING CAMPFIRE: Smallmouth bass fishing on the Allegheny River
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Herald-Tamie junior tourney set Thursday-Friday
THEY SAY THAT “The best things in life are free.” Well, one of those “best things” is the annual Herald-Tam O’Shanter Junior Golf Championships every summer.
The event, which has been free to boys and girls in the Shenango Valley since it’s inception in 1949, will be held Thursday and Friday at Tam O’Shanter Golf Course in Hermitage.
It has been the premier youth tournament for decades and some of the top players ever to come out of this area have participated. But you don’t have to be a great young golfer to take part. It’s a wonderful opportunity for every youngster to get a free round of golf on a great course, which is in immaculate shape this season. -
Hickory lists 2013 scholar-athlete award winners
Hickory High Athletic Director Barb Dzuricsko recently announced that a total of 213 students (grades 9-12) earned Don McKay Scholar-Athlete awards.
To be eligible, students must maintain an A (93 percent or higher) grade-point-average through the academic year’s third 9-week grading period and compete in a PIAA-sponsored sport.
A total of 375 students competed in athletics this past year, Dzuricsko noted, meaning almost 57 percent qualified for the McKay Scholar-Athlete Award. Since the award’s inception, this is the highest total number of students to earn the honors, she reported. -
SCHOLASTIC NOTEBOOK: Hearns to continue golf career in college; Petty to be honored
RECENT HICKORY High alumna Rosy Hearns will continue her education and golf careers at the State University of New York-Albany. Hickory links coach Craig Antush said Hearns recently signed a letter-of-intent.
Hearns’ Hickory career concluded as one of the finest on the links — male or female — in Mercer County annals. -
Bowlers compete in Senior Games
The bowling portion of the annual Mercer County Senior Games was held Wednesday at Grove City Bowlodrome. That followed horseshoes and shuffleboard competitions earlier in the week.
Following is the rest of the schedule: -
COLLEGIATE NOTEBOOK: Ex-Hickory great Richards has great spring track season
FORMER HICKORY HIGH standout Morgan Richards enjoyed a successful spring season for the University of North Carolina-Charlotte track & field team. The female 49ters won the Atlantic 10 Conference outdoor track & field team title.
“Morgan kept her stride as she transitioned into the outdoor season, running top times in several events among (Atlantic 10) freshmen and on Charlotte’s all-time top 10 lists,” assistant coch Edwin T. Schlichter wrote in a recent e-mail to The Herald. “Morgan finished just one spot (9th) out of scoring at the 2013 A-10 Championships in the 3000-meter steeplechase, despite this being her first year ever attempting the event, and running 11:02.22 which was 2nd among all freshmen in the A-10 and 5th all-time for UNC-Charlotte.” -
SPORTVIEW: Hickory tri-athletes deserve special recognition
EVERY YEAR we receive a photo from the Hermitage School District of a group of student-athletes that I am thrilled to receive and run in the paper.
The photo is of Hickory High School “tri-athletes,” boys and girls who participate in sports during each of the fall, winter and spring seasons. But there is more to it than that. Each of these athletes also must maintain an 85 percent B average during the first three 9-week grading periods of the year. -
TIDBITS: Scurpas make college choices; Matthews, Norris, Bonner part of great Clarion recruiting class; Lewis earns national medal
SHARPSVILLE HIGH volleyball standouts Kristen and Paige Scurpa, who are cousins, will continue their education and athletic careers at California University of Pa. and Penn State-Behrend, respectively.
The duo, both of whom were named to the All-State team in Class A by the Pa. Volleyball Coaches Association, led the Blue Darlings to the District 10 title game in November. Sharpsville, Region 1 champs the past 4 years, suffered a 3-1 loss to Cochranton in that match and finished the season 16-4. -
Sharpsville falls in D-10 title game
SLIPPERY ROCK — Monday was a pretty good day for Saegertown High School.
Just mere hours after the Lady Panthers won the District 10 Class A softball championship, the Saegertown baseball team (19-2) captured its third straight D-10 Class AA title with a convincing 10-3 victory over Sharpsville (15-6) at Slippery Rock University’s Jack Critchfield Park.
“We knew going into the game that Saegertown’s a pretty good team and they’ve been a pretty good team for the past few years,” Blue Devils coach Mike Sikorski said. “I think they’ve been in the District 10 Championship the past four years. They’re a solid team, a very good team. They’re very patient at the plate and when they get their pitches, they hit them.” -
STATE TRACK NOTEBOOK: WM seniors leave legacy of greatness
WEST MIDDLESEX High always has had a proud athletic heritage, and this past weekend’s PIAA Class AA Track & Field championship will only add lustre to that legacy.
According to available archives at The Herald, only the 1954 boys’ basketball team and Coach Bob Morris’ boys’ cross country team from earlier this decade previously had won commonwealth crowns. -
Allen wins 4 gold medals to lead WM to PIAA team title
SHIPPENSBURG — Clay Allen said he had to explode out of the starting blocks for his 100-meter dash showdown with Hickory’s DeShawn Coleman. But Allen — all afternoon — was getting the jump on his competitors during the annual PIAA Track & Field Championships.
By approximately 2:30 p.m. Saturday at Shippensburg University, Allen annexed 4 gold medals — 100- and 200-meter dashes, long jump, and as part of the sprint-relay. The workload West Middlesex High’s senior exhibited enabled the Big Reds to record the Class AA commonwealth crown. - More Sports Headlines
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Herald-Tamie junior tourney set Thursday-Friday
