Fishing is sluggish on the lakes and reservoirs right now, and the trout stream waters are trickling way too low, but Billy, Brett and I found a hot bite at a big pond last week and caught dozens of fish: panfish, bass, and two surprises. I can’t tell you exactly where this spot is, or my brother would kill me, but we traveled not too far from the Shenango Valley and found a 10-acre pond at an old gravel pit on public land open to fishing year-round.
And what beautiful waters we discovered there. Brett inflated his float tube and began fly-casting the shallows for bluegills, while Billy and I launched his 16-foot canoe before 7 a.m. and set off across the pond. It was a windless cool cloudy morning, and the surface of the spring-fed waters was as smooth as a glass tabletop and just as transparent. I gazed down into the depths and became mesmerized by the visual clarity. The bottom of the pond was lush with weedy greenery, and you could see every detail, even at depths of 10 or 15 feet.
Ten minutes into our morning, Billy caught the first fish of the day, a foot-long largemouth bass taken on a jointed Rapala minnow lure. A few minutes later, he landed another, bigger bass. Then I caught three largemouths in 15 minutes on three different lures, a jointed Rapala, a big crankbait lure painted to imitate a red-eyed rock bass, and a translucent white crankbait that became my top lure of the day.
Later, Billy tied on a white jig tipped with a purple rubber “Gulp” leech and boated five fish in seven casts. By 10 a.m., when we hauled the canoe out, we had caught 25 largemouth bass, all between 11 and 17 inches, and — much to our surprise — two big rainbow trout, both taken on the white crankbait. I don’t know who stocked the rainbows in that pond, but the spring-fed cool waters and even cooler deep holes must account for their survival there.
We learned some quick fishing lessons during our three hours on the pond, too. First, don’t linger in one spot and over-fish. The bass became spooky after we caught three or four in a particular location, so we kept moving, and the canoe proved ideal for that tactic on a pond of this size.
Also, we saw advantages in keeping two spinning outfits rigged up, because of sudden changes in depth as we drifted over deep holes created by gravel-dredging and shallow waters around islands and weedy humps in the pond bottom.
Crankbaits and jigs performed best in the deep waters, while Rapala minnow lures and spinnerbaits served the shallows.
Billy kept two lured-up rigs handy, but my backup was a fly-fishing outfit, which I intended to use for panfish but never did, even though I saw Brett successfully fly-rodding across the pond, because I was having too much fun catching big fish on my ultralight spinning gear.
Our best tactic was to paddle in around 25 yards from shorelines and cast toward land. We never caught a fish close to the boat — apparently clear waters work both ways — but we could watch our fish fight 10 or 20 yards out because of the visibility, and that was entertaining.
Some of the largemouths stayed deep as they fought, while others leaped from the surface and performed aerial acrobatics for our viewing pleasure. One big old bass I had on broke water and spit the lure out cleanly, which made Billy and me laugh. Just a quicker way to perform catch and release, we agreed.
I’m pretty much a dedicated stream fisherman for wild trout, but this bass-fishing in a big pond turned out to be a fine outdoors experience, too. Good luck out there. And have a great week outdoors.
Trail Notes: I haven’t mentioned this in several months, but I continue to add brief monthly “What’s New?” entries to the website. Check out the May, June and July entries for news about trips to the Smokies and Key West, the sale of my country cottage and two new stories posted on the site.
Don Feigert is the outdoors writer for THE HERALD and the ALLIED NEWS. He can be contacted at 317-985-2870 or dfeigert@verizon.net. Visit his website at www.donfeigert.com.
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Midsummer hot bite at the bass pond
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PIAA Track: Hickory's Bell, Lubarski, Regginello grab gold
SHIPPENSBURG — There’s a big difference between being seeded 1st and finishing 1st — Matt Bell can attest to that.
After settling for silver last year, the Hickory High senior put the shot 59 feet, 6 3/4 inches Friday afternoon to garner gold at the annual PIAA Track & Field Championships at Shippensburg University. -
WM to play for D-10 baseball title; GC, Sharon, Sharpsville lose
Four area baseball teams were in action on Friday in the District 10 semifinals as the squads battled to compete for District 10 championships on Monday.
West Middlesex rolled past error-prone Linesville, 8-0, in Class A action at Slippery Rock University’s Jack Critchfield Park.
In Class AA, both Sharon and Sharpsville suffered 2-1 losses. The Tigers fell to Saegertown at Ainsworth Field in Erie while the Blue Devils lost to Titusville at SRU.
In Class AAA, the Grove City Eagles were denied the chance to defend their D-10 crown after suffering a 6-3 loss to Warren at SRU. -
Farrell volleyball falls in D-10 semifinals
The Farrell High boys volleyball team suffered a 2-0 (25-15, 25-12) loss to Saegertown on Thursday night in the District 10 semifinals at Meadville Area High’s “House of Thrills.”
“This was the first year we made it out of the first day (pool play) of the playoffs,” said Steelers’ coach Dan Dragicevic. “I’d like to cite my seniors (Eric Demus, Anthony Perkins, Jaylen Chambers and Lawrence Hughes). -
Locals ready to go for gold at Shippensburg
Now that Mercer County is on the map, it’s incumbent upon the area aggregation to chart a course for the ultimate destination — Seth Grove Stadium’s medals stand — during this weekend’s PIAA Track & Field Championships.
Led by West Middlesex High sprinter Clay Allen, many Mercer Countians are seeded at or near the top of their respective events for the annual 2-day marathon at Shippensburg University, which commences 9 a.m. Friday. It will continue beginning 9 a.m. Saturday. -
D-10 Playoffs: Local teams go 6-for-6
ä Grove City 1, Harbor Creek 0 — At Slippery Rock University’s Jack Critchfield Park, what the Grove City Eagles couldn’t accomplish themselves, the Harbor Creek Huskies unwittingly did for them.
Unable to plate runs themselves, Torin Smith scored the Eagles’ only run when teammate Tyler Devine’s seeming inning-ending pop-up to left field was dropped by Harbor Creek’s Chris Merritt in the bottom of the 7th inning of Tuesday’s tourney opener. -
Great year for WM track; local qualifiers listed
It’s been a big year for the Big Reds.
Though there’s no official documentation, the 2011-12 academic year may be the most successful in West Middlesex High’s athletic annals. -
SPORTVIEW: Local names Kroko, Lutz, Kareklas in news elsewhere
IT’S ALWAYS GOOD to hear of former area people who have gone on to athletic success in other areas, or the family of former area residents. Following are a few of those stories:
ä Bob and Betty Kroko of Sharon are avid followers of professional baseball. No, not necessarily the Pittsburgh Pirates or Cleveland Indians like many local fans.
The Krokos keep a close eye on the Austria Major League! -
Petty an all-around great athlete in track and gymnastics
When Mercer County’s contingent convenes at the annual PIAA Track & Field Championships this weekend, it will be well represented
Clay Allen, Matt Bell, John Yohman, Johnathan Jacoway, Jeremy Jansco, Nico Zahniser, DeShawn Coleman, Dan Jaskowak, et all, should haul home some hardware. But with all due respect, the aforementioned young men may or may not be best athletes in the area’s aggregation that will assemble this weekend at Shippensburg University. -
Lubarski, Richards, Petty, Allen shine at D-10 Track Championships; Hickory girls, WM boys team champs
Hickory High’s high-jump state champion Lauren Lubarski suffered a severe blow to open her competion at the annual District 10 Class AA Track & Field Championships Saturday at Hickory HIgh Stadium.
She failed to qualify for state in the event she had won the previous year. -
Baseball, softball D-10 playoff pairings
The District 10 pairings for the baseball and softball playoffs have been released. Five area baseball teams and four (possibly 5) softball squads have qualified.
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