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Greetings as Pennsylvania begins trout season 2007

PostPosted: Tue Apr 17, 2007 5:32 pm
by JackSprat
Everyone has fishing memories that helped shaped our angling passions and when we recall them we are refreshed and blessed again. As I got ready for the start of another Pennsylvania trout season, I recalled the many trips I made to the “mountains” to a small camp with friends. From the time I left home until the time I was forced to return home, I enjoyed every moment. 1960 was an especially good year!

The frosty clear Elk County night was moonless so the only light came from the stars above or the occasionally flicker of a flashlight clicked on to recheck a wrist watch that never seemed to move any closer to the appointed hour.

I heard muffled voices, but could not make out the words because Medix Run’s flow was rushing downhill and over a large tree that had fallen across the stream. The resulting waterfall continuously foamed into the deep pool below. A pool that I knew held a hungry batch of fish because a month earlier I had helped stock this spot with a bucket of large Brook trout.

Someone must have made a cast into the pool and hooked a fish because I could hear the fish splashing and that was all my 12-year old brain needed. It was 5 a.m. and the 1960 first day of trout season had begun.

With minnows for bait and the hungry Brookies eating like they were back at the hatchery, I had eight trout in my creel within a few hours. So back to the camp I went to deposit the catch and have some breakfast. Life was good.

During my early angling years, I was in awe of the older guys who owned and shared the camp along Medix Run. They could do no wrong and anything we did at camp was fun. We loved going to Pistner’s store for supplies and snacks. And a stop at Whitcomb’s store at Dents Run and a chance to again see Harry Whitcomb was a treat too. At that time, Harry was the oldest human I had ever seen.

We fished Hicks Run, Red Run, Driftwood, Wykoff Run and First Fork of the Sinnemahoning Creek. Just saying the names makes me "time travel." My mental images are as clear as the digital photos I now collect non-stop. Just wish I had a few pictures from 1960.

Well, that was then and now it is the 2007 season 2007 has begun. Things are different now. Starting time is 8:00 a.m. – the change from the 5:00 a.m. start took place in 1969.

I traveled to Standing Stone Creek north of Huntingdon, Pennsylvania and I took my camera and not my fishing rod. I didn’t catch any fish, but I got some great photos and video at a special area restricted to the 12 and under crowd.

If you view this blog be prepared to smile! http://storytrax.com/node/688


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