|
Seventh annual Fireside
Philosophers event
Good fishing was the theme of our seventh Fireside
Philosophers event, which brings several outdoor writers
together every year for a weekend of Warren County
adventures. On Friday Gregg Rinkus and I traveled into
the Allegheny National Forest to a tiny wild trout
stream in the Tionesta Creek watershed. This was the
stream of Gregg’s youth, the special place where he’d
caught his first native brook trout as a teenager. And
now, 35 years later, he had finally returned and brought
me along for my first visit there ever. A grand little
stream it turned out to be, with fresh cool waters
flowing in a curving path downstream under the
sheltering hemlocks, creating riffles, pools and
cutbanks at every turn. Gregg and I caught dozens of
colorful wild brook trout beauties, including three in
the eight- to nine-inch range.
That evening Ben Moyer and Brad Isles arrived, and the
next day we launched a 10-mile fishing trip down the
Allegheny River. I caught and accidentally released the
first big smallmouth bass of the day, and then, one mile
downstream, Gregg and Ben found a hotspot. They caught
and kept four good-sized smallies, which fit into our
shore lunch plans. Late in the afternoon we paddled in
at Thompson Island, and Ben skillfully prepared a meal
of fresh-cooked smallmouth, a fish we normally routinely
release. But Ben’s expertise with frying pan, oil and
cornmeal yielded a delicious meal, and we vowed to do
this catch-and-eat thing again someday. Later the four
of us paddled downstream as evening closed in, and Brad
and I stopped at Muddy Point, where we had camped
overnight once earlier in the summer. He caught the best
fish of the day there, a 16-inch smallmouth, which he
quickly put back into the swift-running currents. It was
a fine day on the river, one that we relived with our
campfire stories later that night.
Good luck out there. And have a great week outdoors.
~ Don Feigert, 8-26-08
Visit the
What's New
Archive |
