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Fireside Philosophers
Gather Again
Last weekend we celebrated our eighth annual Fireside
Philosophers Event, an annual August gathering of
outdoor writers at F-Troop for outdoor recreation and
campfire philosophizing. Ben Moyer missed for the first
time ever because of a family emergency, but he was
replaced by Harry Guyer, a good writer and knowledgeable
outdoorsman who is also the current president of the
Pennsylvania Outdoor Writers Association. Brad Isles
made his third appearance, and Gregg Rinkus and I
continued our perfect attendance at all eight FP events.
We enjoyed campfires and fireside chatter for three
consecutive evenings, and I took charge of the kitchen,
delivering a new variation of Venison Meatball Splash
Friday night and our traditional Campfire Venison
Sizzler Saturday night. Our main outdoors event was a
seven-mile seven-hour float down Tionesta Creek.
That day fish-catching was at the forefront of our
minds. Brad tossed Rooster-tail spinners while Gregg and
I cast Rapala lures, and Harry probed with crayfish
imitations, but the first mile and first hour delivered
zero hits and zero fish. Then we came up upon a spot
where the stream split around an island and created a
fast riffle running into a long slow pool. We grounded
our canoes and began casting our spinning rigs with
great gusto. Gregg landed two smallmouth bass, Brad
caught a big rainbow trout, and our fishing day was on.
Over the next six hours, we caught two very nice trout
and 15 smallies, including Gregg’s 18-inch boss fish of
the day. Then we headed back to camp for a campfire meal
and relaxing conversation again.
Good luck out there. And have a great week outdoors.
~ Don Feigert, 8-31-09
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