Slow Time
Well if you are like me, I am not real fond of this high heat and humidly. The warmer weather has slowed the fishing down, but don’t get discouraged. There are places you can fish that will produce some good catches. It really depends on what type of fish you plan to catch.
In the following I will give you some hints you might want to try.
If you are looking for trout, then I would recommend the Yough River. I went to the tailrace below the dam. On the first trip this month, I caught several nice Brook Trout on a spinner I make. My friend also did well on the same lure.
On the second trip, the fishing was slow. We went down river, but the only thing we caught was bass.
On the third trip, we went further down river and had a very pleasant surprise. My friend started with one of his own made lures and started catching bass. He switched to another lure and caught a 17-inch rainbow on the first cast.
I headed up river and changed to bait. It wasn’t too long before I got a 17-inch rainbow, as well. As the day progressed, I was able to put five from 15 to 10 inches on the stringer. It was the nicest stringer of trout I had gotten in PA for about 15 years. The last fish I got was a 17-inch Palomino. I took them home, filleted them and had them for dinner. I was pleasantly surprised with the flavor.
As for bass fishing, it has been pretty good. As the water warmed the bass fishing got better. Dunkard Creek and Ten Mile are producing good numbers of smallmouth bass. The river is also producing some nice bass. Something yellow or minnow shaped seems to be doing the best.
The musky and walleye have slowed down in the river. For the whole year walleye fishing has been slow. In the last five years, the walleye catches have been going downhill. The musky fishing has been getting better.
The catfish are beginning to bite. A new program is in the making for them. There is a big push to introduce catfish in the classroom. The trout in the classroom is a good program, but it is not really suited for our area. Our water conditions are not suited for cold water fish. The catfish will have a much better survival rate.
In addition, these catfish can be the big blue cats. These fish were once found in our waters, but mining discharges destroyed them. This program will reintroduce them back into our river. These fish can grow to 160 pounds. These fish will bring the area an economic boost.
Well, on the topic of fish stocking, I was disappointed in the action of some of our local residents. Two incidents have taken place that I find oppressive.
First, the Greene County Izaak Walton League of America (IWLA) has, for the past nine years, held a kid’s day and a lady’s day of trout fishing. This year the trout were stocked the day before so they could settle down before the kid’s event. The evening prior to the event, three fishermen ran down to fish before the kids got their first chance. There is no law against this action, but morally, it is pretty poor. The kid’s day was established to get the kids out fishing and, hopefully, off or never starting drug use.
Was it worth it for those three fellows?
The IWLA will now have to ask for a permit to close that section of the stream to all fishing for three days.
Was it worth it?
The second incident, we were able to get 600 trout stocked from Waynesburg to Jefferson. Instead of being thankful to get the fish, two adults complained that they could not fish as the fish were being stocked. This is not true.
The stream was open to fishing; however, it was hoped the kids could have some time to fish first. It was an attempt to give the kids something to do other than drugs.
No one involved with the actual source of the stocking funds or helpers said anything, but one parent told two adults that they should let the kid’s fish first.
Evidently this offended the so-called adults. Instead of being thankful to get the fish, they complained. There was plenty of time to fish after the kids did. I just don’t understand this mentality — or lack of — by some people.
Now a good deed has turned into a political thing. I feel this is ridiculous. Be thankful for what you have gotten.
Sometimes my patience is tried deeply, but Psalms 40 is there to help me. Some good advice is found in the first sentence.