Cabin fever at its worst
If you think cabin fever is bad in the winter when we are snowbound with little to do except wait for the thaw and dream about trout season, trust me, the summer version is even worse. For the past three months, I was homebound recuperating from rotator cuff surgery.
With a gimpy wing, I missed trout season, the start of bass season and a chance to cover the Bassmaster Classic in Pittsburgh.
I tried fishing for channel cats one afternoon, casting left-handed.
At least I was the only one at the pond. With my left-handed casting ability, I covered every spot in the pond, whether I really wanted to or not.
But getting back to the cabin fever: Have you ever tried to watch TV for seven days a week in the summer? The summer reruns are really bad, and even the old movie channels ran mostly pictures that I didn’t care that much for the first time I saw them, so why would I want to watch them again?
At least the “Law And Order” and various “CSI” shows that aired on nights I worked were a relief from the ordinary, but a steady diet of crime gets to you after a while.
I tried taking walks in the mornings, but then it got so hot that I just sat around and began to look forward to afternoon trips to “The Office” where my old buddies and I discussed everything from world events, to baseball, golf, fishing, hunting, gardening and recent deer and bear sightings.
It is funny, but work is one topic that seldom entered the conversation.
For the most part, the great outdoors changed little over the past three months and the Dog Days of summer.
A SPORTSMEN’S FRIEND PASSES: Earlier this month, local sportsmen lost a good friend with the passing of Ross J. (R.J.) Huhn on Aug. 15.
Mr. Huhn was a member of the Pennsylvania Fish and Boat Commission, where he served since June 17, 1980, when Governor Dick Thornburgh appointed him.
He was a Fayette County native. He was raised in Smithfield and later resided in Saltsburg in Westmoreland County and worked as a materials engineer for Westinghouse Electric for 32 years.
I met his father Polly Huhn when I first moved to Smithfield, and became acquainted with R.J. several years later.
Polly and R.J. both loved the outdoors.
R.J. devoted much of his time to conserving Pennsylvania’s natural resources. He was active in Trout Unlimited, the Izaak Walton League of America and the Pennsylvania Environmental Council, of which he was a charter member and is enshrined in its Hall of Fame.
We often sat and discussed what was happening with the Fish Commission.
Over the years, R.J. won some battles and lost others, but one thing for sure, he was always an advocate of the rights and well being of Pennsylvania’s anglers.
One thing for sure, with R.J.’s passing, there is one big pair of shoes to fill on the Fish and Boat Commission.
CHARLEY MAY RETIRES: Speaking of big shoes to fill, Northern Fayette County Wildlife Conservation officer Charlie May retired in June.
In his own way, Charlie rode off into the sunset after serving in Fayette County since 1979.
Charlie was like a walking encyclopedia when it came to knowledge of the outdoors.
I don’t believe there was a plant, animal or amphibian living in his district that he didn’t have full knowledge of.
He taught me a lot over the years about flora, fauna and wildlife habits and habitats.
He remains an avid bowhunter, who knows how frustrating it can be, watching a big buck, almost nightly, right up until the night before the season begins and never setting sight on it again.
I used to call Charlie for some column notes and end up with enough material to write three columns. Once I got him talking, he would keep going and going. We often talked for over an hour at time, covering a variety of outdoor subjects.
After bear season was opened statewide, and Fayette County finally broke the ice with its first bear kill, Charlie seemed to develop an uncanny sense of predicting the next year’s harvest for the county with remarkable accuracy.
I thought he was really going out on a limb the first time he predicted a kill of 40 bruins, but he came through. After that I never doubted him again.
In fact, I kidded him after that, saying that I couldn’t do a preseason bear story without his prediction.
Charlie. The sportsmen in your district will surely miss you.
Enjoy your retirement.
BASSMASTER CLASSIC: Pittsburgh’s Bassmaster Classic was great for the city and western Pennsylvania.
With my plans to attend dashed, I was content to watch it on TV, but that wasn’t all that bad.
The coverage of the leaders was great, and the fishing went just a most expected.
It was bass fishing at it best, or worst, depending on how you look at it.
Kevin VanDam was the eventual winner after three days of grueling fishing, where legal-size bass were few and far between with some single-day totals weighing less than one hefty southern largemouth.
VanDam won with a three-day total of 12 pounds, 15 ounces was the lowest ever for a Classic.
When first-day leader Mike Iaconelli was in Pittsburgh to promote the tournament, we spoke at length about the many problems that would face the Bassmasters on Pittsburgh’s three Rivers and its tributaries.
Only eight limits were caught during the three-day event..
Make a note; VanDam’s success came mostly while fishing jerkbaits.
The Classic will never return to northern waters again, but one thing is for sure, the 2005 edition of the event will go down as one for the record books, but not for the same reason as tournaments past.
Rod Schoener is the Herald-Standard outdoors editor.