Tag: Trout
It’s Fishing Time!!
For the second year in a row the Valley Inn Sportsmen’s Association stocked trout in Pigeon Creek for Opening Day. Starting at 7AM on Opening Day, 500 Rainbow Trout were released into Pigeon Creek between Peno Plaza on Park Ave, Monongahela, to the State Route 43 bridge on Bentleyville Rd. Interestingly, it wasn’t just ‘put & take’ fishing. I saw a number of trout caught & released. And it’s not a wasted effort either. One angler reported two trout caught recently, before the stocking, that had survived from last year’s stocking. A rainy summer certainly helped. The stocking also included 20 tagged fish that were worth prizes ranging from merchant gift cards to $100 cash. Great to see such support from the community.
Frodo ( the wonder Poodle ) & got there about 11:30AM. Might as well give folks time to catch some fish. And catch them they did. We made our first stop near Peno Plaza. Groups of families & friends like this dotted the bank at every place accessible from some parking area.
Weather was in the high 60’s, sunny & mild. Perfect. Over several stops I found a number of anglers who’d caught from 1 to 3 trout. I saw 3-4 caught while we were walking along. One angler I talked with had released a trout & then pulled in this nice looking Monongahela River ” native trout” while we were chatting.
Yes, I know what a Carp is.
Another fellow across the way hollered over that he’d caught & released three legal sized Smallmouth Bass. And again, while we were watching he reeled in a fat Sheephead.
They were more than happy to pose for a shot.
An angler who had caught three trout had also caught a pan sized Rock Bass.
Next to the fact that there were a lot of family groups out there, the second most gratifying thing was that anglers were catching fish out of the spectrum of species found in the river & tributary system. That tells you that there is also a self reproducing sport fishery potential there.
Many thanks again to the Valley Inn Sportsmen’s Association, merchants & individuals for supporting this event. Thanks to the volunteers who got up at an early hour on their Saturday to haul buckets of fish to the water. And thanks to the members & organizers who simply hop scotched from fishing spot to fishing spot to insure that things were proceeding safely & orderly. Well done.
Fishing on Daniels Run
On Saturday , October 20, the Marianna Outdoorsmen Association stocked 500 Rainbow & Golden Trout on the Daniels Run tributary of 10 Mile Creek for an October 21 fishing derby. When Frodo, the Wonder Dog, & I arrived creekside at 11 AM Sunday it was a chilly 40F morning. He had a great time making new friends while I tried to keep my fingers warm enough to take pix & notes.
The MOA had started clearing the site of high grass , weeds & piles of debris, from previous high water events, on September 22. One short month later they had cleared paths & access to hundreds of yards of stream bank & fishing spots. That was a way ‘ beyond the call of duty’ kind of effort. Thank you folks. And some of the dried out debris ended up as fuel for a big warming, bonfire.
After arriving, I checked in with the organizers. 62 trout had already been caught, registered & released in just the 1st hour of fishing. And 3 more were pulled in the 1st 10-15 minutes I stood stream side.
Whole families were out having fun. In one group it looked like Dad was fishing with a junior sized, or ultralight outfit. As soon as he hooked a fish he handed the rod over to one of the young (pre-school?) children alongside. Now the child had a fishing rig size that they could handle with a fish that was a handful with that tackle. Still, they brought in a couple while I was watching. A great way to learn.
Thanks again to the Marianna Outdoorsmen Association for all they give back to the community.