Life along the stream

[Jim Kearney]

Last weekend I was up at my camp and the its a great place to get away for awhile and often even the obvious slips away. I arrived Friday night late but got up early on Saturday morning to fish. It started a little slow but then things picked up and I had a very productive morning fishing spinners, then some blue quills and even coaxed a few up with some ants. Once things slowed I moved up onto my back porch and enjoyed a cup of really awful coffee. While there, 42 geese of varying ages strolled through my back yard, a mother mallard and six little ones visited shortly after. During the course of the day and evening I noticed the multitude of bats and swallows that chased mayflies, two mink worked the opposite bank, a muskrat swam by, two darned herons waded in the shallows chasing fish, kingfishers dove consistently for fish while I fished or stood near by, two deer (a rarity at my cabin) came down to the far bank for a drink, a wood duck with young scurried by, 2 mergansers and 8 young came by. In the past couple of months I have seen numerous Ospreys and one Eagle (with a fish in its talons) fly over my head while fishing. My neighbors grand children came over and fished for awhile one day this weekend (bobbers and worms) and I of course fished. These sightings and events all happened along my 225 feet of bank along Fishing Creek that I consider an absolute privilege to own, enjoy and just as importantly, the responsibility to protect. My passion is fishing but I love the environs where fish are found is just as important and I will work to protect these streams as much as possible. I think that these goals should be shared by all who love our sport and the environments in which the streams are found.

Jim Kearney

[paul gethouas]

Jim

Very nice post...Thanks for sharing!


Paul

[Jim Kearney]

Thanks Paul,

The whole purpose of my post was to illustrate just how much life revolves around our streams, not just fish and fisherman, but other species as well. Of course all of us in this stretch have wells and if the stream becomes polluted all of our wells will be lost as well. Environmentally bad but also an economic loss as well if the water is bad. My place is a nice little cabin in the woods; add Fishing Creek in the back yard and the property value is at least double. What is truly ironic is that all five places in my area had to connect to the municipal sewage line (I had no objections) to protect the waterway and yet little to no protection from the drillers. Kind of back asswards to me.

Jim Kearney

[rrt]

I agree with Paul: nice post. When I was in college at the Harvard of the Susquehanna (Lock Haven) 40 years ago, I somehow blundered into Fishing Creek in the Narrows. I was just learning to fly-fish, but somehow a few trout actually impaled themselves on my flies. It was a lovely place. I'm glad you have a place there; you appear to really appreciate it.

[Joe Pufka]

RRT,

I went to the Harvard on the Mon (Monongahela) California University of Pa. Back then it was California State College. I did not fly fish back then, but had in invertebrate zoology professor that studied at PSU. He spoke of many return trips on route 22 to fish Spring Creek. If I knew then, what I know now... He was an expert in aquatic insects. His patterns would have been excellent. Have you recovered from pounding the rebar? I needed some time at the beach for R and R.
-Joe

[Jim Kearney]

Seems like a lot of us attended Harvard some where, mine was located in Clarion. Fished often in McAllan Run, Turkey Creek and Canoe CreeK instead of attending class. One of my most embarrassing moment was one time I was subbing in a sixth grade class and kept breaking the film I was trying to show. A sixth grader (of course) bailed me out. I know I was fishing when that Audio/Video class was going on!

Jim Kearney

[rrt]

1. Joe -- I actually tried to play basketball on Sunday; in the heat, we all played pretty badly, and I was especially hopeless. I could hardly walk, let alone run/jog from end to end. I think the rebar pounding had done me in. On Monday, I was so beat that I didn't even try to fish. I fished only two days this week; too hot the rest of the time. Only one local creek stays cold enough to fish without harming the fish in this kind of weather.
Spring Creek in those days was really something. IMO, it has deteriorated so badly over the past 15 years that I don't even bother to go down there to fish any longer, except maybe once every two or three years for old time's sake. W/ all the horrid development taking place in the SC area, I wonder if Spring can survive. So sad.
2. I didn't know there were other Harvards out there! I thought the Haven was the only one! Boy, wouldn't you like to have those days back?
3. Age 60 kind of sucks, but I guess it's better than the alternative.