There are some things that tend to get neglected when you spend a lot of time fishing. For a number of reasons including early rises, long weekends, late returns from trips and a borderline compulsive habit for keeping gear organized, my social life tends to take a bit of a hit during fishing season. Add in the fact that all of our different fishing "seasons" tend to run together here in western PA and the circle of friends of a person who spends a lot of time on the water tends to get rather small. Normally, this doesn't bother me much because I'm fortunate enough to have a very understanding girlfriend and friends who are just as passionate about fishing or can tolerate my lunacy enough to not tell me how crazy this has all gotten. This still doesn't mean that it isn't nice to get out and act like a normal person once in a while.
It was for this reason that Meg and I were pretty excited to head to Jarret's cabin for a weekend of drinking, eating, yelling, blowing up random objects and otherwise acting like a member of the normal population on the 4th of July. There was one small hiccup; Jarret's cabin is about 2 miles from some very good smallie water on the upper Allegheny. After some talking with Jarret, we both decided it would be best to take the boat and gear, but save the serious stuff for a later date.
We arrived at J's on Thursday night to find the Allegheny high and dirty, but slowly dropping. It was pretty clear that the river wasn't going to fish very well anyways, which made it easier to handle our previous decision.
We got to bed after the standard campfire antics on Thursday night and decided to take a short float on Friday so that we could be back in time to meet up with more people that were driving up. Meg, Jarret and I did a bit of fishing, and decided it best to just rest for the long night we had ahead of us...
...Saturday morning brought headaches to some members of the group and also some very entertaining stories of who blew what up with the fireworks that were brought out way too late in the evening for anything good to happen. Fortunately, everyone still had all of their limbs and were feeling good enough to go for long float in the afternoon. The plan was that we would haul the cooler full of beer in our boat, while everyone else relied on rafts to get down the river. It was a good compromise that allowed some fishing time, but ended up causing one of the most chaotic fishing moments I can ever remember.
Meg was rowing the boat and I was fishing as we led the group down the river when a good sized pike blasted my clouser from behind a big deadfall on the bank. "Pike!" I yelled as Meg backrowed and dropped the anchor in order to help me land the fish. All at once, I realized I had a knot in my line and the entire armada of rafts crashed into our boat and began to scatter right into the area where the fish was running. I frantically tried to work the knot out while Meg and Jarret pushed rafts away from the boat and worked to get the boat positioned again. After what seemed like an eternity, we all accomplished what we were working at and Jarret slid the biggest pike I have ever caught into the net so we could get a few pictures...
...it must have been dumb luck, because we floated the rest of the stretch and did not even bump another fish.
After taking out, Meg and I headed home so that I could squeeze a last minute float in on the Yough with Dad and Dan, whom most of us affectionately know as Captain.
The three of us met in Layton around 6:00 to ensure we had enough time for a 13 mile float. This turned out to be well worth the effort, because the fishing turned out to be very different than what we had experienced up north. Recent rains had the water a bit off color and the fish hugging the banks. Many casts were greeted with a wake, splash and a hard fight from a smallie. Although no huge fish were landed, consistent topwater action, great conversation and the standard hilarity that goes along with fishing with Captain made the day one to remember...
So with smallie season going in earnest and a desire to hit the Allegheny when it's at a good level, I guess my social life may have to wait a bit before we try for another resurrection. For now, I have flies that need tied, leaders to build and waders to patch. After all, steelhead season is just around the corner...
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