MY 2003 JOURNAL


WELCOME
I hope you will enjoy reading about my fishing adventures this year. I will be sharing the events with you as I have for the past three years. If you enjoy this journal please share the address with a friend
THANKS





~ APRIL FISHING ~


APRIL - 1st :
I have been writing to a nine year old named TOMMY. He has been reading my Fishing Page and is really excited about this his first year of fishing. I will be sharing his adventures as I receive them this year. GODD LUCK TOMMY !!!


SUNDAY - 6th :
I went over to Heath Pump Station to see if I could get some trout photos at the hatchery. It was windy so I did not get the very best video, but since I work 48 hours this week I knew it was my last chance before the season started.
I saw 5 whitetails in a field on the way home even though it was 1:30 in the afternoon..

SUNDAY - 13th :
TOBY CREEK - feeder inlet
Well had MY opening day this morning after work.Got to my spot at 6:20am and had my first Trout hooked at 6:45am !! Caught a brown trout at 10:45am to go with this Brook and that was it for today. Fished until 1:00pm. Caught both fish on wax worms. I tried spinning for awhile and had a couple "follows" but no takers. Missed one other bite. All and all a good beginning to fishing season 2003. (better than last year that's for sure !) Hope to get to Kyle Lake this week. I only work two days this week so I should get in some fishing if the weather holds !! It was about 32 degrees when I started fishing this morning, but it did warm up after the sun came up....


FRIDAY - 18th :
TOBY CREEK - Jenkins Area
Started fishing Toby after work this morning at 6:30am, had a "fish on" at 6:50am BUT was not able to land him succesfully. I did however manange to hook and land a 12 inch Brook Trout at 7:00am. That was all the excitment for the morning except for me shivering !!! 8-) MAN..was it cold.... I managed to stick it out until 10:00am and that was it - had to go home and warm up !!! Sure hope this weather changes and gets warm, I am dying to get the boat out on Kyle Lake. The creek was really cold and so was the fish I caught... like holding an ice cube !!!


TUESDAY - 22nd :
TOBY CREEK - Jenkins Area
Fished for two and a half hours after work this morning and managed to land three trout (all brookies). Two took meal worms and one hit a black wooly-bugger tied under a casting bubble. Found out they are stocking North Fork behind the house this week so I may get in some good trout fishing on Thursday. Also had two whitetails run across the road in front of me on the way down to the Jenkins Area. Elaine informed me she heard turkeys gobbling behind the house this morning also.. !! 8-)


WEDNESDAY - 23rd :
TOBY CREEK - feeder inlet down to tresle area
NORTH FORK - Richardsville Bridge and Blowtown Bridge
Got home from work and took a 4 hour nap and headed to Brockway to fish Toby.Fished 2.5 hours and caught two Brown Trout. Took off and headed past home to Richardsville and arrived at 2:00pm. They had stocked North Fork today. Fished there until 4:00pm. Landed 15 Brooks & Browns in two hours and headed off to Blowtown Bridge behind home.Landed 13 more Brookies and got back home at 6:00pm as promised. 8-) Had an enjoyable day trout fishing..30 total trout landed (touched)
I had decided before I started fishing today that I was only using "salted minnows", Turned out it was the choice bait to use today...those stockies" (right off the truck) must not be able to resist "salties". It was really crazy action. I went thru almost an entire bag of minnows !!!! I have NO IDEA how many I missed or those that got off before I could "touch" them to make them count as caught or landed !!!
Taking the boat to Kyle Lake in the morning for Largemouth and Northerns, supposed to be nice weather so I'll be able to get some photos to add to the journal !!!!


THURSDAY - 24th :
KYLE LAKE
CALLEN RUN
Started the morning off at Kyle Lake. It was really cold and after rowing out onto the lake the wind started blowing me all over the lake. It was terrible !!!..COLD plus windy equals..I left after 2 hours of no fish or bites...
I decided to try for some trout at Callen Run. I got there and had the area to myself. I landed about a dozen small brookies in about an hour. Then A guy arrived with his 3 grandchildren. The hole I was fishing was LOADED with small trout so the kids came over and I had a BALL for the next several hours helping them trout fish !!! They were visiting their grandad and they are from Maryland. We had a BALL !! I was surprised at how good they were at catching trout, since this was their first experience at catching trout. I can not begin to say how many the three of them caught, but they kept an even dozen for their granddad to cook for supper tonight.

SATURDAY - 26th :
CLARION RIVER - below Halton
Well the Clarion River did not fail me again !!!
After seeing how low the water was the other day I thought I would try an afternoon trip to the Clarion, I fished for 4 hours. I missed alot of hook-ups...?????
BUT I did manage to land my first Smallmouth for 2003. And two others to go with him. I also landed one HUGE sucker !!
and to finish the day off right I landed a Brook Trout. My first trout at this location on the Clarion River. I caught all the fish on my "river rig" with a nightcrawler attached to it. All in all a good day... even managed to spot a whitetail on the way home !!


SUNDAY - 27th :
KYLE LAKE
Well it was a beautiful day to be on the lake. The winds were NOT to bad, they were present at times and at times the water was calm. The fishing was not the greatest, I threw alot of "stuff" and the fish did not seem to be too interested. I did managed to catch two Largemouths and had a northern "follow" in my lure but would not "take it".
I caught one bass on a Berkley power worm (motor oil) and the other hit a white fuzzy grub jig with a white Mr. Twister attched. I also missed one on a power worm. The Norhtern followed in a Rapala blue & silver shad minnow. Trolling motor worked fine, took about an hour an trolled back and forth trying to get a Northern interested but NOT today !! 8-(

MONDAY - 28th :
NORTH FORK - Richardsville and Jones Bridges
Nice morning for some trout catching.Left home at 9:00am - stopped at two local bridges to fish and landed three Brookies at each. I only fished about an hour at each bridge and arrived home before noon for lunch.

APRIL 30th -
I received an E-mail from Tommy today --- seems he is having a good first year of fishing.
He has managed to land 6 Trout and 1 Largemouth Bass.
Way To GO Tommy !!!...


~ MAY FISHING ~


FRIDAY- 2nd :
SANDY LICK CREEK
Well I met a guy (Jerry) and his son (Mike)and we spend the morning trying to catch trout on the Sandy Lick. Well the truth is I SPENT the time trying to catch trout. Jerry and Mike were having the time of their life landing and "missing" trout.... Me... I could hardly BUY A BITE !!!! 8-)
I did manage to land two of the three I hooked. Those guys must have had a dozen apiece.. Wax worms were the bait of the day and I had meal worms & salted minnows..
I am SURE that was the difference 8-)
We did have a heck of an enjoyable morning and after all that's what it is all about. I enjoyed wading the creek which I have not done too much of in the past couple years..as some of you who have read my other journals may know... I have this thing about getting wet when I wade.... LOL....
STAYED DRY TODAY THOUGH !!!!
So a special thank you goes out to Jerry & Mike for their invitation to join them for the morning..
THANKS AGAIN GUYS !!!

SUNDAY - 4th :
CLARION RIVER
Fishing was a little slow, but I did managed to land a few fish. 3 Brook Trout, 1 Smallmouth, and 2 Rock Bass. All on nightcrawlers. It was a beautiful day for fishing, I enjoyed my 4.5 hours on the Clarion River.


MONDAY- 5th :
Rainy Day Acres
Well it is cold, windy and we are gettting some MUCH NEEDED rain here at Rainy Day Acres today.
So my fishing activities have been forced indoors.

FRIDAY- 9th : RAINY DAY ACRES
Well the much needed rain continues....now I am facing my two 12 hour work day, BUT the weather is still calling for rain. We have had some heavy down-pours so the creeks and streams in the area are muddy. Hopefully I'll get out on Moanday for some fishing. This weather has allowed me to get some work done aound home. One thing I finished ahead of schedule was the guest accommadations here at Rainy Day Acres.
This is a trailer located right here next to our home that we are going to allow friends and relatives to stay at while in the area for visiting..hunting..or fishing...

MONDAY 12th :
CLARION RIVER
Well after 8 days of No Fishing I was going "nuts"... so I decided to try the Clarion River for a couple hours between rain stroms. I managed to get in two hours of fishing before the storms hit again. I landed one trout..one smallmouth and a Rock Bass. The trout will be Memorial Day Dinner.. YES !!! I finally landed another one of those Trophy Brown trout that I write about being in the Clarion River...He was 21 inches and 2.5 pounds..nice and orange on the inside..Not one of those "stockies" that's for sure !! 8-)

TUESDAY - 13th :
CLARION RIVER
Well after such a trophy yesterday I thought I would return today and see if I could duplicate the adventure. Fishing was slow... I fished from 1:00pm until 3:30pm.
I managed only one Rock Bass and one trout...
Another of those trophy Browns. only this one was even larger than the one from yesterday.. This one was 22 inches and an even 3 pounds.. The Memorial Day trout fry is definately looking up !! 8)

WEDNESDAY - 14th :
I have decided to host a fishing outing on the Clarion River on
JUNE 14th, 2003.
Maybe this will become an annual thing like My Night Before Buck Season Annual Chili Dinner. Hopefully it will be as successful as the dinner has become !!
I posted invitatons at FishErie.com and HuntingPa.com...it will included a cook out back here at Rainy Day Acres after the fishing is finished. I have arranaged for some prizes and surorises..looking forward to a great day..hope the weather will be nice..Sounds like a lot of fun with alot of nice folks who share the love of fishing and the Clarion River.
Also offered the "guest-camp" for any "out-of towners" wanting to stay there Friday night..


FRIDAY- 16th :
WOW !!!!
Am I excited today... I was informed that the Heath Township Sportsman's Club are going to put their hatchery trout into the Clarion River tommorrow morning..
Belltown at noon here I come !!!!
Also talked to (E-mails) my friend Jeff at White Oak Whitetails and it looks like next week is the week for me to get lots of photos of newborn fawns!!!!

I only have to work MON & TUES then I am off or on vacation until the WED night after Memorial Day..company coming for the week-end....Large Hatchery Trout... Fawn Photos... Lots of adventures coming in the next few days.. GO AWAY RAIN !!!!!
please ????


SATURDAY - 17th :
CLARION RIVER
Well my plans changed so I hit the Clarion at dawn and fished for 2.5 hours. Landed one Brown Trout and one Smallmouth. Fishing was REALLY off and it was COLD !! Hopefully this rain will end and it will start to look and feel like the end of May instead of the begining of April !!


MONDAY - 26th :
CLARION RIVER
Well the week-end company we had arrived here and returned to Pittsburgh safely. So that made for a great week-end visit. Rain stayed away which made it even better for the visit and it allowed the creeks and streams to clear up some from all the recent rain and run-off.
I cooked the the large Brown Trout over an open fire and I must admit they were delicious !!! They sure tasted different those those recent "stockies" taste...
I hit the Clarion River at 7:30am this morning. The water level was down quite a bit from the past few weeks and the water was not too muddy. It was still cloudy but fishable..
The fishing was not very good.Tried two spots I have never fished before and only managed Rock Bass. So I went to my old favorite rock near Belltown and quickly landed a 17 inch Brown Trout. Fished for another hour and went home....fish not biting !!
Griz and his wife were riding by and saw the truck so they stop for a "chat". I enjoyed their little visit and left as they were leaving. I did see 3 whitetails on the way to the river and one that had been hit by a vechile laying on the side of the road. Hope to get out again in the morning...

TUESDAY - 27th :
CLARION RIVER
I got an early start this morning started fishing at 6:00am and fished until noon, when it started to rain.
Had a geat day.... was entertained by some whitetails wanting to drink water from the river and watch a beaver swimming around BUT did not get any pictures of the beaver.
Landed 4 Rock Bass - 1 trout - 1 Bullhead catfish - and 4 smallmouth bass. Two of the smallies were really nice fish !!
Fished a little longer than usual but did enjoy the trip to the Clarion AGAIN !! I even managed to land two smallmouths on a Mepps spinner..( worms were getting low !!)


~ JUNE FISHING ~



MONDAY - 2nd :
CLARION RIVER
Even though it did not rain yesterday, the all day rain on Saturday had the Claion River high - fast - and muddy. I still managed two smallmouths and 4 rock bass.
There was a frost this morning !
Frost ???... I had to scrape my windshield !!!
I imagine the cold temperature and the water conditions helped to make the fishing very slow this morning. I fished for three hours at 4 diffrent spots.


THURSDAY - 12th :
I can not believe here it is the 12th and I have been fishing only ONCE so far in JUNE !!!!!
Between the 12 hour shifts and the rain this month sucks as far as fishing goes !! The only days it does not rain are my days to work 12 hours and most waters are not fishable in this area anyhow....Time to get the boat out and head to Kyle Lake RAIN OR SHINE !!!!!
I had to postpone the fishing outing..The Clarion is way to muddy for any serious attempts at fishing and will take 4-5 days of no rain to clear..maybe by September... at the rate the rain is falling here in this part of Jefferson County.
Weather has been so bad I have not even mananged my trip to the deer farm for fawn photos..BUMMER!!



JUNE SUMMARY ---- Well as you can tell from the lack of entries.. June was not a good fishing month for me. The main thing was the RAIN. I can NOT believe the amount of rain we received. Adding to the problems were all those "things that just happen" 8-) Truck Died... water heater died.... grass mowing...hay season and time to put up hay for the horses.. ETC ETC.. between the 12th of June and today I managed only 4 trips to the Clarion River. I spent more time driving than fishing..looking for new spots to tell you about. I managed a few trout and some Small smallmouths and that was about all. I did see some nice fish being caught by guys going by in canoes. So with most of my Summer Projects hopefully completed I can get back to some serious fishing. BTW... did I mention by 3 year old riding mower dying also ??? Oh well "____ Happens" !!!!


~ JULY FISHING ~


WEDNESDAY- 16th :
CLARION RIVER
Chuck's Spot
Well I finally managed to return to the Clarion for some serious fishing this morning after work and a quick little nap..
One of the supervisors at work shared the directions to his favorite fishing spot on the Clairon River with me and I was certainly glad I gave it a try. Especially since it is the nearest place so far to my home. This spot is above Hallton on the way to Portland Mills.
I mananged to land 13 Smallmouths ranging from 8 to 18 inches in length and 1 nice Brook Trout. All the fish were returned to the river to fight another day !
Watched two white-tails come down to the water to get a drink and play around in the water. It was really amusing watching them. They were probably 1/4 mile down stream but I could still enjoy watching them playing in the water.
I fished from 10:30am to 1:30 pm, BUT I cannot wait to return to this spot early in the morning. If the fishing was this good at that time I can't imagine how good it will be at first light !!! I caught the trout at about 12:15 or so and after that the activity stopped cold..No fish no bites...????

THURSDAY - 17th :
CLARION RIVER
Chuck's Spot
I returned to the same spot as yesterday only I started fishing at 7:30am and fished for four hours.
The fishing was still GREAT!!
Landed 15 Smallmouths - 2 suckers - and 2 Trout (1 Brown and 1 Rainbow)...
Again nightcrawlers were the "ticket". Had two whitetail visitors on the other side getting a drink and wading in the river.Spotted some deer and two hen turkeys with their young on the way to the river. Just another great morning fishing the Clarion River... 8-)

THURSDAY - 17th :
CLARION RIVER
Returned to the same spot at 4:30pm and fished until 7:30pm. Only managed 2 Smallmouths. Well Chuck's Spot will get a weeks rest now before I return again.Had a whitetail doe come right behind me at about 35 yards eating grass while I was sitting on the rock.. I spooked her trying to get to the camera.. 8-(


SUNDAY - 20th :
CLARION RIVER
Decided to take a ride along the Clarion River and video different places and canoe launchs between Portland Mills and Belltown.

JULY SUMMARY...
Well July did not prove to be a much better month for fishing. I sill can not believe the number of days it has rained here in Jefferson County. We even had to go a day and a half on our generator while they fixed the electricity.. 8-(
This is proving to be one of my pooriest year for fishing. I still enjoy everyday I do get out BUT I sure wish there would have been more of them...

AUGUST FISHING ~


TUESDAY - 5th
CLARION RIVER
I could not take it any more.....
Went down to the Clarion with my rod and some plastics..water was...as expected... high-fast-cloudy...
I fished for two hours throwing all sorts of plastic things..8-)
I landed one brown trout on a black 4" plastic worm with a red tail....

SATURDAY - 9th
CLARION RIVER
Returned to the Portland Mills area and fished for 4 hours. Water was still very high and fast. Because of storms the past two days it was also VERY MUDDY. Had to keep a look-out for trees and branches flowing down-stream..8-) Fishing was slow and tough.. it was hard getting bait anywhere near bottom without hanging up. I did manage a few fish. Lots of "chubs" and 4 Smallmouths. The smallies were all between 10-12 inches, no real prizes there BUT they did put up a nice struggle with the roaring current..


~ 2003 TOTALS ~
FISHING TRIPS :
Trout Streams = 7
Klye Lake = 2
Clarion River = 18

FISH CAUGHT:
Trout = 68
Largemouth Bass = 2
Smallmouth Bass = 52
Northern Pike = 0
OTHERS=
Sucker - 3
Rock Bass - 15
BullHead Catfish - 1



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