One fish, two fish, three fish, blue fish!

The first day of trout season (the biggest holiday of the year) and my annual fishing trip to Kelletville have come and gone. The first day had delightful weather and I caught lots of fish. Interestingly there were almost no fishermen on Big Run when I walked down to fish, bright and early at 12:30! I talked with one of my friends that resides along the stream and was informed that he saw few people catching fish or leaving with them. I didn’t have any problem catching fish. I caught a nice large rainbow on my first cast, and many more as I moved from hole to hole. The water was slightly below my favorite level so they were not laying in the shallower riffles, but fishing was still good. I can only theorize that the fish were on my schedule this trout season opener.

My trip to Kelletville and surrounding area with friends was also a delight. The weather was beautiful and the fish were abundant. The fish were so plentiful that it made for thirsty work! But everyone was prepared for that contingency! The provisions (food) were also abundant and of the highest quality as collected by raconteur and underwear model – Jim Palmer. Apparently he only underestimates liquid provisions (yeah, yeah, yeah, and only when a shark is involved).

I still enjoy fishing like nothing else on this earth but as the years roll on I must admit seeing old friends and playing cards with them becomes a closer and closer second place! On that note I present a couple of pictures of the trip featuring more people than fish! A very odd state of affairs this picture ratio. I also present my latest shot of the Monster Frog of Tionesta Creek.

The water temperatures on the various streams near Kelletville were a little warmer than normal owing to the rain and sunny conditions earlier in the week. Most of the fish were caught on salmon eggs (Mike’s Cheese Bait of course. Ted Duda can SMELL the difference yaknow!) on the Tionesta. When fishing the native streams the nightcrawler tail still was the biggest producer and minnows provided a smattering of hits as well. I also caught a few on mealworms – however not as high a percentage as years past.

Is this heaven? No sir, it’s Kelletville.

Friends Romans countrymen…

I come here to praise the elm tree not to cut it down. Last Saturday marked the last day that the giant elm tree that grew between and over my garage and shed stood tall. There is now a large hole in the sky. The elm tree was over 45 years old, stood over 115 feet tall and had a spread of about 100 feet diameter. The elm tree succumbed to the dreaded Dutch elm blight brought on by the stress of two consecutive summers of drought. The elm tree was preceded in passing by it’s offspring the previous summer. The elm tree is survived by no known offspring. Services were held on Saturday, with the Reverend Jack presiding, the pallbearers were Jim, Eric, Doug and Cathie. The remains will be cremated over the next 10 years.

Seriously though the elm tree will be much missed by Janet and me. It shaded a massive area and contributed to keeping my home cool in the summer. The tree began life in the corner of my first dog’s (Daniel) pen. It grew easily because we were not able to run it over with the lawn mower when it was a seedling. It grew quickly through sapling-hood and provided much appreciated shade for all our outside dogs (some ducks too).

It was difficult felling the tree since it was an elm tree with massively spreading branches and very fibrous wood. The tree had also grown around the steel fence post of the old dog pen. Jim brought his wood chisels and spent about an hour worrying away the tough wood from the steel stake so that we could cut the stake. Eric and I collected our ropes and tied the huge branch over the garage off to the center of the tree. We wrapped the ropes several times for friction control of the limb to direct it away from the garage roof. Once we were set, Jim and Eric manned the control and pull lines and I climbed the tree with the chain saw. The limb was cut and the control ropes worked like a charm. I then cut the two limbs that remained on the opposite side of the tree from the direction I was felling it. The greater than 3 feet diameter main trunk was notched. We cleared the area and I began the felling cut – cracking. It crashed down flaying the hell out of my daffodils, over 100 feet from the tree, with its upper branches. The daffodil blooms jumped about 10 feet into the air! Now the real work began Doug and Cathie began burning the massive amount of twigs. Jim, Eric and me had a beer and sighed relief at the tree felled without damage or injury. Good bye old friend!