About Us

We had gathered just to turkey hunt. When the morning hour struck though, we didn’t find turkeys; we found plenty of mosquitos and silence. After a good dedicated effort to pursue the sultans of the swamp, we surrendered to the blood sucking state birds. Upon reconvening and considering our options, we knew that we had to fill the remainder of the day which had been slotted for the all-day turkey hunting and we only had about fourteen hours left.

So, I started loading the boat. Archie and Muddy sucked it up and purchased licenses, mostly due to the glorious fishing tales I promised them upon the waters of Kinzua Dam. If it crossed anyone’s mind that I have a penchant for being caught in bad weather on the Allegheny Reservoir and also a penchant for being caught in bad weather anywhere fishing with Muddy, it did not come up. It was going to be Muddy and I together on Kinzua, what could go wrong? We had Archie there to throw off any past trends. So off we went on a perfectly sunny day only marred, so far, by greedy mosquitos that used bald eagle nests. 

It all started well. The weather was beautiful, the guys were helpful, the boat fired right up and off we went, cutting across the blue green glass that Kinzua can be. There is nothing like the relaxation of open waters. As we launched, Muddy, pointed out that the fish were probably right across the bay from the launch sheltering from the prevailing wind. I agreed then promptly left the bay. Mostly because I wanted a boat ride and to explore a further off bay that once upon a time held some of the biggest fish I’d ever encountered on the lake. I was going to get my lure back…

After about an hour toiling, I mean trolling, in the “big fish spot” it became clear that there were no fish there for some reason. However, we had worked out the kinks of fishing with a new group who were new to the techniques and the boat and NOW we were ready to catch fish. So, I tried another spot known to hold large numbers of fish. After about an hour there, it became apparent that had changed and the area was as empty as the Steelers parking lot after the first week of the playoffs. 

So, it was back to where we started and right where Muddy pointed out and, BAM, we found fish! We scrambled to action, like sailors manning stations upon seeing a black flag on the horizon. Orders were shouted, lines started cranking. It was a flurry on the deck as we manned our fishing stations and dropped lines. Just as both guys reported having bites and misses and it looked like, after all there was going to be fish on the deck, a dark cloud on the horizon became more ominous and began to shape into a thunder head. Of course, I ignored it, being relaxed and all. I only offered, “We’re going to get wet today.” 

But the dark western skies would not be ignored, forcing a conversation, “If we see lightning, we are out of here” I stated. The crew nodded in agreement. Then the thunder came. We did not see lightning so we took another pass. The gusts started picking up but the fish were nibbling and the chops got higher. As a side note, the guys just picked up non-resident fishing licenses for this trip. It was a shame to peel out so soon and after we just found the fish, otherwise by this point we would have called it a day but factoring in the sixtyish extra dollars, another pass or two was warranted. It got darker yet and I put it out there, “One more?” They decided one more pass over the fish and the sixty bucks would not have been wasted. 

Just as we started our last pass, the storm broke over the ridge and down on the lake. Lightning, now clearly visible, struck the middle of the lake to announce the arrival of hell. There was what appeared to be a shock wave of water pushed up before the rain, from the wind blowing out in front of the storm. We could not get our gear up fast enough before the wall of water hit us. It was a good thing that we decided to fish the bay where we had launched from last because if we were miles away in the main lake, we may have had to swim for it, or beach it to dodge snapping trees in the cover of the forest. It was all we could do to get back to the launch. Three-foot breakers were the common wave with others exceeding three feet easily and they were pounding the boat. We could not see the launch from the amount of water and spray coming over the bow. It was very difficult to control the boat as the winds threatened to spin us like a top. The guys had to lay on the deck to keep from getting tossed overboard. At one point, Archie exclaimed, “We are taking on water!” I looked back behind the cockpit and indeed the boat was full of water up to the cockpit filling to the top of the transom. The automatic bilge pump was not running so I hit manual and still nothing. Going back and lifting the cowling cover, showed only about an inch of water in the bilge. All that water was from a wave that came over the gunnel even though we were faced bow into the wind! It crossed my mind at that point that we may lose the boat just as the water finally drained into the bilge and the pump kicked on. I put Muddy on shore (he mentioned later, as he looked back, he could swear he saw the head of Poseidon rising from the lake). Somehow, with the help of Archie, we got the boat on the trailer and out of the water without damaging ourselves or the boat. Of course, as soon as the boat was secured the storm stopped and the sun came back out… “You guys want to go back out?” I offered. “Nah, they chimed, we got our money’s worth.” Drinks were in order which is the safe way to relax after a relaxing day on the water. Archie checked with NOAA on the way home and found that there was a tornado warning in the area, along with sixty mph winds. Maybe we overreacted and should have kept fishing…

See you along the stream