Friends of mine have been fishing “their site” north of Kittanning, Pennsylvania along the Allegheny River for years. An open invite was given to me and this morning I elected to hit the river for some fishing adventures. One of these friends arrived after 9:00. She caught a very nice bullhead catfish and lost a carp while I was there.
Early a heavy fog covered the waters and surrounding hills. The waters were muddy and high and swift due to heavy rains in northern Pennsylvania. I hurdled in close to some structure and found a lull in the turbidity. I found much action in the following several hours. I missed several and lost several fish including a fighter. However, I caught a couple of nice fish too.
One of the missed opportunities was when an eagle flew through the fog. I looked up for a better look and WHAM! I pulled back and missed!
Other species of interest this morning were some mallards and a few young ducklings and a wood duck hen. She almost landed directly in front of me in the fog. I saw a water snake fighting the currents and a soft-shelled turtle on a couple of occasions. 
The first fish I caught fought hard and long. The channel cat was around eighteen inches maybe reaching twenty inches in length. A carp may have reached eighteen inches fell to my skills. This fish ran line far out into the waters before I finally landed it. I was using a rod and reel equipped for trout fishing including six pound test line.
The fish felt heavy and fought very hard. I actually followed along the river’s shore around two hundred yards or so. I couldn’t turn this fish north. I saw brief images occasionally and several times a glimpse of the entire body. A carp! And a big one! The big guy may have reached the thirty inches of power category. I believe I would have landed this fish too if the critter had not become entangled in a fallen tree. I tried everything to dislodge the fish including giving the big feller plenty of slack line. Nothing worked so I ended up allowing my trophy to go.
I had two other eagle sightings prior to packing up for home with an ever-increasing heat and humid day arriving in force.
Larry A. Smail's Blog 
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