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Archive for July, 2013

 

Joe-Pye

Joe-Pye

This week was different from the past few. The temperatures have been becoming much more pleasant. I have walked three different mornings this week to enjoy the greatness of nature.

Butterfly Weed (Flower)

Butterfly Weed (Flower)

Last Monday, however, I went Lock 8 on the Allegheny River to try my luck at some fishing. I failed to catch any fish during the couple of hours attempting to do so. I became snagged with the very first cast and that event seemed to set the mode for the rest of this trip. I was snagged many times and lost my riggings up to eight times. I missed one fish and hooked another but the size and, possibly, the specie either broke or bit the line. I saw three deer and a heron this morning.

Filtered light along Cowanshannock Creek

Filtered light along Cowanshannock Creek

I was to visit my sister on Wednesday morning, so I planned a walk along Red Mill Run and the mouth of Cowanshannock since she lives near this area. The cool comfortable early hour was great for walking. I saw four buck at one time. I failed to capture any with photos. There was lots of foliage around the four deer and the photos I managed to take were of little value.. A stray cat followed me around for a little time. I always hate to see dogs and cats dropped off to fend for themselves.

Thursday morning I walked a couple of miles near my homestead prior to visiting my family. The early time was cool enough that I was forced to roll my sleeves down. Later, I saw a buck walking the creek bottom. I managed a couple of pics.   IMG_1106

Friday morning I walked along Buffalo Creek in the Yellow Dog area  of Armstrong County. This was, mostly a road walk. I saw a great blue heron a few times and two wood ducks around the water source. I, also, saw a few decent sized carp within the slow-moving creek.  I debated whether to go carp fishing.

Buffalo Creek

Buffalo Creek

 

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A hint of blue sky!

A hint of blue sky!

The temperatures and humidity are to be leaning way towards the hot end of the spectrum all of this week. I decided late last evening that I needed to get out and catch a few fish early in the morning prior to these conditions being met.

Same view after the fog!

Same view after the fog!

I was on the road towards Lock Number 8 on the Allegheny River shortly after 6 A.M. I had a lot of worms that wanted to be fished with. I obliged them all!

A nice doe crossed the road just prior to the dam’s entrance. I slowed down watching for any small spotted offspring that may be following her.

The river was engulfed in fog until the sun lifted high enough to cause evaporation of the water molecules. I witnessed a great blue heron soaring low across the river in the fog. The long-legged bird landed down river from my fishing site.

Bee-Balm!

Bee-Balm!

Along the river’s shoreline are millions of minnows or shiners. The fish chased them continually until about 8:30 A.M. The little two-inch long fish would leap out of the water upon being chased by larger predatory fish. They appeared to be bass.  I hoped I wasn’t seeing those Asiatic (Flying) carp taking hold in these waters. All morning long I would see fish jumping in the waters. I saw carp and a muskie. I saw a large fish that I believed to be a gar. The scales indicated such a fish for sure. The fast-moving water clouded with murkiness made a positive ID difficult. However, later I saw the fish in its entirety. It was, indeed, a gar and the length was around the forty inch mark! I had some other gar sightings too, but these were in the 28 to 32 inch length category.

Phylox

Phylox

I was blessed with catching four smallmouth bass. The lengths ranged from about eleven inches to fifteen inches. These all supplied some fighting abilities on light tackle. I lost several and missed several too.

The time reached 9:15 and the heat was becoming prominent. I decided the time to head home was nigh. I have paintings and recordings to work on!

 

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Rupp Run

IMG_1102   I haven’t placed any entries here in a while. We have had some hot, humid weather and quite a bit of rain as of late. However, I have been doing some local walking within the community. I have been busy recording a new CD placing many tracks with each song. I have been working on some art projects as well. I am going to enter the Pennsylvania Waterfowl Show later this year. Add to these, I have been doing some music at various places. So, as you can see, I have been staying out of trouble as well!

Rupp Run

Rupp Run

Friday morning presented some much cooler temperatures in the morning so I decided to walk near my old homestead along Silvis Hollow Road in Kittanning Township here in Armstrong County, Pennsylvania. I parked at the intersections of this road and the Garrett’s Run Road and walked the road easternly towards the home where I was raised. Eventually, I surprised my mother and step-father, Bob with a short visit.                                                                                   IMG_1095

Upon my return towards the car I, often,  entered the woodlands to walk along a creek I used to spend hours on…Rupp Run. This crick (creek) is a tributary of Garrett’s Run which in turn enters the Allegheny River. As a boy, I remember catching minnows from a bridge below the house. What a joy to have a water course to play around.                                                                                                                         IMG_1097

I have memories of carrying a tackle box and a bait-casting style rod and reel along the crick to catch trophy chubs. They were, probably, a maximum of around eight inches. That fact didn’t matter to a young lad….I had a blast in their pursuit.

Hickory Nuts

Hickory Nuts

A friend and I would do litter patrols along these waters too. I always hated to see garbage in the streams!

 I remember another time while sneaking under one of the narrow bridges. I saw some old wood peewee bird’s nest anchored to the side. I reached up to see if the nest was empty and it tumbled from the bridge’s side onto my head. I was covered with bird lice!!! I quickly removed my white tee-shirt (Since that was we all wore back then.) and continually covered my head and torso with the cold waters. I learned a lesson!

Cattail

Cattail

Another instance proved to be a lost shoe! I entered into a muddy looking area along the stream. A suction occurred and my foot and leg became sucked down. I had a very difficult time getting out of the muck. I did find I was missing one of my tennis shoes as I finally survived the quick sand. Oh the joys of being a country boy! The Keds were, probably, dirty anyway since I would always rub dirt into my new tennis shoes. They needed a patina immediately. No boy in his right mind would be caught with glossy black and white tennis shoes!

The recent warm and wet weather has proven to be a boom to fungus growth. I viewed many species growing within the woodlands.

Indian Pipes

Indian Pipes

A small waterway and a boy. These are things that make memories!   IMG_1099

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