Plunge of the Polar Bear (Do it with good form and you too could stay alive this winter!)

Maybe it’s the solitude. Maybe it’s the adventure. Maybe it’s the stark simplicity. Maybe it’s because of all of these but it’s certain that I love to drop baited lines through holes in the ice. I do so as much as winter temperatures allow, frozen lakes remaining always a prerequisite. In southwestern Pennsylvania there are […]

2020 – Just Getting Warmed Up

Early January outings portend well for the year ahead. My best guess is that this year will be a good one for finding new places to pursue fish, an excellent 12 months of finding flourishing wildlife and an unprecedented period of learning about the fungi of the Pennsylvania forest. Anyone who’s read this ongoing account […]

Not Quite Hatchery Trout, Not Truly Wild

The slaughter was shocking. Hadn’t these guys ever heard of catch and release!? What if everyone felt entitled to show up and haul out 3 of these every time they were at the Lake Erie tributaries? I like native fishes and I don’t like crowds. Hence, I have ignored steelhead trout within the […]

Fish Feature: The Alewife

I’m starting something new today: “Fish Features.” The purpose is to showcase the variety of Pennsylvania’s fishes and to offer some education. This is how I’ve spent most of my life: studying fish and I’d like to share some of that experience and knowledge. In the months ahead, I’m going to feature as many Pennsylvania […]

Spinning the Fish Wheel

Some people deal well with the unplanned and serendipitous, others do not at all. Some people enjoy randomness while others detest it. Some people need to control and try to dictate outcomes while others are excited to see what new possibilities fate sends their way. My time in the wild between 2007 and […]

2019 – A Year of Exploration, Adventure and Learning

I spent much of 2019 at my workplace in the middle of Pittsburgh and in driving back and forth from across the county line. I spent a lot more time getting my new business, WikiparX.com off the ground. I’m sure I had more wasted time than I’d like to admit, I did quite a bit […]

Tough Lessons

The car still sped forward at over 60 mph but I wasn’t doing 70 anymore. The thermometer on the console had just clicked down a notch to 31 and the drizzle was suddenly replaced by a first blast of lake effect snow. It was 1:00 AM as I eased off on the Grove City ramp, […]

the dying fish

Book info, ordering, about me etc. in upper right

fishing