The First Day of Trout
2 May 2010
By Jan Burkness
As the first day of trout approached I had not planned on going. I was not feeling well and the weather was suppose to be terrible. However the night before I dreamed of fishing all night. Then in my dream,which seemed very real, my mother came to me and said you haven’t missed an opening day of trout for fifty years so why start now….get out there and get um. My mom started me fishing when I was 5 and we never missed an opening day until she became sick and then I would go and she would be my first person I would give the fishing report to. We had gone to many spots over the years but one of our favorites was the Kinzua Creek around Westline. So I got up, got my gear together and headed out to Kinzua Creek near Libby Run where Bruce and I have fished the last 10 years or so.
I am glad I went because it may have been the last. I thought the weather may deter people but that was surely not the case. There were more fishermen than I have ever seen and they were from all over. There were tent cities everywhere and it was hard to find a spot to fish in a hole. I am not sure why this is. There have always been a lot of fishermen but not like this. I am thinking the good streams are becoming more and more scarce and people are flocking to the few that are left. I am not sure how long Kinzua will be with us either. We parked along the road near our spot and there was a new tank battery I believe owned by East. The air absolutely wreaked of gas. It litterally almost made you sick. Another down the road smelled the same way. Last year when I stepped in the water orange stuff gathered around my boot and there was a sheen on the water. It was too crowded for me to move around too much to check things out so I got my limit and left. I have argued on a local forum that Kinzua Creek is dying and many( usually the ones that work for an oil company)I argue it is not. ” I catch a lot of fish” Yes that is because they dump them in a hole and then you pull them out. You don’t see minnows in the water any native trout or aquatic life and as I stated sometimes there is a orange sheen on the water. Imagine what it will be like when East destroys Mead Run with their Marcellus well. I just love the Kinzua Trailway sign at the beginning of the valley that was built for hiking, biking and skiing. Like people want to do this through a wreaking oil/gas field. The propaganda is ridiculous.
