Pennsylvania Angler & Boater - May/June 2014 - 6

It's Never Too L ate to Fish
by Jennifer Bilott

photos by the author

I have a friend who I have known since I was a little girl.
She was a big influence on me growing up. Her family spent
countless weekends boating on the Allegheny
River. They had a camper and a small vessel with a 30-horsepower motor. They would travel past Kittanning every
weekend to zoom up and down the river. This was her
father's favorite way to spend his time off. She would tell
me stories about how she grew up, as a boater and angler as
a small girl, just like me. But, as long as I have known her,
I never saw her fish. She told me that as she got older, she
spent most of her time working, raising a family and going
back to school to be a teacher. So, there wasn't much time to
boat, fish and do those things that she held so dear.
Now that she is retired, I decided it would be a great
opportunity to take advantage of the Pennsylvania
Fish-for-Free Days and take my lifelong friend fishing.
She agreed to go on Memorial Day to Twin Lakes,
Westmoreland County, and revisit one of her passions. It
was a perfect day to fish. Not too hot, a little overcast and
best of all the fish were biting. When I arrived at her home,
she came out in Memorial Day attire. She is one of the
most patriotic people I know, always supporting the USA
in remembrance of her father and his fight in the Battle of
the Bulge during World War II.

Pennsylvania Angler & Boater * May/June 2014

Twin Lakes drew a large crowd that day. It was great to
see so many people taking advantage of Pennsylvania's Fishfor-Free Days. With so many anglers, we were fishing the
best spots elbow to elbow, but we managed to squeeze into
an amazing spot. We buried our hooks with wax worms
and maggots, which happens to be my live bait of choice. I
refreshed her memory with a quick casting lesson and in no
time, she was throwing lines like a professional. I pictured her
30 years prior performing the same motion. The day started
off smoothly, but it didn't go quite as planned. A few dozen
hooks were lost and what seemed to be a pound of bait was
launched across the lake because she didn't always cast with
an open bail. But, a few twists and turns aside, the majority of
her later casts were long and straight, and the bait stayed on
the hook. I've heard the expression that the grass is greener
on the other side of the fence. On this particular outing, I
learned the water is bluer on the other side of the lake. If
more than 30 minutes passed without a catch, my newfound
fishing partner was packing shop and moving on. After
trying a few spots, we managed to find the proverbial
"honey hole," and the rest of the day was "fish on."
We sat on the bank and reminisced in between our
catches. It was not long until my friend had a small tug on
her line. I was proud to see that she could still set a hook.
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Pennsylvania Angler & Boater - May/June 2014

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