The Great Outdoors: Kayaking in Clarion County

After a month out of the water, I finally made a trip with my kayak to Piney Dam in Clarion County.

Sunday began overcast, and I was glad for it. It’s not so easy to beat the heat when the hot July sun is burning down, combined with high humidity.

I started at the Mill Creek Boat Launch and went upriver. I had contemplated beginning the trip at the Gravel Lick access and taking out at Mill Creek, but I wanted to fish more than I wanted to paddle…so, Mill Creek it was.

Weekends at Piney Dam are typically not the best times for a kayak or canoe ride, but with the lake drawn down for work on the breast, the number of boaters and water skiers is down considerably. There were still quite a few boats docked, obviously by people who got them in before the water level was lowered five feet.

It was deathly quiet as I padded. The first thing I heard was the call of a bald eagle that was perched somewhere above me. I couldn’t see it, but later, it did fly over and land in a tree not far away.

The fishing was pretty slow, but my expectations weren’t too high. I hadn’t been on Piney for several years, and then it was with my good friend John on his bass boat. John knew the lake reasonably well, and that day, we hit a hot spot that provided fast and furious fishing with each of us landing three or four smallmouth bass each, many weighing at least two pounds.

I had thoughts of just hooking into one smallie that big on my trip. What a fight they put up! As I said, the fishing was slow, and the first noteworthy thing I encountered was a small green heron searching for its breakfast. I had my eyes on a large tree branch that had fallen into the water. I figured the chances of some fish being there were pretty good, and that heron had similar ideas. He landed on a branch as I floated in. I grabbed the camera, and the heron really put on a show for me.

It crept along a branch that was just above the water surface, his sharp eyes searching for small fish to dine on. The little green heron is just a bit bigger than a ruffed grouse or woodcock, and they are quite the predator. It moved along the branch, searching, then stopped and with its short, but sharp bill, plucked a small minnow out of the water. I must have watched him fish for five minutes before he had his fill of the spot and flew away.

As I moved upriver, I did manage to hook a few small bass, and true to their reputation, they put up a superb fight.

Then, to my surprise, I hooked a bigger fish, and it put up a good fight, too; however, something told me it wasn’t a smallie. When I finally got it up close to the boat, there was a nice channel catfish, maybe 15 inches long. I briefly entertained the thought of taking him home for a small fish fry, but, in the end, I let him go.

Soon, I turned around and headed downriver back toward the launch. By then, a few water-skiers had come and gone, but their speed caused a negligible wake.

When I got back, another guy was putting his canoe on top of his Jeep Cherokee. He had one of the campsites along the river and had stayed Saturday night. Sunday, he was paddling upriver when he saw a big, black bear at the river’s edge. As he got closer and readied his camera, along came a boat pulling a skier. The occupants yelled and pointed to the bear, and that was enough for the bruin as it made its way back into the woods.

We compared notes about our short trips and wished each other well.

“The Great Outdoors,” sponsored by the Pennsylvania Great Outdoors, is a weekly blog by exploreClarion.com’s Scott Shindledecker. Plan you next outdoor adventure at VisitPAGO.com or call (814) 849-5197 for more information.