Would you have turned Around?

[Bamboozle]

I was fishing a small Class A in the lower Poconos when I came upon a clearing in the middle of a patch of rhododendron choked woods.

The clearing was large and VERY clear of brush & vegetation with some large logs on the perimeter. There were several trees in the middle of the clearing and the perimeter that were adorned with plastic flowers at the bottom of the trunks. I don't recall any litter or evidence of fires.

Tacked to one of the trees was this "license plate:"

I snapped a few more pics, got out of there and went about my fishing. However, the rest of the outing I was constantly looking over my shoulder for flying monkeys...

 

[Esoxbum]

Dunbarbarians!
Never heard that one before - but I like it.

Agree that Dunbar has gone down hill.
But its still worth an occasional stop for me.
The water stays fairly cool over the summer.
And it is - supposedly at least - FFO catch and release

Haven’t personally witnessed the fishing with dynamite, but regularly see people with spinning gear. Usually by the mine entrance, not way back in the SGL. I still fish it 5-10x per year as it’s the closest ‘trout’ stream to me

 

[wildtrout2]

I was fishing a small Class A in the lower Poconos when I came upon a clearing in the middle of a patch of rhododendron choked woods.

The clearing was large and VERY clear of brush & vegetation with some large logs on the perimeter. There were several trees in the middle of the clearing and the perimeter that were adorned with plastic flowers at the bottom of the trunks. I don't recall any litter or evidence of fires.

Tacked to one of the trees was this "license plate:"

View attachment 1641252663

I snapped a few more pics, got out of there and went about my fishing. However, the rest of the outing I was constantly looking over my shoulder for flying monkeys...

I remember you mentioning coming across the flower managerie at the base of the trees. I think you had included pics of them?

 

[Bamboozle]

I remember you mentioning coming across the flower managerie at the base of the trees. I think you had included pics of them?

 

[tomgamber]

Haven’t personally witnessed the fishing with dynamite, but regularly see people with spinning gear. Usually by the mine entrance, not way back in the SGL. I still fish it 5-10x per year as it’s the closest ‘trout’ stream to me

does Washington run have trout? I think Virgin run has trout.

 

[shortrod]

As a female, your response was prudent.

 

[Esoxbum]

does Washington run have trout? I think Virgin run has trout.

Virgin Run is heavily stocked. Washington Run? Not familiar, but thinking your referring to small stream that runs into Yough directly upstream from Layton bridge on Perryopolis side? If so, no. Not that I’m aware of. They’re actually in the process of diverting it to replace Layton bridge and another 40ft bridge right before the 1-lane tunnel so if there was…..

 

[Ryan Hall]

Last Sunday I found myself on white clay creek, enjoying throwing dry flies for fallfish and sunnies . I started from the bridge at London tract road and exchanged helloes with another FF's coming off the water as I started under the bridge heading up stream. Great weather and fish that were just picky enough to pretend my dry fly casting was improving just a bit, on a few successful takes . Eventually I end up at a very small set of falls with a 8 ' plunge pool under and nice seam. So I re rig to nymph and start make what would be the first of many fruitless drifts. While I'm happily fishing , a guy appears on the far bank , the bank I need to go up as I'm standing on the other side of the stream on the shelf that drops off into 8 feet of water and is impassible. So this guy about 15 yards away never says hello and kinda does the 1000 yard stare past me (he for sure saw me ) , but he has a back pack and I figure he is hiking and think , no biggie let him pass and be on my way around the falls. So after the 30+ fruitless drifts I start to wonder why he has not moved on and is just milling around looking at the ground and I mean it was strange ,his demeanor at least to me. So this goes on for like 20 minutes, and I park it on a rock and just decide to watch him. I think maybe he is looking for mushrooms or foraging, maybe he is Sheed hunting , maybe he is on drugs . Then he starts up the trail a bit but he keeps doubling back after a minute to right in the area I need to go to get around the pool. As we cross there half hour mark and he is still standing on the far bank milling around , I decided to stay on my side of the creek and to wade back to the bridge, calling it a early day and we never say a word to each other .
So I want to know, have I just watched to many scary movies ? Was it all in my head ? Would you have turned around ?

What did he look like? Seriously. Looking for a lost friend. Dave Arleth. He’s short, light brown hair. Probably really skinny.

 

[5footfenwick]

What did he look like? Seriously. Looking for a lost friend. Dave Arleth. He’s short, light brown hair. Probably really skinny.

He went into the woods from the car. Dogs lost scent after about 8-900 yards.

This was a Josh post from a while back I’ve never stopped thinking and caring about.

Bump

~5footfenwick

 

[Streammagic237]

What did he look like? Seriously. Looking for a lost friend. Dave Arleth. He’s short, light brown hair. Probably really skinny.

I'm very happy to see this reposted as I have thought about him and his family many times since reading the original post of him missing on the forum. That said ,White clay creek is roughly 170 miles northeast of Lycoming County ( a long ways to go on foot ) . I wouldn't think of white clay preserve as a place to go to avoid people as it's very well traveled by day hikers and people fishing. The guy was all in blue ,like Smurf blue , shirt , ball cap and pants ,medium build ( not skinny ) , beard, 50 s. He had a back pack ,think book bag not backpacking pack with a large mesh side pocket and a large plastic water bottle ( like the style you see clipped on a bike .) I do not feel it was Dave , but I hope so much for his safe return to his family and hope people keep him in there mind .
- Jessica

 

[jifigz]

What did he look like? Seriously. Looking for a lost friend. Dave Arleth. He’s short, light brown hair. Probably really skinny.

Yeah, David popped into my head, too, but it wasn't from the OP's post; it was from the description someone else offered while in NCPA. Let me see if I can find that post number in this thread..

 

[jifigz]

Post #14 is the one that prompted me to think of David and how that behavior could be him..

 

[Yoder]

If I thought packing a weapon was necessary just to fish, I wouldn't fish. I'd just fteaking quit. A .380 is my choice for concealed carry however. Which I have yet to find necessary, ever.

I was fishing a beaver pond in Pike County about a mile from my truck a few years ago. I had to crawl through what was almost a tunnel in the brush to get to the spot on the dam. It was starting to get dark, and I heard what I thought was someone walking towards me. I could hear the water splashing. I stopped and looked back, and it was a black bear, I'm guessing it was at least 300lbs. It was about 40 yards away, walking right at me. I yelled at it and waved my arms, and it didn't care. I threw a stick and it backed off a little bit but didn't run. I packed my stuff and pulled out my Glock. I had to go out toward the bear, it was the only way out. I kept yelling and it would back off a little more. I finally got out to open woods, and he was still hanging around about 40 yards away. He turned right and I went left. I walked about halfway to my truck and all the sudden I heard something behind me. I turned around and the bear was running right at me. I yelled again and he slowed down and turned away a little but still kept walking in my direction. I've never had a bear act like this. I pulled my gun and shot the base of a tree. If it didn't run, I figured I might have to shoot this bear. He finally took off.
I started bringing a gun because I heard people were getting car jacked coming out from hunting or fishing. I'm always alone and somewhere remote. I never thought I would have to worry about a bear.

 

[wildtrout2]

I was fishing a beaver pond in Pike County about a mile from my truck a few years ago. I had to crawl through what was almost a tunnel in the brush to get to the spot on the dam. It was starting to get dark, and I heard what I thought was someone walking towards me. I could hear the water splashing. I stopped and looked back, and it was a black bear, I'm guessing it was at least 300lbs. It was about 40 yards away, walking right at me. I yelled at it and waved my arms, and it didn't care. I threw a stick and it backed off a little bit but didn't run. I packed my stuff and pulled out my Glock. I had to go out toward the bear, it was the only way out. I kept yelling and it would back off a little more. I finally got out to open woods, and he was still hanging around about 40 yards away. He turned right and I went left. I walked about halfway to my truck and all the sudden I heard something behind me. I turned around and the bear was running right at me. I yelled again and he slowed down and turned away a little but still kept walking in my direction. I've never had a bear act like this. I pulled my gun and shot the base of a tree. If it didn't run, I figured I might have to shoot this bear. He finally took off.
I started bringing a gun because I heard people were getting car jacked coming out from hunting or fishing. I'm always alone and somewhere remote. I never thought I would have to worry about a bear.

That was some very concerning bear behavior! Of the roughly 10 or so bears I've encountered while fishing in remote areas, every one of them took off as soon as they saw and or smelled me. It's the bear that doesn't take off that you need to worry about. Glad it worked out for you.

 

[shortrod]

... I walked about halfway to my truck and all the sudden I heard something behind me. I turned around and the bear was running right at me. I yelled again and he slowed down and turned away a little but still kept walking in my direction. ...

This is known as a Black Bear bluff charge. It is common enough to have a name. At least you had a firearm, usually people only have a flyrod, bow and arrows or a stick.

 

[tomgamber]

I was fishing a beaver pond in Pike County about a mile from my truck a few years ago. I had to crawl through what was almost a tunnel in the brush to get to the spot on the dam. It was starting to get dark, and I heard what I thought was someone walking towards me. I could hear the water splashing. I stopped and looked back, and it was a black bear, I'm guessing it was at least 300lbs. It was about 40 yards away, walking right at me. I yelled at it and waved my arms, and it didn't care. I threw a stick and it backed off a little bit but didn't run. I packed my stuff and pulled out my Glock. I had to go out toward the bear, it was the only way out. I kept yelling and it would back off a little more. I finally got out to open woods, and he was still hanging around about 40 yards away. He turned right and I went left. I walked about halfway to my truck and all the sudden I heard something behind me. I turned around and the bear was running right at me. I yelled again and he slowed down and turned away a little but still kept walking in my direction. I've never had a bear act like this. I pulled my gun and shot the base of a tree. If it didn't run, I figured I might have to shoot this bear. He finally took off.
I started bringing a gun because I heard people were getting car jacked coming out from hunting or fishing. I'm always alone and somewhere remote. I never thought I would have to worry about a bear.

Had one follow me for about 50 yards along Mill creek when I was in college at Clarion. When he got within 30 yards I realized what a dumb@$$ I was. See when you're in college and you're typically broke, you'll eat stockies. Must have been a college bear cuz I made an obvious discard of the fish I'd been keeping and carrying. I kept going. Never saw him again. I like to think he took a nice after lunch nap along that creek, then waited for the next guy.

 

[wildtrout2]

Actual black bear attacks are quite rare. One year up on Jeans, I unknowingly got in between a BIG sow and one of her cubs, which is a bad situation to be in.
I was on my downstream after a good day's fishing, when the sow and two cubs ran right in front of me at no more that 15 or 20yrds. We didn't hear each other because of the stream noise. Once they got past me at about 40 yrds they all stopped and kept looking back from where they had come, which I thought was strange. I fully expected them to keep going after seeing me. One of the cubs had even climbed up a hemlock tree, which again I thought was strange, since I posed no threat and I was a distance from them. They kept looking in my direction.

At this point, I had time to get my phone out for a quick video, which ended up being really good. As I was videoing them for maybe 2 or 3 minutes, I catch movement at the stream, and out comes a third cub!
It walked past me at like 15 feet and joined the family. I still have that great video on my phone. It was an experience that I'll never forget.

 

[hooker-of-men]

A buddy and I had a big old boy low hole us on the Bushkill many years ago near that walk-in permitted community. The bear waded to the middle of the creek way too close to us and started chomping on streambed vegetation. We crept upstream and made a slow exit, though it never even looked up from its feast. Way too many very close interactions with black bears during my years in the Poconos, including my dog treeing one at 6 am and full on jumping on another huge bear in the backyard once. The dog was unscathed.

Dunno if I told this before: on my most recent spring trip in Montana, three of us were gearing up to hike about a mile into a valley that has a small stream in the middle lined with red willows. Seconds before we start down the trail, I notice something about a quarter mile down moving back and forth, just far enough to be hard to tell what's going on. We get the glasses out just in time to see a massive grizzly lumber off into the maze of brush 15 feet from where we would have to pass. Nope! Next spot!

 

[FisherOfMen]

I was fishing a beaver pond in Pike County about a mile from my truck a few years ago. I had to crawl through what was almost a tunnel in the brush to get to the spot on the dam. It was starting to get dark, and I heard what I thought was someone walking towards me. I could hear the water splashing. I stopped and looked back, and it was a black bear, I'm guessing it was at least 300lbs. It was about 40 yards away, walking right at me. I yelled at it and waved my arms, and it didn't care. I threw a stick and it backed off a little bit but didn't run. I packed my stuff and pulled out my Glock. I had to go out toward the bear, it was the only way out. I kept yelling and it would back off a little more. I finally got out to open woods, and he was still hanging around about 40 yards away. He turned right and I went left. I walked about halfway to my truck and all the sudden I heard something behind me. I turned around and the bear was running right at me. I yelled again and he slowed down and turned away a little but still kept walking in my direction. I've never had a bear act like this. I pulled my gun and shot the base of a tree. If it didn't run, I figured I might have to shoot this bear. He finally took off.
I started bringing a gun because I heard people were getting car jacked coming out from hunting or fishing. I'm always alone and somewhere remote. I never thought I would have to worry about a bear.

Im glad you were using your 2nd Amendment right that day!

 

[salmo]

I was fishing a small Class A in the lower Poconos when I came upon a clearing in the middle of a patch of rhododendron choked woods.

The clearing was large and VERY clear of brush & vegetation with some large logs on the perimeter. There were several trees in the middle of the clearing and the perimeter that were adorned with plastic flowers at the bottom of the trunks. I don't recall any litter or evidence of fires.

Tacked to one of the trees was this "license plate:"

View attachment 1641252663

I snapped a few more pics, got out of there and went about my fishing. However, the rest of the outing I was constantly looking over my shoulder for flying monkeys...