It was off to Prompton Dam a few miles away.  One boat was moored near the boat launch.  A familiar face in the boat seemed distraught.  I’ll simply refer to him as Dave.  Dave was in the process of using a Styrofoam cup to bale water out of the boat.  You guessed it; someone had forgotten to put the plug in.  I told Dave that it was a rookie mistake!  He started laughing, and asked me not to tell Jack.  I agreed (with my fingers crossed).

After I called Jack, we ran into two young men taking their canoe out on the shoreline.  They had a few panfish and everything had checked out.  After a few hours and number of lakes we found ourselves back at White Oak Pond.

As the sun was setting a familiar canoe was heading towards with three men in it now.  Two of the men held up life jackets, the third pointed to one at his feet.  I asked him to hold up the life jacket.  It was children’s pink Barbie life jacket.  I asked him if he thought that it would fit.  He said “yes”.  I asked him to exit the canoe and try it on.  Amazingly this 6’1”, 180 pound young man was able to get both arms through and was struggling to buckle the pink Barbie life jacket.  It just wasn’t going happen.  We shared a laugh and a citation was issued.

I was patrolling Piney Dam by boat when I encountered this red squirrel swimming in the water near the dam. As I watched, the squirrel swam from one side of the dam to the other and then disappeared into the woods.

Where he was going I have no idea!

As we began to write the citations, my guy asked if I was ever in the military. He began to tell a story about his military service and was trying to see if he could get out of his ticket. After listening to his story I had to ask some questions about what he had said. See I served almost 10 years in the Army and made a trip to Iraq and my Deputy served in Vietnam. This guy’s story did not make any sense to me. After all was said and done, he admitted that he never made it thru Boot Camp and he apologized for his story. He just stated that he was hoping to get out of the ticket.

In the end both individuals received their citations, shook our hands and thanked us for our service to the country. I guess some guys will try anything to get out of trouble or a ticket!

For those not familiar with this kind of license, it is issued by authority of the Executive Director of the Fish & Boat Commission to medical and rehabilitative institutions who have patients that may benefit from recreational fishing during the course of their treatment.

These heroes had served combat tours in Iraq and Afghanistan. Both of them had sustained injuries during their tour of duty, and were now patients at the local VA hospital.

Having served in combat myself with the US Army’s First Cavalry Division, I had a strong connection with these vets, and was anxious to help them in any way I could. They were not having much luck where they were fishing and asked me for some other places to go.

Now, as a conservation officer I have some “secret” spots that few anglers know of. This was the perfect time to divulge a couple of those secret places to get these guys into the fish. I asked them to pack up their equipment, and follow me. Within 15 minutes, I had them at one of those secret locations; knee-deep in trout. Let me tell you, those were two happy guys!

It was a privilege to meet those soldiers and to thank them for their service and sacrifices for our freedoms here at home. Although it wasn’t much, I was happy to do what I could as an officer and as a citizen to show my appreciation.

During the course of our patrol we encountered several roadside obstructions that needed cleared from the roadway before disaster would strike. These obstructions consisted of three map turtles, one common snapping turtle and one painted turtle. We also encountered one other turtle that was not successful in making its journey across a busy roadway to potentially lay its eggs.

As Waterways Conservation Officers we are tasked with the protection of the Commonwealth’s reptiles and amphibians. During this particular day I believe we were for the most part successful at fulfilling that obligation and it was a nice change of pace to take our minds off of some of the more serious law enforcement errands that day.

But, now I can say that I’ve seen the ”Best of the Best” in that regard.  While on routine patrol, I pulled into the PFBC boating access at Black Rock, which is located on the Schuylkill River in Phoenixville.  As I did, I found myself looking at an enormous pile of trash sitting next to the launch area.  I counted four tires, 8 very large plastic bags filled with trash, a five-gallon bucket loaded with glass bottles and a large plastic trash container, also filled with trash.  At first I thought the worst; someone had dumped his or her unwanted trash in our lot in lieu of the hassle and expense of taking it to the dump.

Upon further inspection, I found that several individuals from the 7th Wonder, a local organization headed up by Jessica Sanchez of Phoenixville, had spent the entire hot and humid morning wading through the weeds and thick underbrush cleaning up a 200-yard stretch of riverbank along the Schuylkill.  Additionally, Jessica had already made arrangements for the trash to be picked up the following morning and hauled to the landfill.  This goes way above and beyond in my book and deserves to be recognized.

In another instance, I was on routine patrol on the East Brandywine Creek in the area of the low head dam near the Rt. 30 By-Pass, which is a favorite area with local fishermen and a problem area for littering and dumping.  I observed a vehicle in the gravel parking area, so I pulled in to see what was up.  This area is privately owned, and the property owner allows fishing, but swimming is not allowed due to the aforementioned trash problem.  Expecting to see someone swimming, I was surprised to find a gentleman, Larry Palmer of Glenmoore, picking up trash.  Mr. Palmer stated that he enjoyed coming there and decided to clean it up.  I thanked Mr. Palmer and went about my patrol feeling pretty good about what I had just observed.

On another occasion, I was working in Philadelphia at our access at the Frankford Arsenal, when a man walking around with a large plastic bag caught my attention.  I watched with curiosity wondering what he was up to.  The gentleman began to pick up trash from the ground and place it into his bag.  Wondering why he was doing this, I decided to introduce myself.  When I inquired as to why he was picking up litter, he stated that he enjoyed coming to our boating access, but didn’t like all the trash, which was continually left behind by inconsiderate people.  He told me his name was Richard E. Johnson, that he lived nearby, was retired, and he followed this routine five days a week.  I thanked Mr. Johnson for his service to the community and the PFBC and walked away in amazement.

If more sportsmen/women were of the mindset of these individuals, there would be, in my humble opinion, more places for those of us who enjoy the beauty of the outdoors to recreate in.  More places to bike, fish, hunt, hike, or simply sit and relax.  In short, more private property would be open to the public.

Thank you to these individuals who gave generously of their time, you are the “Best of the Best.”  I applaud you.  I encourage all of you to follow their lead in helping to Protect – Conserve – Enhance Pennsylvania’s Waters.

I drove to the location on 20 Mile Creek and there was an individual fishing in the posted area. I parked my vehicle and spent the next half hour watching him. He was attempting to snag fish but was not very good at it. He started to work his way back to the bridge, an area that is open to fishing. I decided to drive down to the bridge and talk with this individual and explain how expensive it can be to fish on posted property. I parked the truck and walked down the path that leads to the area under the bridge.

Just before I stepped into the open I heard two individuals talking, one was the guy that was fishing in the posted area. They did not see me, so I listened to the conversation, “lets go up to the big hole and snag some fish and head home”. I backed out and followed the two individuals. They talked about being on posted property and said we better not get caught.

I stepped out from behind the trees and identified myself. I instructed them to take the three fish they snagged down to the bridge and I will meet them there. They had three fish on a stringer under the bridge and I found two fish in a cooler in their truck. I asked who caught these fish; we caught those two fish yesterday. I asked, when did you arrive in Erie? They told me 2 o’clock this morning and we caught those two fish in the lake. I confirmed that they meant 2 o’clock this morning? Yea, they replied. I said, well that is still today, so you are over the limit.

I issued several citations and seized the fish. After talking to the landowner these were the two individuals trespassing earlier in the day.

I summoned him to pull into shore and proceeded to conduct a safety inspection of his vessel as well as a fishing license check. The male individual did have a Type II Personal Flotation Device on board but decided not to comply with the mandatory wear requirements in that it was uncomfortable for him to fish with it on. I explained to him the various types of PFD’s on the market today to meet the needs of boat-based angling. This gentleman was also short the required sound producing device. A citation was issued for the PFD violation and we parted company on pretty cordial terms.

The very next day, my day off, I was shopping at the local Wal-Mart and while cruising thru the sporting goods section, I took notice of the same gentleman that I had encountered the day before actively trying on different types of Personal Flotation Devices. We made brief eye contact and to this day I am not sure if he recognized me out of uniform, either way I believe that I actually got the messages thru to this gentleman in that a Personal Flotation Device can only save your life if you wear it and if it’s not comfortable to wear chances are you won’t wear it.

There were numerous WCO's working a late night detail for poaching. After a long night we finally had the incident we were there for, three individuals fishing nursery waters and keeping out of season walleye. One of the individuals there had a warrant for his arrest. WCO Giardina and I transported the individual to Crawford County jail. This was my first time in taking someone to jail. I knew where the jail was but at 0200 hours in the morning I was unsure where the drop off for the prisoner was. This is where my unexpected help came into play.

The prisoner, while it was our first time, it was not his. The prisoner gave me detailed directions and instructions on how to get him into the jail. He even went so far to say that he could recognize the voice over the intercom before entering the jail. Needless to say, like always, we got the job done and the prisoner was entered into the jail without incident. I am not ashamed to say that sometimes I need help, but sometimes you never know where you are going to get it. Thank you Mr. Prisoner, I couldn't have done it without you.

People are always complaining, "you didn't put any fish in my spot", but he recently had a different kind of complaint. They were stocking a small creek in a rural area and they drove past an elderly fellow trying his hand at catching a fish in one of the very few, bigger holes on that creek. They drove about 75 yards past him and stopped and put trout in four buckets which they emptied into the creek. As they were loading the buckets back on the truck they noticed the angler, who was now very agitated, storming toward them.

When he got to them he barked, why did you have to ruin my fishing? After getting confused looks from the stockers the fisherman said, where do you think all those fish went? Because the water is pretty shallow where you put all those fish they all came right down the creek and into the hole that I was fishing and spooked all my fish!

I guess we’ll never please everyone.

We located the anglers in question below the bridge on the other side of the boat launch and stood above them for several minutes just watching. However, I did observe one trout about 30’ in front of them that was belly-up. After about ten minutes, where they didn’t catch any fish, I decided to go down and check for licenses.

Just as I went over the guardrail the one fisherman caught a trout. So I stopped to watch what he did when he got the trout to shore and sure enough he began to violently shake the line until the fish flopped back into the lake.

Both anglers had their fishing licenses and after explaining the immediately release provision of the year round fishing designation I awarded the shaker a coupon worth $108.50 to be redeemed at the local magistrate.

However, it is the other side of that coin that I will never forget. These are the desirable people I have encountered along the waterways of Northern Wayne County.

• Outflow of Prompton Dam- This man’s presence was desired in Arizona for an outstanding felony arrest warrant.
• West Branch Lackawaxen River- This man’s presence was desired by the Lackawanna County Sheriff’s Department for a misdemeanor arrest warrant.
• Miller Pond- This man’s presence was desired by the State of New Mexico for an outstanding felony arrest warrant.
• Prompton Dam- This man’s presence was desired by the Carbondale Police Department for an outstanding misdemeanor arrest warrant.
• Outflow of Prompton Dam- This man’s presence was desired by the Pa. State Police Gibson barracks for an outstanding felony warrant.
• Delaware River- This man’s presence was desired for an outstanding felony warrant out of the state of Florida.
• Van Auken Creek- This man’s presence was desired by Waymart Borough Police for an outstanding felony arrest warrant.

All of these desirable people reached their desired destinations.

They were very cooperative and freely admitted that they had failed to purchase a current license. As we finished with the paperwork, I thanked them for their honesty and cooperation, and informed them that even if they lied to us, we would have caught up to them eventually through the process.

One of the individuals then spoke up and told us, "See you do learn something from TV." When we asked him what he meant, he stated: "I watch the Wardens show on TV, and the one thing I learned from that show is if we lie to you we'll get it twenty-times worse by the time it is done!" Who says current TV isn't educational?