The Sportsman's Corner

I recently re-read the late Jim Bashline’s “Night Fishing for Trout,” a fly-fishing book published in 1973. Bashline’s book was unique since it was a departure from the usual treatises about matching fly hatches during daylight hours.

I probably should not have re-read the book since it reminded me that I have not fly-fished for trout after dark for a number of years. Bashline’s tales of landing huge trout after dark, mostly from the Goodsell Pool near Coudersport (now a concrete ditch), made me think about rigging up some wet flies and sallying forth to do battle with big trout after dark.

Actually, the first night fishermen I became aware of when I was young were anglers who used commercially raised crickets for bait. Several of these fishermen were from the Johnstown area who rented a creekside cottage. They did fish during daylight hours, but by late spring I ran into them just at dark. They were just getting started when I was leaving the stream. One white-haired veteran carried a small transistor radio with him so he could listen to Pittsburgh Pirate games while he fished. A couple of local trout fishermen were night-fishing enthusiasts as well. Most notable of these was Michael “Pike” DiBartolome, who was legendary among Williamsburg trout fishermen for his ability to catch big trout.

During one of my first years of college, I tried night-fishing with crickets one summer. It was a little spooky. As had happened to my father before me, my crickets escaped their cage and chirped incessantly in and around our house until autumn frosts killed them. My mother sternly warned me not to buy any more crickets as long as I lived in her house.

I was just out of college when Bashline’s book appeared. I thought it might be exciting to fly-fish after dark, but it wasn’t till after I was married that I tried wet-fly fishing at night. DiBartolome shared a couple of his favorite spots with me. “It’s best when there is no moon,” he advised.

My results were mixed. Some nights I drew complete blanks. Other times I landed some nice fish. Once, when fishing with Bruce Houck, my brother-in-law, we landed a large number of trout in a short time, including several big ones.

However, getting shocked a few times when crawling under electric fences and a few encounters with “night riders” cooled my enthusiasm for night fishing.

Still, re-reading Bashline’s book has me thinking about sneaking out on my rickety knees to give night fly-fishing another try.