Six-year-old Carson Nedley and his monster catfish.
One of the great joys of fishing is the unexpected.
Cast a line in the water – any water, anytime, anywhere – and good, even magical, things can happen.
Brandon and Carson Nedley know that.
The father-son duo recently went to the pond in Penn Township’s municipal park in Harrison City. Carson, age 6, recently had surgery and has been out of school, so the pair decided to get in a little trout fishing.
They got more than they expected.
“Here is a picture of a giant catfish Carson caught while trout fishing,” his dad wrote. “Amazed that this 40-inch cat was caught on a bobber and mill worm rig.
“I am guessing the weight of this fish to be about 30 pounds. The fight with this fish lasted over a half hour.”
After a few pictures, the fish was released back in the water to provide someone else with an adventure, he said.
Meanwhile, a couple of other youngsters bagged their first gobblers.
Wyatt Warywoda and his mentored day gobbler.
Wyatt Warywoda of Springdale is all of 5 years old, but he killed a 18-pound gobbler with a 4-inch beard while hunting with his father, David, during the mentored youth turkey hunt.
According to his dad, they set up in a ground blind and almost immediately heard gobbling. They started calling and were answered back right away. That continued for awhile – them calling and the turkey answering, without coming in – for 30 minutes or so.
About the time Wyatt decided he was cold and might want to go home, three birds – a hen, jake and longbeard — came into view, his dad said.
The jake hung around the decoys for a while, then, finally thinking something was up and starting to leave, Wyatt got a shot and took him.
“When he realized what he had done, the screaming and yelling began. This was the coolest thing that he and I have ever done together,” David Warywoda said.
Not to be outdone, Austin Aikins of Lower Burrell – familiar here for the big fish he’s caught – showed he can get it done in the turkey woods, too.
Also hunting on the youth day, on a friend’s land in Lower Burrell, he bagged his first gobbler.
Austin Aikins with his first-ever gobbler.
