Big Fish

SHARPSBURG - Sharpsburg-area children corralled some decent-sized trout in the town pond during the town's fishing rodeo, and several youngsters won prizes. Mayor George Kesler announced the winners of the May 9 rodeo this week. The first- through fourth-place winners for ages 1 to 6 were Erin Canfield, Kelsey Eichelberger, Brandon Mose and Dillon Porter. Canfield caught a 14.75-inch-long trout. The first- through fourth-place finishers for ages 7 to 11 were Desirae Churchey, Casey Edlend, John Little and David Flook.

West Virginia has announced a new process for submitting fish that have been caught and released for citations. The catch-and-release ethic for most gamefish has become increasingly popular over the past several years. The typical fishing photo from 20 years ago usually featured a hero shot of anglers and stringers of dead fish. The bigger the stringer the better. Over time it has become more fashionable to treat fish gently, and release them to fight another day. Some will tell you that the fish die anyway as a result of being caught and handled.

chambersburg@herald-mail.com CHAMBERSBURG, Pa. - For the previous five years, Donald Uglow had been angling for a winner at the annual Chambersburg Noontime Lions Club Trout Derby, but failed to land the big one. The top fish eluded him this year as well, but for the first time he reeled in a tagged fish good for some prize money. By Sunday, he'd netted five more worth a total of $175. "This is the only year I've ever caught any tagged ones. I'm making up for lost time," the 47-year-old Fayetteville, Pa., man said as he checked in another trout in a parking lot on West Loudon Street.

Eager anglers stood elbow-to-elbow around Red Run Lake on Saturday hoping to catch one of the 600 trout during the first annual John Kahl Memorial Trout Rodeo. Waynesboro Area Senior High School senior Grant Calimer came up with the idea for the trout rodeo in Rouzerville for his senior project. "For your senior project, you can job shadow, you can build something or you can do something for the community. I decided to do this, because I wanted to try to instill a lifelong love of fishing into kids," Grant said.

One of the few downsides of the modern technology we enjoy is that certain amount of confusion when weighing the pros and cons of various materials. Take fishing lines, for example. For decades, we have used plain old monofilament line and it has served well. Now with all of the braids and polymer lines, just choosing a fishing line can get pretty complicated. I get a few e-mails each season asking about the various line choices and the answer is always the same: For just about every fishing application, it is still hard to beat plain mono.

laurae@herald-mail.com CHAMBERSBURG, Pa. - Franklin County will draw more tourists by continuing to pool its marketing money with four other central Pennsylvania counties, representatives of a regional tourism bureau said Thursday. But local officials said they are investigating whether the county would be better off splitting from the Hershey Capital Region Visitors Bureau and forming their own tourism promotion agency. The Franklin County Commissioners will ultimately decide what to do with the approximately $160,000 in hotel tax money that is now going to the regional bureau.

I hear many of you are knee deep in cucumbers these days! Really great, fresh tomatoes can't be far behind!   Boonsboro resident hooks a big fish Boonsboro resident Andrew Griffith made news in North Carolina last week when he reeled in a citation dolphin while on a fishing charter trip out of Hatteras Marina. He was a passenger on SeaCreature when he hauled in the 40-pound dolphin fish, not to be confused with the mammal! Congratulations, Andrew! Carol DeBaugh named2011 Ag Expo Queen Carol DeBaugh, of Boonsboro's farming DeBaugh Family, was named 2011 Washington County Ag Expo Queen on Saturday evening.

chambersburg@herald-mail.com CHAMBERSBURG, Pa. - Fish tales are often about the big one that got away, but in recent years, the big fish in the Chambersburg Noontime Lions Club Trout Derby rarely makes its escape. Dennis Heston of Philadelphia reeled in the top tagged trout, worth $2,000, little more than an hour into the tournament, which started at 6 a.m. Saturday, according to Lion Doug Harbach. Heston hooked the winner near Red Bridge along the Conococheague Creek, he said.

WILLIAMSPORT - Shelby Krocker felt something weighty at the end of her line and reeled expectantly. Out of the water rose a sopping, slimy knot of weeds. "I caught seaweed," she said. Shelby patiently discarded the slime and cast again, optimistically awaiting her big catch. Shelby, 8, of Halfway, went fishing with her sister, Brooke Krocker, 14, and their grandmother, Penny Mongan, on Saturday at the Fishing Fun Rodeo at Cushwa Basin in Williamsport. "The girls love to fish," said Penny Mongan, of Halfway.

SMITHSBURG - The Smithsburg Leopards found out how good 6-foot, 210-pound senior tailback Josh Keeney is Saturday afternoon. Keeney rushed for five touchdowns and 293 yards on 23 carries to lead No. 2 Middletown to its fifth straight win, beating the Leopards 43-3 in a Monocacy Valley Athletic League football game. Keeney now leads the Tri-State area with 23 touchdown runs and 1,289 rushing yards. "I can't thank the line enough," Keeney said. "The line did a great job of blocking today.

Williamsport's Evan Hardy and Boonsboro's J.R. Lowery both had sensational senior seasons in outdoor track and field this spring - Hardy on the track and Lowery in the field. Hardy won Maryland Class 2A state titles in the 1,600- and 3,200-meter runs, while Lowery was a Class 1A state champ in both the shot put and discus throws. They are The Herald-Mail's 2012 Washington County Boys Outdoor Track & Field Co-Athletes of the Year. But they don't plan to rest on those laurels.

As my wife and I sat in Jimmy Buffett's Margaritaville in Key West, Fla., and watched the waiters deliver "cheeseburgers in paradise" to the many tables at the restaurant, I thought of another day and era. Ernest Hemingway, one of my favorite writers, lived in Key West in the late 1920s and '30s for about 10 years. During this time, he often would go fishing, drinking and carousing with his friends. He wrote some of his greatest works while living here. As you walk down Duval Street, which is estimated to have more than 300 bars, you might imagine Hemingway weaving in and out to have a drink or two and to share a few fishing tales with the locals.

I hear many of you are knee deep in cucumbers these days! Really great, fresh tomatoes can't be far behind!   Boonsboro resident hooks a big fish Boonsboro resident Andrew Griffith made news in North Carolina last week when he reeled in a citation dolphin while on a fishing charter trip out of Hatteras Marina. He was a passenger on SeaCreature when he hauled in the 40-pound dolphin fish, not to be confused with the mammal! Congratulations, Andrew! Carol DeBaugh named2011 Ag Expo Queen Carol DeBaugh, of Boonsboro's farming DeBaugh Family, was named 2011 Washington County Ag Expo Queen on Saturday evening.

Eager anglers stood elbow-to-elbow around Red Run Lake on Saturday hoping to catch one of the 600 trout during the first annual John Kahl Memorial Trout Rodeo. Waynesboro Area Senior High School senior Grant Calimer came up with the idea for the trout rodeo in Rouzerville for his senior project. "For your senior project, you can job shadow, you can build something or you can do something for the community. I decided to do this, because I wanted to try to instill a lifelong love of fishing into kids," Grant said.

CHAMBERSBURG, Pa. -- At times Sunday it was difficult to tell who was wetter -- the fish or the fishermen. Steady rain drummed on the check-in tent at the Chambersburg Noontime Lions Club's 12th annual Trout Derby. Soaked and sometimes shivering participants stepped inside periodically to see whether anyone had caught "the big one" or, really, any of the top 18 largest trout that promised cash payouts. The big fish board remained blank of names, a rare occurrence according to some of the two-day event's organizers.

One of the few downsides of the modern technology we enjoy is that certain amount of confusion when weighing the pros and cons of various materials. Take fishing lines, for example. For decades, we have used plain old monofilament line and it has served well. Now with all of the braids and polymer lines, just choosing a fishing line can get pretty complicated. I get a few e-mails each season asking about the various line choices and the answer is always the same: For just about every fishing application, it is still hard to beat plain mono.

WILLIAMSPORT - Shelby Krocker felt something weighty at the end of her line and reeled expectantly. Out of the water rose a sopping, slimy knot of weeds. "I caught seaweed," she said. Shelby patiently discarded the slime and cast again, optimistically awaiting her big catch. Shelby, 8, of Halfway, went fishing with her sister, Brooke Krocker, 14, and their grandmother, Penny Mongan, on Saturday at the Fishing Fun Rodeo at Cushwa Basin in Williamsport. "The girls love to fish," said Penny Mongan, of Halfway.

When thinking about what to have for dinner, fish is a good choice. Fish is low in saturated fat and can benefit the cardiovascular system when replacing other meat that is higher in saturated fat. Also, omega-3 fatty acids in fish - considered to be a "good" fat - benefit heart health and are essential in pregnancy and infant development. The American Heart Association recommends two fish meals a week for heart disease prevention. Those already diagnosed with heart disease are advised to consume three fish meals per week.

Week of July 23, 1956 Maybe a 22 1/2-pound carp is no record-breaker but when caught by a 75-year-old fisherman on a line that is 39 years old the fish takes on enormous proportions. Noah Ford, 14 Snyder Ave., one of the county's best known Democrats, caught the big fish earlier this week at Dam No. 5. It took the help of a friend to land the carp. Last week it was reported that Hancock received more money in return of traders' license fees than any other incorporated town of the county outside of Hagerstown.