The damaging rainy weather in the spring caused some setbacks for nesting turkeys and rabbits in the commonwealth but I am pleased to report that new hatches of turkey poults and young rabbits have begun to make appearances in our area.

I had to stop my car to let a nice hen turkey escort her youngsters across the roadway in front of me near Game lands 95 and I counted over 12 young robin sized birds flitting and running after their mother. Later in the week I saw some more hens with our local birds and my wife reported seeing a small flock with several different sized young turkeys.

I think this is an encouraging sign and I hope that it is expanding turkey flocks in other areas as well.

The bad side of this is that I have been seeding down bare spots with grass seed and they are scratching it up and I will likely have to do it all over again…oh well.

The deer are showing off their fawns regularly now and I have seen both twins and triplets.

The deer herd looks very healthy in our area and we should be glad that we are not in the chronic waste disease areas of Bedford and Blair Counties as well as deer farms in both Adams and Jefferson Counties.

The PGC has set up Disease Management Areas in an attempt to contain the disease from spreading throughout the state. CWD is a disease of the brain and central nervous system that affects Cervids (deer, elk and moose) eventually leading to their deaths. There is no known cure and the disease can spread if cautions are not put in place in these DMA’s.

It could play havoc upon our whitetail deer and elk populations if it goes unchecked or breaks out of containment areas.

The midsummer fishing trip is about to get underway as we head out to the Great Lakes and try to round up some walleye and yellow perch for our annual fish fry’s.

I have rounded up a crew and rented a cottage on the shores of Lake Erie.

Unfortunately, we will need to run the boat out into the lake for an hour before we get onto the schools of fish.

The water levels and temperatures of the lake have been affected by all the cold air masses and heavy rains.

Water levels are up a few feet and the water is still colder than usual. When this happens the fish are usually stacked in the water at a suspended depth.

It takes a while to figure it out but when you do you will be filling your cooler!

We will probably over do the fishing as we hit the water for walleyes at daybreak and spend the afternoons jigging for perch with salted minnows.

I promised a couple of youngsters that we would take them out for a day of perch fishing on a Head Boat in either Erie or Port Conneaut.

I will check it out and give them a chance to catch a nice bucket of perch for a family fish fry. It appears that the perch are not really hitting well at this time.

We will give it a week or two and let things heat up…don’t want to be a bad guide for the kids as they are really primed up for the adventure!

I was at a family reunion this past week and the subject of hunting and fishing came up among the family. The discussion centered on what we considered our favorite lures and plugs for bass fishing.

There are a few farm ponds that we all have fished at and have had varying degrees of success.

When they asked me what lures I preferred to use on a farm pond I gave them my favorite choices. The secret to a farm pond is that by using plugs and such you can easily catch and release fish without harming them.

You might sore lip them and give them an education about lures but you won’t kill them!

Anyways I made four choices of artificial offerings; the plastic worm with a bead and blade in black or purple, a hula popper in green or black, a jointed minnow in silver/gold and finally a jitterbug in black.

Those lures as a bass offering have taken more bass on those old ponds than I could ever remember.

I know that many serious bass anglers have plenty more in their arsenal but why get too far off a proven track.

There is nothing like seeing a top water lure get blasted out of the water from a hungry largemouth.

Until we meet again keep your hooks sharp and if you want a chance at a PA elk license you need to get your application in for the lottery by July 31.

There are some fine elk in the PA herd and you will never get a better big game animal in this commonwealth for a $10 chance!

Jay Hewitt is an outdoors columnist for the Butler Eagle.