The freaky weather has made me at least start to put fresh line on my reels for the upcoming fishing seasons. Then the unthinkable happened another winter storm warning … maybe Punxsutawney Phil was right about six more weeks of winter.

The weather started to howl wind and rain and then it happened, a power outage and we were in the dark for two days.

At first, I took it as a Western Pennsylvanian would, a slight inconvenience soon to be corrected so don’t get too excited. No electric, no cable, no computer service and no land line telephone were the symptoms … no fix in sight.

Two days or more was the word with the neighbors so I decided to see what plans I needed to make. Believe me it is not the time to prepare for a weather issue. When it occurs, a little preparation in advance is the way to do it.

Checking the emergency lighting was the first step in the process. I found all kinds of flashlights and lanterns that I could use from past hunting and fishing excursions. A quick inspection found many of them as unserviceable. I disposed of several old flashlights due to corrosion and faulty connections or batteries that melded together. Several were useful but had weak batteries and the rest were A-OK to use. I freshened up the batteries in most of the lights and decided to wing it with the rest until I made a store run the next day.

We decided to camp out in my man cave with the propane stove that kept us plenty warm. The stove was meant to be a casual gathering place on a cool evening but now it was essential.

When you don’t have the distractions of electronics you have to go back to old school habits like reading, playing cards, and even talking face to face.

One of the articles that I was reading came from the PA Angler & Boater. It was an article about PA State-Record Fish and it caught my attention. I found the article to be thought-provoking on many levels and I decided to look at three long standing records that may never be broken in modern times.

One was the PA record for the Muskellunge, or Muskie as we like to call it. The PA record was set way back in 1924 by Lewis Walker Jr. on Conneaut Lake in Crawford County. The Muskie weighed in at 54 pounds, 3 ounces and hasn’t been touched in nearly 100 years.

In comparison the world record was taken in 1949 by Louis Spray in the Chippewa Flowage in Wisconsin. That world record came in at a whopping 69 pounds, 11 ounces and beat out another Wisconsin Muskie taken by Cal Jonson that weighed 67 pounds, 8 ounces.

These days they score the whopper Muskie by length to determine if it’s a true giant.

The PA Husky Musky Club calls for a trophy Musky to be over 50 inches long.

Considering that these trophies in Wisconsin were pushing six feet or more, you can see what a huge fish it must have been. One problem that I have with those fishermen in the 20s and 40s is that many a huge fish was plugged by a revolver to finish them off. I don’t see that as an option in modern times and current fishing standards.

Another PA record fish was taken 38 years ago in 1980 on the Allegheny Reservoir in Warren County. This fish was a 17-pound, 9-ounce Walleye landed by Mike Holly of Bradford. In comparison the world record Walleye was caught in Greer’s Ferry Lake, Ark., in 1982 during a Pepsi Cola Fishing Tournament. The winning angler was Al Nelson and his fish weighed in at 22 pounds, 11 ounces.

It must have been a good year for walleye fisherman.

Other PA records include the Large Mouth Bass at 11 pounds, 3 ounces. (World record 22 pounds, 4 ounces). The Crappie, 4 pounds (world record 5.2 pounds) The Blue Gill 2 pounds, 9 ounces (world record 4 pounds, 12 ounces) and the Yellow Perch 2 pounds, 14 ounces (World record 4 pounds, 3 ounces and 18 inches long and caught in 1865 in New Jersey.)

As you can see many trophy fish were caught back in the earlier days of fishing history. I am absolutely sure that in these days of catch and release fishing, failing to measure fish and not being aware of records that are in reach we have let record fish go by without a weigh in. But guess what … the power is back on and I can get back into my daily routines. I will be better prepared next time the power might be out and I will store up on some more reading materials. Until we meet again keep on reading.

Jay Hewitt is an outdoors columnist for the Butler Eagle.