Joe Bright displays a nice 19-inch smallmouth bass taken earlier this month during a rainy, cloudy day on the Allegheny River.

The boat ride back to the Allegheny River’s Parker ramp last Saturday included numerous stops to slowly weave between the flotilla of rafts, canoes and kayaks.

My guest for the day had enjoyed good action until late morning, when the sun made its appearance though what had been cloudy skies, and the river became a playground for boaters and rafters.

I’ve heard it said that western Pennsylvania only gets about 30 cloudless, sunny days per year. If that’s true, I must fish during all of them. Sunny days, while potentially pleasant (certainly not when the temperature soars into the 90s, as it has of late), typically aren’t good fishing days. It makes one yearn for that warm, but rainy day, when the fish are often active, and you have plenty of elbow room.

I recall an exceptionally fine day of largemouth bass fishing on Conneaut Lake. My friend Dave Lehman and I boated over 30 quality-sized bigmouths. While I later learned of the damaging storms that had struck many areas of southwestern Pennsylvania, the weather a bit to the north had been kinder. Though we had to wear rain gear for much of the outing, storms never chased us from the water.

Rainy days provide many advantages for those who pursue their activities on the water, as well as in field and forest. One significant item is that most folks won’t stay out in the rain. Chances are pretty good that you’ll have the place to yourself.

Having your own personal 1,000-acre lake or tract of mature timber can take a lot of the discomfort out of being in the rain. And with the quality rain gear that’s available now, there’s really not that much discomfort.

It’s well accepted that fish and game become more active as a frontal system approaches. I’ve found that many times, as the front arrives and brings rain with it, the fish continue to bite.

The bass trip that Lehman and I made took place as several thunderstorm lines made their way across western Pennsylvania throughout the day. It reminded me of a day many years ago on Kyle Lake, a small-electric-motors-only lake located near DuBois. During that mid-summer day, my longtime partner-in-the-outdoors Dave Keith and I had ventured to Kyle due to a tip that the lake’s bass were biting well.

Kyle, which had more of a reputation as a lake full of skinny northern pike, had recently been reclaimed by the Fish and Boat Commission, a multi-year effort that saw the lake emptied, dredged out, then refilled.

The storms chased us off of the water several times that day. In between the wild weather activity, though, we boated over 100 largemouths — relatively small fish, as they’d only been in the lake about three years at that point, but still great action.

Dave Keith and I enjoyed another fine rainy day on a local water. This one took place on Keystone Lake, back when there were a lot of walleyes in the 13 to 18 inch class in the lake.

When we arrived on the lake in early afternoon, a light but steady rain was falling. We anchored the boat just off the deep edge of a weed covered point. Using light leadhead jigs tipped with ribbon leeches, we began plucking walleyes off the edge of the weeds.

I can’t recall for how long the action continued, but it was a least a couple of hours. It seemed like every walleye in the lake was holding on the one little spot, and quite willing to bite. I doubt that I’ve had a day on Keystone when more walleyes were boated.

Game, too, can be active during a warm, light rain. Squirrels in particular seem to relish a gentle rain. Some of the most deer I’ve seen from a treestand happened during such conditions during the early part of the bowseason.

You have to be extra alert since the wet ground is a silent one. These are the days when deer seem to materialize out of nowhere. Shots should be of the slam/dunk variety, though, as blood trails won’t remain.

Tempting as it might be, you shouldn’t allow the potential for good hunting or fishing to compromise your judgment. If thunderstorm activity is approaching, it’s time to take cover.

Jeff Knapp is an outdoors columnist for the Butler Eagle