Fun with fishing
FENELTON — People can lose themselves in all different types of hobbies.
For Jesse Spohn, it’s fishing.
The resident of Fenelton developed a love for fishing at a young age. Now 19, Spohn still can’t get enough of the outdoor sport.
His days of angling date back to when Spohn was just 18 months old when his parents, Michael and Kelli, began exposing him to different fishing spots in the area.
“My parents don’t have as much time to fish anymore,” said Spohn, a 2012 Butler High graduate. “I get out with them about once every month, but they taught me so much when I was a kid.
“Fishing is still my favorite thing to do in my free time. Even when I’m hanging out with my friends, most times, we’re fishing.”
His almost two decades of fishing have allowed Spohn to gain an incredible knowledge about area waters and the fish in them.
“I know what types of lures to use, depending on the conditions of the water and the time of day,” he said. “And I know why fish do what they do.”
Spohn recently had himself quite a run of reeling in muskies, snagging 11 in the span of three weeks, the biggest one measuring 54 inches.
“I’ve found seven different baits that work really well with muskies,” he said. “Soft plastics seem to work the best.
“The last muskie I caught was May 11. After that, the weather turned warmer and the fish left the shallow water.”
All of the muskies were caught near Lock 9 on the Allegheny River, a few miles downstream from East Brady. That location also yielded for Spohn a 32-inch walleye two years ago. While he also enjoys fishing at the spillway at Moraine State Park and the Allegheny Reservoir in Warren and McKean counties, among other places, Lock 9 is Spohn’s favorite.
“I know that spot in the river better than I know my own house,” he said.
Spohn has had several of his catches mounted, including a coho salmon and muskie he reeled in as a youth and the walleye from Lock 9. He also plans to display a 30-inch brown trout he caught in Elk Creek in Erie County last year. But those are a very small percentage of the thousands of fish he has hooked over the years.
“The only ones I get mounted are the once-in-a-lifetime catches,” he said. “Most fish I catch, I throw back. As long as I get my picture taken with them, that’s enough for me.”
Spohn’s passion for fishing runs so deep that he can never see himself getting tired of casting his line.
“I like the mystery of not knowing exactly what I’m going to catch,” he said. “Even if I’m not catching anything, it’s satisfying just knowing I’m out there doing what I love.”
