Spring Fishing Weekend

Camp Hart - Musser Scout Reservation

14 through 16 May 2010

Troop 461 spent the weekend of 14 through 16 May 2010 at Camp Hart in the Musser Scout Reservation near Green Lane, Montgomery County, enjoying the warm spring weather and the Scouts enjoying a bit of fishing on the Unami Creek that runs through Camps Hart and Delmont.  Only four (4) Scouts and four (4) adult leaders trekked the short distance from Souderton to Green Lane to try their luck fishing the Unami Creek and enjoying a bit of the outdoors.  We had a bit of luck in that our Troop was the only Scout unit camping at Camp Hart that weekend and we were assigned to the staff area which was equipped with eight (8) Adirondack shelters with three (3) bunks each and also equipped with electricity!  As a result, setting up camp Friday night was a breeze and things were underway in no time.  Even with one of the Adirondack shelters being reserved as a quartermaster shed, we could spread out quite nicely and did not have to be right next to each other. 

No Boy Scout camp is ever complete without a wood fire and this weekend was no exception.  We were fortunate that there is a plentiful wood supply in the area surrounding our camp site and the Scouts did not have to venture far to find firewood.  A blazing campfire was going in no time and everyone enjoyed sitting around the campfire.  A line of thunderstorms had gone through the area a few hours earlier but the skies were clearing by the time we arrived in camp.  After a Friday night snack of hot dogs, sauerkraut and a beverage of choice, it was time to hit the sack.

Saturday commenced with a meal of breakfast burritos cooked by one of our favourite chefs, Assistant Scoutmaster Scott Forwood, and no one left the meal area hungry.  After breakfast, the Scouts and several leaders headed down to the waterfront to try their luck with either bait or lures in the Unami Creek.  Assistant Scoutmasters Ernie Gambone and Andrew Cowles oversaw the fishing efforts and ASM Cowles decided to try his luck.

One of the Scouts found some decent fishing sitting next to the dam by the old Hart waterfront area and had some success using corn for bait.  While the area behind the dam was pretty well silted up and in need of a good dredging, the area right below the dam spillway showed some promise.

Others, however, were content to fish off of the dock at the old Hart waterfront and had some limited success with spinners and lures.  The dock was moored right to the shoreline so it didn't provide too much of an advantage for casting into the creek.  The aquatic plant life which was presence in abundance near the shoreline of the small lake behind the Camp Hart dam also presented a challenge to those fishing on or near the shore of the creek.  There is an old saying that necessity is the mother of resourcefulness.  We're not sure just who said that but it was true this weekend when two of our more resourceful members, who will remain unnamed for reasons which will become apparent shortly, discovered an aluminum rowboat in the old Camp Hart Boathouse, which was conveniently open.  The available rowboat was "borrowed" for a few hours, along with the required oars and personal flotation devices (PFDs) and the two enterprising fisherman tried their luck in parts of the creek that one could not reach by casting their lines from shore.  The rowboat, temporarily named the BSS (Boy Scout Ship) "Mudskipper," did not prove as much of an advantage as the two enthusiastic fisherman had hoped since they caught only two (2) of the six (6) fish caught during Saturday.  Fortunately, the lads' use of the vessel was not detected by authorities and the BSS "Mudskipper" was returned to its storage place in the boathouse at the end of the day no worse for wear.

With the fish that were caught being promptly released back into the Unami Creek, other arrangements were made to feed our hungry fisherman during the weekend.  Fortunately, we had ASM Scott Forwood present who was more than up to the task.  Scouts who are well-fed are normally much happier to be around than those who are not.  One of the hallmarks of our camping trips is that we always provide our Scouts with good food and plenty of it.  For Saturday lunch they were treated to grilled pepperoni pizza sandwiches, which they devoured with reckless abandon.  Since fishing is never that good during the mid-day hours, those hours were used to check their fishing gear, discuss fishing strategy, and gather firewood for the evening meal and campfire.  This also provided a few of the adult leaders with a much appreciated opportunity for an afternoon nap. 

Our Saturday night meal consisted of chicken kabobs cooked over the fire.  The smell of the cooking chicken, peppers, onions and other vegetables could not help but stimulate everyone's appetite and by the time dinner was finished, there was a made dash to grab a skewer and dig right in.  A nice added advantage to the kabobs was that no utensils were needed and the empty skewers, being made of wood, were added to the campfire when dinner was finished.

Last updated on Monday, 05 December 2011