Now I’m basically a river paddler, but last summer I spent a good portion of my paddling hours canoe fishing on Lake Nockamixon at the Nockamixon State Park. Most of that canoe fishing occurred at night and turned out to be some awesome times spent on the water. Putting a canoe on a lake usually isn’t very thrilling to me. But do it at night and suddenly things change. Things come to life at night. Things that you normally won’t see or hear during the daylight hours. The night offers quiet water, wildlife sights and sounds, fireflies, cooler weather, moonlight and bright stars.

Tonight’s paddle started out at around 7:00pm and lasted until 10:30pm. That’s not long at all compared to last summers canoe fishing trips, but I wasn’t fishing tonight. I was just taking my Mad River Legend out for a paddle in the dark. And I almost always take my camera with me when I go paddling, but I’ve probably taken my camera out to Nockamixon a dozen times and never captured a decent moment yet, so tonight I decided to let the camera at home and just go for that paddle. What a mistake that was. First thing, a hot air balloon floats over Lake Nockamixon for around an hour, several times decending to just feet above the waters surface offering the perfect camera subject so near to me. It would’ve been the first real photo opportunity I ever had on Nockamixon. Only a few minutes after this balloon faded over the hillside I decided to paddle along the shoreline and spot something interesting, and I did. There was a muskrat swimming to shore and within 20 ft of my canoe. This was actually my first sighting on a live muskrat and would’ve been another great photo opportunity, if I had brought my camera.

Aside from the missed photos, everything else went well, bright stars, sounds of wildlife, cool temperatures, and plenty of fish jumping around my canoe, but no photos for this boring blog post. From tonight forward, the camera goes everywhere I go. I think a waterproof camera might be in the future.

Many Pennsylvania residents think the Pennsylvania Fish and Boat Commission is only responsible for stocking our rivers, lakes and streams with trout. But the Commission provides us with services and information beyond trout fishing. For example, the Pennsylvania Water Trail Guides are guides of Pennsylvania’s most popular canoeing destinations, and several trails like the West Branch Susquehanna Water Trail are even recommeded by the American Canoe Association.

There are other guides available like the boat access ramp guide, approved trout water guide, baoting laws, safety tips for paddlers, Pennsylvania snakes guides and more.  

http://www.fish.state.pa.us/watertrails/trailindex.htm

http://www.fish.state.pa.us/promo/form/pubs_free.htm

Fall is in the air and that means it’s time for a change in my paddling habits. This summer I mostly did canoe fishing trips on local lakes such as Nockamixon and Beltsville. And I really neglected my kayaking this year, but that’s alright because I generally do slow down on the kayaking throughout the dog days of summer, then pick it up again in the fall. And that time is here again.

One of my favorite fall kayak trips is through the Delaware Water Gap National Recreation Area. There are several sections on the river where you can paddle around the boat access and enjoy fall colors without having to paddle with the flow downriver. Poxono Boat Access is one of those areas. But if you are looking for a lengthy fall foliage kayak trip on the Delaware River then you might want to consider beginning at Dingmans Ferry Bridge and paddling to Smithfield Beach or beyond to the Kittatinny Point Visitor Center.

The Moshannon Falls blog has more information on this fall foliage trip through the Delaware Water Gap National Recreation Area.         

So I went canoe camping on the West Branch of the Susquehanna River over Memorial Weekend 2008, and I took along my new Sony DCR SR45 HandyCam for a test run. Below is one of my first videos taken with the Sony. It is a short clip taken from my canoe while floating through one of the calm sections of the West Branch called Miller’s Landing.  

 I haven’t been posting on paddling lately because I haven’t been doing much serious paddling. But I have been canoe fishing from various Pennsylvania waters, Lake Nockamixon being one of my favorite canoe fishing locations.  

The Nockamixon State Park sits on approximately 5000 acres located in the scenic country of Bucks County. Lake Nockamixon is 1450 acres of fishing and boating pleasure, although it’s actually more like boating pleasure because the fishing is so often uneventful that the local fisherman named Lake Nockamixon the “dead sea”.

There is a tremendous amount of fishing and boating activity on the lake, and on just about any day throughout the summer you’ll encounter lines of boaters waiting to use the boat ramps or hell-bent racing across the water to hit as many secret spots on the lake as possible.  

Some fisherman do have fish catching success at Nockamixon using artificial bait, read about it here - http://www.paanglers.com/forum/index.php?topic=4390.0 While others, including myself, have more success at Nockamixon using live bait.