The Press-Dispatch
Issue link: https://www.ifoldsflip.com/i/359081
B-1 Wednesday, August 6, 2014 The Press-Dispatch By Ed Cahill Press-Dispatch Sports Editor sports@pressdispatch.net A total of 70 men and women from seven different states participated in the Disc Golf Championship Saturday, Aug. 2, at Prides Creek Park. According to tournament director Job Wilson, the one-day event drew participants from Indiana, Illinois, Kentucky, Missouri, Ohio, Tennessee and Virginia. While winners were recognized in 11 dif- ferent professional, advanced, intermediate and recreational divisions, the clear winner was Prides Creek Park's disc golf course, which is currently ranked as the top-rated course in Indiana at dgcoursereview.com with a rating of 4.5 stars (out of a possible 5.0). "The course and park received outstand- ing comments," Wilson said. "I heard mul- tiple people say it was one of the best, if not the best, courses they have ever played, and that the park was the cleanest they'd seen." Wilson noted that Professional Disc Golf Association Hall of Famer Brian Cum- mings, of Munster, Ind., was among those singing Prides Creek Park's praises, de- scribing it as "one of the best." Dane Prevo, of Petersburg, who co-de- signed the 18 -hole, par 60 course with Nick Fest, of Evansville, thanked the Prides Creek Park's staff for the work they do to maintain the disc golf course in a post on PATOkA VAllEy OUTDOOrS By Sam Whiteleather wading For sMaLLies I pull back and, with a mighty heave, cast my crayfish crank bait as far out as my small ultra-light pole will allow. The bait splashes down in a torrent of water so clear and clean one can easily see the bottom in shallow areas, and in the deeper pools, the water turns a deep turquoise green that makes me think of the green emeralds I've seen in the glossy pages of National Geographic Magazine. I stand on a rock above the point where the river drops over what is left of a dam. The current is swift here and I have been watching two large small mouth bass hunting along the edge of the pool. They move with explosive bursts of speed in pursuit of prey be- fore disappearing out of sight again in- to deeper water. In general, a spot like this with deep water, swift current and preferably some submerged cover like a big rock or tree are good places to look for small mouth, which prefer cool and clear streams, and rivers. I look at the other side of the creek and notice a small spit of sand that gleams white against the blue sky and think of how it would be a perfect place for the kids to play if I had them with me today. But they are at home with their grand- mother and mother, and this warm sum- mer day will be spent wade-fishing with my father-in-law, Mark, in a white-water river in east central Indiana. The rock I'm standing on used to be part of a larger dam that once stood here before an angry property owner used dynamite to blow it up because he felt the dam was holding back too much wa- ter and causing the creek to flood his crop fields. There is still enough of the dam left to create a small waterfall that stretches the width of the river and, af- ter several failed attempts at hooking in- to the mac-daddies that taunt me with their fat underwater profiles, I climb off the rock and drop into the cool water be- low the dam and begin wading down riv- er, casting and reeling as I go. I look into the clear water, and see the frays and threads of my wading shorts that move with the current like the way a water snake moves when it dives quick and deep. The shorts have been with me on countless wade trips, and you'd know it right away if you saw me wearing them, and you would proba- bly wonder what ditch I had just crawled out of and suspect that I had a drink- ing problem that kept me from buying new shorts. But I've worn them for years and they still provide me with pockets and a means for sheltering my middle section, although with the recent gap- ing holes that have appeared above both rear pockets, the latter is ques- tionable to some, in particular my wife, who harbors a strong prejudice toward the shorts. When Mark and I went to Walmart before we hit the river, I felt a little self conscious in the shorts as we walked through the parking lot toward the store and even mentioned my insecurity, hop- ing for some reassurance from my el- der. When the big sliding doors in the center of the store whooshed apart like some accelerated and commercialized parting of the red sea and out marched a woman proudly wearing pink sweat- shorts that were at least three times too small for her, I felt my confidence build and headed straight to the sport- ing goods section, although I still pulled down on my shirt tail every once and a while to make sure it covered the major- ity of the holes. I make another cast now, aiming for a submerged log in a deep pool and reel my crank bait so close that I think it will snag any second. I am using the crayfish crank bait today because I like the div- ing action and I especially like the two sharp treble hooks that hang from the bait. I will also use a tube jig/twister-tail combo that I work in short bumps, let- ting it fall to the bottom periodically. But the fact that it only has a single barbed hook and I'm not coordinated enough to react to a small mouth bite, nine times out of 10 leaves me with a lot of hits but few hookups, thus my preference for tre- ble hooks. As the lure passes the log, I feel the sharp bump of a hit and watch as my pole tip bends sharply and starts mov- ing up and down like a dog's hind leg when he's scratched in his sweet spot just behind the ear. The fish runs hard and even makes a jump as I reel him in slow, taking in every moment of fight and savoring it like the first bite of a ten- der venison steak that came straight off a smoky campfire. Small mouth seem to draw their fight from some ancient well lined with river rock and contain- ing deep green waters that have no bot- tom. And it's that fight that keeps me wading cool waters on sunny days, trip after trip, and the waters never say a word or raise a brow at the condition of my wading shorts but simply part as I make my way downstream casting and reeling, and casting again. Prides Creek disc golf course gets rave reviews during tournament Russ Reeley, of Tell City, "tees off" on Hole no. 17 during the Disc golf Championship at Prides Creek Park on Saturday, Aug. 2. Ed Cahill photo See DiSC goLF page 3 teaMS preparing For the 2014 SeaSon Pike Central High School head football coach Dustin Powell (left) makes a point to a group of players during the first day of practice on Monday, Aug. 4. The Chargers, who will host Wood Memorial in a scrimmage on Friday, Aug. 15, will open the 2014 season at home against north knox on Friday, Aug. 22. Ed Cahill photo Pike Central High School assistant football coach Chris kramer (center) works with the defense as sophomore kane osgatharp (left), senior Dakota Walker (second from right) and senior Bryce Manning (far right) listen during the first day of practice on Monday, Aug. 4. The Chargers, who will host Wood Memorial in a scrimmage on Friday, Aug. 15, will open the 2014 season at home against north knox on Friday, Aug. 22. Ed Cahill photo Pike Central High School junior Tanner McFar- land hits the ball back to senior Aaron keepes during the first day of practice for the boys' ten- nis team on Monday, Aug. 4. The Chargers, who will scrimmage at Loogootee on Saturday, Aug. 16, will open the 2014 season at northeast Dubois on Monday, Aug. 18. Ed Cahill photo Pike Central High School junior Ty Smith prepares to return the ball to junior Sam Stone during the first day of practice for the boys' tennis team on Monday, Aug. 4. The Chargers, who will scrimmage at Loogootee on Saturday, Aug. 16, will open the 2014 season at northeast Dubois on Monday, Aug. 18. Ed Cahill photo