From the Firehouse
by Jack Halchak, Past Chief HFD
July 2021
The Hurleyville Fire Department is always looking for help, to fight fire or support those that do. We even supply all of the gear and provide all of the training needed for free. Stop by any Monday night and find out how you can help or get an application.
Fire calls continue to be up. Since last month there have been numerous calls on the Delaware River for the departments that border the river. They have rescued boaters and swimmers with at least one drowning. Calls are also up on Route 17 with numerous accidents especially in the Wurtsboro area. There has been a glider crash and a helicopter crash since the last column. With the few summer storms that we already have had there were numerous trees and wires down from the storm. The last couple of months have been like it was in the middle of the summer with the volume of calls that the county has had.
Once again I remind you to be ready for the summer storms that will be coming. Do you at least have a working flashlight? Will you be okay with a power outage of a couple of hours or a day or two? How is your medical supply?
The Morningside Fishing Classic hosted by the Loch Sheldrake Fire Department, Hurleyville Fire Department and the Town of Fallsburg Parks and Rec is now history and was a great success.
Sixty-plus fishermen hit the water on the first day of the 2021 New York State bass season on Morningside Lake in Hurleyville.
At the 5 a.m. start, the air temperature was 60 degrees with an overcast sky. The water temperature was 70-plus degrees, a little murky with calm waters. Mid-morning the wind kicked up a bit, and even changed directions a couple of times as the temperature rose into the mid-70s. The sky remained overcast throughout most of the day, with the sun poking out once in a while.
Over 60-plus bass were brought to the scale, including three four-plus-pound bass, five three-pound-plus bass and fourteen two-plus-pounders.
The lunker of the day was a 4.52 pounder caught by Isaiah Hannold of Grahamsville. He was using a grape worm on a Texas rig. He caught it first thing in the morning.
Jason Sano of Pine Bush was the overall winner. His five bass totaled 12.75 pounds. His catch included a couple of two-plus-pounders, and a 3.80 pounder. He used various colored plastics.
Second place went to Jay Everett of Greenfield Park. Jay used a sweet potato colored rig to bring in 11.47 pounds of bass He also had a couple of two-pounders with a 3.55 pounder.
Third place went to Tom Clegg of Newburg with a total weight of 11.13 pounds. Tom had a couple of three-plus-pounders, but didn’t have any two-pounders. Tom has fished this classic for many years and is contently in the top three.
Many different color plastics were used, and the results were successful. Some other impressive weights were: Paul Bennett with 10.36 pounds, Isaiah Hannold with 9.27 pounds, Bill Hall with 9.94 pounds and Ian Zuckermen with 10.06 pounds
In the pickerel category, Kevin Janiak was first with a 17.50 inch, 1.12 pounder, Todd Caruso was second with a 16.50 inch, 1.04 pounder and Thomas Boyle was third with a 16.00 inch, .90 pounder.
Next up is the 10th Annual Bill Carlson Golf Classic on Saturday, August 21 at the beautiful Tarry Brae Golf course on Pleasant Valley Road in Fallsburg. You can contact John Jaycox for more information at (845) 866-6491.
I have not addressed this topic before: green and blue lights on vehicles. These are courtesy lights of volunteers responding to a call. GREEN is a volunteer ambulance (EMS) Emergency Medical Service responder and BLUE is a volunteer firefighter responding to an incident. When it is safe to do so, pull over and let them pass. Thanks in advance for your cooperation.
Summer is here and the county’s population grows tenfold. More people, more incidents, be careful out there.