The angler seemed to know what he was doing. Instead of socializing with his party's cluster of kayakers, who had launched last week on the Youghiogheny River at Cedar Creek Park, he paddled to shore to re-tie various crankbaits, hung back in the eddies and cast his spinning outfit at visible structure, finally pulling a small sauger from the rocks.

It was Pennsylvania Fish and Boat Commission executive director Doug Austen's first float trip in southwestern Pennsylvania, part of a weeklong tour of the state's wild places. (Check out Austen's daily blogs outlining the journey at www.fish.state.pa.us.)

After an early morning of plugging the Allegheny River near Harmarville with Dave Huemmrich, president of Three Rivers Chapter of Muskies Inc., Austen joined members of Venture Outdoors, the Fish and Boat Commission and West Newton's Trail Side Cafe to float and fish a few miles of the Youghiogheny River.

I had one pass on a crankbait, but was happy to watch Austen catch and release a fish on an artificial. It was vaguely reassuring to sense that the guy charged with overseeing Pennsylvania's waterways isn't just another Harrisburg desk jockey.

Austen was appointed executive director of the Pennsylvania Fish and Boat Commission in December 2003, after a six-month nationwide search.

Little Juniata ruling

A judge has confirmed his January decision guaranteeing public access to the Little Juniata River. Last week's ruling details restrictions imposed on entrepreneur Donny Beaver's Spring Ridge Club and co-defendants, who had posted 1.3 miles of the river as a private fishing preserve. The judge found historical evidence that the Little Juniata had been used for navigation and commerce, and therefore was legally considered a public waterway.

The recent ruling prevents Beaver's group from posting the river, advertising it as privately owned and "threatening, harassing and otherwise attempting to exclude the public from fishing, boating, wading and recreating" on the river. The defendants have a month to file an appeal.

The narrow ruling applies only to the Spring Ridge Club's claims on the Little Juniata.