The rod tip jerked, then jerked again, and the fisherman set the hook hard, feeling the weight of a fish on the line. Careful not to muss his pressed white dress shirt, he flipped his wide tie over a shoulder, fought the bass to the cement wall behind PNC Park and lifted it out of the Allegheny River onto the walk at Pittsburgh's North Shore.

When lunchtime was over, he removed his lure, checked his wristwatch and walked briskly back to the office.

Karen Gainey, fishing instructor at the Downtown Tri-Anglers fishing club, waved as the office worker passed her lawn chair, strategically placed at good fishing spot. A Detroit transplant and founder of Michigan Bass 'n Gals, Gainey teaches beginner and advanced fishing courses at the Community College of Allegheny County, hosts "Karen's Fishing Corner" on Pittsburgh public access TV PCTV, and is a volunteer aide for the Pennsylvania Fish and Boat Commission. She's guided at the Wednesday lunch-hour fishing forays since the Tri-Anglers group got started in 2002.

Some of the world's top anglers will converge on the Three Rivers this week for the Forrest Wood Cup bass tournament, but Gainey said the waters here remain under-rated by many Pittsburghers.

"I don't think people in Pittsburgh realize how good of a fishery they have," she said, rebaiting her hook with a reluctant minnow on a recent Wednesday afternoon.

The weekly Tri-Anglers outing was founded by the Western Pennsylvania Field Institute, precursor to the nonprofit recreation coordinator Venture Outdoors. Sean Brady, the group's assistant executive director, remembers some initial skepticism.

"Somebody walked by, saw 60 people fishing, saw the fish in the [transparent] live well we put out and asked, 'Where'd you get all those fish?' I think there are still some misconceptions about our rivers," he said. "Sometimes the best way to teach people about the rivers is to show them what lives in them. Fishing takes it to another level -- [the rivers] not only look pretty, they support life. There's a lot of biodiversity here, an amazing amount of game fish."

The Tri-Anglers loosely calls itself a "club," but there are no dues save a one-time $5 yearly stipend that covers bait and loaner rods, and membership means little more than just showing up. A Pennsylvania fishing license is required. Gainey quips that the Tri-Anglers is really just "another excuse to go fishing."

"We have probably 20 regulars who come down every Wednesday," plus the newcomers, she said. "There are about five guys in wheelchairs that come down every week and fish religiously, and there are some school groups -- sometimes we get 20 kids at a time. We get people who've never tried it before and people who have been fishing for years. There's a guy here today in his work clothes. He's on a break."

Gainey said kids who live in the city don't participate in outdoors sports as much as suburban kids. She's particularly happy to see a new Tri-Angler such as Troy Sturdivant, a City High student from the North Side, reeling in his first fish.

"I liked it," said Sturdivant. "It was really a lot easier than I thought it would be."

Karen Delfine, a teacher from the North Hills called the outings, "a good time."

"I'm off for the summer, so I come here with my parents," she said. "You don't have to bring anything, just show up with your fishing license. Five dollars for the summer and they provide the nightcrawlers and worms. You can't beat it."

It's strictly catch and release for the Tri-Anglers, but before fish go back in the water they are shown off in the see-through live well. Venture Outdoors documents 29 species of fish landed at the Wednesday outings, including frequent catches of endangered smallmouth buffalo and, recently, a log perch. Top catches of the week are reported Friday in the Post-Gazette's "Fishing Report."

"We get some muskies and pike," said Gainey. "In the springtime we catch a lot of walleyes and saugers -- I've caught 4-pound walleyes right underneath the Ft. Duquesne Bridge at high noon. We get a lot of catfish. Smallmouth and largemouth bass -- we've caught 3- and 4-pound bass right off The Point, especially when the water is high."

Until two years ago, the Tri-Anglers fished at The Point. Construction in Point State Park forced them to the North Shore.

"You don't have the diversity in this stretch [of the Allegheny] that you had at The Point," said Gainey. "Over there, I would come down two hours early and fish in the Monongahela and the Allegheny and see where the most active fish were. The fishing changes. If you look at the statistics for the last couple of years, [the new location is] nowhere near as hot for fishing."

Nevertheless, Gainey said the North Shore site puts urban anglers on several fishable habitats from the Clemente Bridge to the Ft. Duquesne Bridge.

"If you come down for even a half hour on a Wednesday," she said, "you have a chance at catching fish.