Ralph Rich, of Titusville, does some fishing there
By John Tredrea, Staff Writer
Looking at it, you might have been more inclined to call it a river, albeit a small one, than a brook. Stony Brook in central Hopewell Township, that is.
”There are an awful lot of ticks in here,” Ralph Rich said as he made his way down through the high, poison ivy-choked brush on the south bank of Stony Brook recently.
With his high fisherman’s waders on, Mr. Rich, who lives in Titusville, probably didn’t have to worry much about the poison ivy. He was going down to the brook near the bridge on Old Mill Road, which runs between Federal City and Pennington-Rocky Hill roads.
That area is now closer to vehicular traffic. But, according to Hopewell Township police Lt. Lance Maloney, “fishermen will still have access to the Stony Brook via Old Mill Road while the road is closed to through traffic.”
Out in the water, which was running quite a bit higher, wider and faster than usual because of the very rainy spring, he settled in to fish about 15 feet west of the bridge.
”I usually go down that way a little bit,” he said, pointing east. “It’s quieter there. But this is good today. They won’t be stocking this with trout again this year, I’m pretty sure.”
Told that the Mercer County administration is planning to replace the bridge in the shadow of which he was fishing, Mr. Rich said: “I see. Well, that bridge must be about 100 years old. And quite a few cars go over it. People think of Old Mill Road as a quiet road, and it is compared to a lot of other roads around here, but quite a few cars go over that bridge.”
It was true. It was mid-Sunday afternoon, and a car went over the bridge about once a minute during the half-hour spent with Mr. Rich. Several cyclists went over, too, and one pedestrian, who paused for a few moments to gaze into the brook from the center of the bridge before continuing on his way.