Jared Brandt, French Creek State Park naturalist, was there to steady the kayak as the sisters scrambled out. “That was tiring,” 10-year-old Maria sighed as she splashed onto dry land.

In 1997, Steelman was fishing tiny Scotts Run Lake in French Creek State Park just east of Lancaster County in Berks County, when he caught a monster smallmouth bass weighing 8 pounds, 8 ounces.

Jared Brandt, French Creek State Park naturalist, was there to steady the kayak as the sisters scrambled out. “That was tiring,” 10-year-old Maria sighed as she splashed onto dry land.