He’s one of the most visible figures around the Mountaineer Sports program, but what people may not realize about WVU Athletic director Ed Pastilong is that he’s always been an avid outdoorsman.
"I used to hunt quite a bit, but now with all of the responsibilities of the weekend it’s something I’ve gotten away from,” Pastilong told me in a recent conversation during a celebrity fishing tournament in Morgantown. "Fishing is something you can do pretty much all of the time, so that’s been something that I’ve stayed with."
Pastilong grew up on the banks of the Ohio River in Moundsville and spent a lot of his childhood pulling catfish to the mighty river’s shores.
"The river’s a lot cleaner now than it was then,” Pastilong remarked. "But we used to have a lot of fun there."
During his years in Morgantown, the lure of the nearby Mon River has been captivating for the man in charge of the Mountaineers. Over time, it has become the perfect place to get away from it all–only a few hundred yards from his front door.
"There’s a lot to be said about fishing, as we all know,” laughs Pastilong. "Once you’re out there, your only concentration is to try to catch another fish."
Pastilong at one time owned a 12-foot fishing boat and was fond of casting his lure, and then doing some self propelled trolling by rowing up-river.
"I’d put it in at Walnut Street and row up to the dam and back down the other side,” said Pastilong. "I’d always catch smallmouth and occasionally I’d catch a pike up near the dam. That was a lot of fun."
Pastilong says those days ended when he loaned the boat to a buddy, who never brought it back.
"Maybe I’ll have to get another one, especially after fishing out here today,” Ed said as we headed off to fish.