well boyoz and bozos, what's to say? it was penns: very low and clear
water conditions; tough, technical fishing that makes one a better
fisherman; good folks all around, even those who snored and farted
throughout the night in the trapper cabin bunks; plenty of humor...on
stream and off; great weather until yesterday; and, my first full on
view of green drake/coffin flies of penns and the pink butt nekkid
tattooed attractor patterns of state college.

we were a bit early for the green drake hatch on upper penns. though
there were sporadic hatches during the day, they weren't yet abundant
during daylight or early evening hours the first of the week on the
upper sections and the fish weren't eating them during the day. during
the days i spent on the stream, the big bugs would float unmolested over
a spot where a fish had just risen. apparently, it takes the fish some
time to adjust to and focus their feeding on the big mayflies sailing by.

daytime fishing was tough most days. i chased one rising fish for over
2 hours on a pretty stretch below the trestle. it ****ed me off. i was
either going to catch it or dive in and strangle it. it must have
detected the approaching danger and finally took a parachute hares ear
(rejected every sulfur, every march brown, every other variant, dry,
nymph, wet). it was my only fish of the day, but a nice and ultimately
satisfying one nonetheless.

best days of fishing/catching were in the company of davePA. one day, we
fished the stretch between 3-streamer stans and elk creek. more than a
dozen browns, most 14-16 inchers, all on dry flies (sulphur and elk hair
caddis), in the middle of the day, in sunny conditions. on thursday, we
fished the spruce creek public section and the little juniata. spruce
creek is a smaller stream, and has very little public access. we fished
the "george harvey" stretch. caught a few browns of about 8-10". i
don't recommend it, except as we used it - a waypoint on the route to
the little j. of course, there were several waypoints...most notable
were the spruce creek french fry warehouse - home of mark fraley
admirers and apparently the repository for the majority of north
america's french fries; and, the lovely town of tyrone, pa. - reputed to
be the heroin capitol of pa, 9 of 10 households have an addict according
to the waitress at the french fry joint. when we finally stopped at a
spot on the little j, it was just below a railroad trestle. while we
piddled about waiting for the evening hatch and rise, at least 20 trains
passed by, going in both directions. the little j didn't have green
drakes, but it had the best rising fish in the evening that i witnessed
during the week. the other guys were fishing the ingleby stretch of
penns and reported a phenomenal hatch, dropping of coffin flies, and
incredible fishing. we had a comparably small hatch of sulphurs, but the
fish were extremely active for about 30 minutes. lots and lots of them.
i caught my best fish of the week...a 16-18" brown that fought as hard
as any trout i've ever caught. davePA caught one well over 20", he says
it was 24". it was a frenzy and loads of fun concentrated in 30 minutes.
i don't prefer the "evening hatch" form of fishing so common in pa,
but i have to admit it was a charge to hook 4 big fish, and land 3, in
just a few minutes of furious casting and squinting in ever-darkening
evening-to-night conditions. very memorable and very different for me
and what i'm accustomed to.

during this year's gathering, all of the good fishermen caught or at
least hooked and played browns of over 20". the rest of us caught
enough fish in the 14-18" size to maintain a continuing interest in
chasing the great mystery of penns. and, of course, under the able
tutelage and guidance of davePA, it wouldn't have been a complete event
without a visit to "beaver stadium" at state college.

i'm posting a few pics on abpf - they are 800x600, ranging in size up to
about 150kb. didn't take many photos this trip - too many pretty days
and too busy fishing.

thanks to tom, handyman mike (especially for the sandwich and the
spectacular hot dogs streamside, not to mention the jumper cables!),
makela, and davePA, for a fine event. there is always something new to
learn at penns, and i'm ever grateful for your assistance.

jeff

jeff