Well, it was, as is annually the case, another unique Penn's Clave. First
off, it did not rain more than 5 minutes the entire week. Blue sky and
sunshine at a Penn's Clave!!
Of course, this, coupled with lowish, clear limestone waters, made fishing
at times maddening. Generally, the fishing was pretty good from dawn to
about 10 am. The evening hatches seemed to be coming later every day. A week
ago, sulfurs and caddis started at 5 pm, by the end of the week, nothing
until 7:30. We flailed until dark-thirty most nights. It was a smaller
crowd(after 7 years, the novelty factor is low), but a good time was
seemingly had by all. My guests and cohorts:
1. Handyman Mike Shaw--at 10 days, the marathon claver. In between fishing
and touring the area, fixed a floor, sealed a roof and washed clave Central.
2. Mike Makela--used every angling technique short of
a couple of leads from his car battery. He caught fish.
3. Jeff Love--a friend from CT that I hadn't seen in a couple of years.
4. Dave Gunnett(Dave PA)--carrying an armload of LEDs for nighttime angling,
and a bit of Jack Daniels as well.
5. Jeff Whose Name I Annually Forget--joined us Weds
night, and up through the weekend.
6. Joel Axelrad--drove clear from Illinois, poured himself
a martini, and settled in for another stretch of Penn's angling. This dude
smiles......a lot! Didn't smile when he
drove into a small tree by Clave Central, but the smile returned very
quickly.......
7.Willi Loehman(sp?)--I thought this one would never return after seeing a
major flood, but return he did. He also seemed to regularly catch fish and
got to explore the valley under blue skies. Hey, Willi, do we have some
hatches here in the east??
8. Dan Finn--Noted Bi-coastal type, arrived with Willi and the most complete
set of pre-prepared camp foods I have ever heard of. Explored the valley and
a couple other spots with Willi. These two put in some fishing hours.
9 Frank Reid--stayed dry. That's the news flash. As always full of stories,
good spirits and, frequently Yeungling Lager. Drove here from Nebraska.
10 Allen Epps--The first I have seen of Allen in a couple of years. He left
town early, and now owns a warped rod tube than George Gherke would have
been proud of.
Allen might be this year's duck butt award winner, but he
didn't achieve full immersion.
11. Vince Norris--whose back was hurting. Still, he drove down to the river
to socialize, and joined us after fishing at the Millheim.
12. John Baker--asadi, who has had a bit of bad luck in prior clave visits,
arrived on his Harley Wednesday afternoon, and within 4 minutes had a T-Bone
steak(how Roffian....TBone!) on a plate in his hands. Great, as always to
have this kindly soul in camp!!
13. Peter Charles--ok, he wasn't there, but I forgot him one prior year, and
owed him one. Plus, I wanted to see if anyone was still paying attention.
Petah, himself, especially.

all in all, a fun group, fishing under challenging conditions.
I am sure the reports will trickle in, and the lies will grow.
Until next year, I hang up my Clavemeister outfit, sit back and wait.......
Tom