As Tom said, the wx was terrible, but the fishing wasn't too bad. As
a matter of fact, I think this is one of the rare trips where I was
never skunked on a day. That being said, casting to a rising fish in
40 mph gusts with rain, sleet and hail hitting you in the face is not
the best of gentlemanly fishing. No ladies in bikinis in a golf cart
to serve the drinks. It did cut down on the other fishermen.
Its great to know that the Centre county fish can still be picky even
in the worst of times. Assistant Clavemeister Tom (Handyman Mike got
the title for the year) carries 1600 Penns Creek flies in his vest.
He still stood there trying find a fly that would match what the fish
were taking and found he didn't have it.
This was the year that Penns was unfishable. Really sad. All the
springs in the county were flowing into the creek, keeping the water
at high levels. The hatches came off like clockwork, but the fish did
not rise to them.
To those that have been to Penns, you may remember a huge tree on the
bank to the left of the trestle. It was severely undercut, leaving a
very deep hole in the water at its roots. I caught my first Penns
Creek brown in that hole. That tree fell into the creek this Spring.
It is now about 100 yards downstream of the trestle in the middle of
the current. The intact root ball is about 10 foot tall and 20 feet
wide. I'm sure an island will form there over time.
We did not see the cicadas. After a warm April, the wx was too cold
in May. They should be hoping in about two weeks.
I would like to thank everyone for driving me around and hosting me
again this year. The group was small, but the camaraderie as always
was great. I did realize that I've not fully recovered from surgery
earlier this year.
As a side note, on my trip back, I stayed in Bettendorf, IA. Aside
from the fact that I had one of the best pizzas in my life (and I've
had a lot of pizza over the years), the town became a refuge center
for the tornados that struck north and northwest of there. Right
now, I'm batting 1000 for tornados affecting my return trips to
Nebraska from Penns.
Frank Reid
(note: never play poker with someone that comes up with a variation
called "midnight baseball.")