Penn's rehash

Well, it's another year and the Penn's Clave, or should I say, the Penn's
Mini-Clave, has ended. We had but a handful of hearty souls for this, the
ninth Penn's Clave. Attendees included: Mike "Handyman" Shaw, Mike Makela,
Frank Reid, Dave Gunnett, Joel Axelrad, Vince Norris,and Bruce Fisher(a
permanent fixture at the Penn's Creek Angler). Conditions were, to say the
least, tough.
As of yesterday, the flow at Penn's still exceeded 700 cfs, so most of the
fishing was on Spring and Big Fishing Creeks. Spring was fishing very well,
with Sulfurs hatching daily to rising, but very selective, trout. Fishing
Creek yielded it's trout more reluctantly, with Grey Fox and March Brown
duns mixed in with the Sulfurs, and a spinner fall in the chilly
evenings....oh, did I mention that it sleeted a couple of times? To the best
of my knowledge, the largest fish of the trip was caught by Handyman, a
brown of a chunky 16 inches or so, maybe more. Further, fish were caught by
all, on every day, but were well earned.
Highlights: On Tuesday, I found out how difficult it is to leave a midstream
spot quickly in a driving rainstorm, when the fly has hooked itself to one's
bootlace(sort of like a marionette act). On Thursday, I noticed the darkness
of wings on Fishing Creek orange sulfurs, compared to those elsewhere.
Several times, ducks were spared the Miller touch, and allowed to roam the
roads safely. Finally, in an odd reversal, Reid showed that he helps deer
cross the road....presumably, he hunts for little old ladies in the fall.
Finally, a couple of thoughts: First, next year will be Penn's Clave
no.10(or X in Roman numerals). It will be held from the Saturday before
Memorial Day(May 23?) until June 1. This will near-guarantee the Drake hatch
during the clave. I am going to try to encourage all former Penn's Clave
attendees to make the Penn's Clave X a big one, a homecoming, if you will.
And, lastly, I note that I have overlooked the attendance of our youngest
clavers this year, Matt and Dan Makela, who enjoyed the first weekend, and
both caught fish. Dan may have also started working on his Full Reid
technique, leaving the possibility of a Youth Division in the annual Duck
Butt awards.
Tom

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.")

On May 27, 7:39�am, Frank Reid wrote:
(note: never play poker with someone that comes up with a variation
called "midnight baseball.")

:-)

On May 28, 12:50Â*pm, "Joel *DFD*" wrote:
On May 27, 7:39�am, Frank Reid wrote:

(note: never play poker with someone that comes up with a variation
called "midnight baseball.")

:-)

If you boys are poker players, you'll like this game. It evolved from
a monthly get together we have here in HK, and even with 2 or 3
seasoned (read: unadventurous with new games) players, this has caught
on as our #1 game.

Basically, its 5-card draw, no surprises (draw 4 with an ace, etc),
but the hand that takes the pot must be the highest hand at the table
(as usual), AND it must contain a 3.

For example, if I am holding a boat, aces over threes, and Frank has 4
fives, then I don't get the pot because his hand beat mine. He is a
'spoiler' and the game carries on with a reshuffle.

Its a lot of fun....sometimes a few spoilers come out in a row and the
pot grows a lot, Like someone has three 3s, and someone else has 3 Ks.
The moment of decision comes when you get dealt something like
3,9,10,J,Q: do you keep the potential straight to be a spoiler, or
the 3 and Q to try for the win? Or what if you have 5,5,9,9,A? Do you
play for the boat (to be the spoiler), or keep the higher pair to try
to draw a 3, or the ace and go for the big draw (something worthwhile
with a 3), or toss the ace and hope to draw a 3?

Since the highest hands in the deck (royal flushes, high straights)
are spoiler hands, having a hight hand with a 3 isn't a guarantee of a
win.

We need a name for this; "3's a crowd" has come up, as had "menage a
trois".

--riverman

On May 28, 12:50Â*pm, "Joel *DFD*" wrote:
On May 27, 7:39�am, Frank Reid wrote:

(note: never play poker with someone that comes up with a variation
called "midnight baseball.")

:-)

If you boys are poker players, you'll like this game. It evolved from
a monthly get together we have here in HK, and even with 2 or 3
seasoned (read: unadventurous with new games) players, this has
caught
on as our #1 game.

Basically, its 5-card draw, no surprises (draw 4 with an ace, etc),
but the hand that takes the pot must be the highest hand at the table
(as usual), AND it must contain a 3.


For example, if I am holding a boat, aces over threes, and Frank has
4
fives, then I don't get the pot because his hand beat mine. However,
he doesn't get the pot either because his wasn't the high hand at the
table. He is a
'spoiler' and the game carries on with a reshuffle, and the next
player dealing.


Its a lot of fun....sometimes a few spoilers come out in a row and
the
pot grows a lot, Like someone has three 3s, and someone else has 3
Ks.
The moment of decision comes when you get dealt something like
3,9,10,J,Q: do you keep the potential straight to be a spoiler, or
the 3 and Q to try for the win? Or what if you have 5,5,9,9,A? Do you
play for the boat (to be the spoiler), or keep the higher pair to try
to draw a 3, or the ace and go for the big draw (something worthwhile
with a 3), or toss the ace and hope to draw a 3?


Since the highest hands in the deck (royal flushes, high straights)
are spoiler hands, having a hight hand with a 3 isn't a guarantee of
a
win.


We need a name for this; "3's a crowd" has come up, as had "menage a
trois".


--riverman

On May 28, 12:50Â*pm, "Joel *DFD*" wrote:
On May 27, 7:39�am, Frank Reid wrote:

(note: never play poker with someone that comes up with a variation
called "midnight baseball.")

:-)

(damn...third try at this post)


If you boys are poker players, you'll like this game. It evolved from
a monthly get together we have here in HK, and even with 2 or 3
seasoned (read: unadventurous with new games) players, this has
caught on as our #1 game.

Basically, its 5-card draw, no surprises (draw 4 with an ace, etc),
but the hand that takes the pot must be the highest hand at the table
(as usual), AND it must contain a 3.


For example, if I am holding a boat, aces over threes, and Frank has
4 fives, then I don't get the pot because his hand beat mine.
However,
he doesn't get the pot either because his hand doesn't have a 3. He is
a
'spoiler' and the game carries on with a reshuffle, and the next
player dealing.


Its a lot of fun....sometimes a few spoilers come out in a row and
the pot grows a lot, Like someone has three 3s, and someone else has
3
Ks. The moment of decision comes when you get dealt something like
3,9,10,J,Q: do you keep the potential straight to be a spoiler, or
the 3 and Q to try for the win? Or what if you have 5,5,9,9,A? Do you
play for the boat (to be the spoiler), or keep the higher pair to try
to draw a 3, or the ace and go for the big draw (something worthwhile
with a 3), or toss the ace and hope to draw a 3?


Since the highest hands in the deck (royal flushes, high straights)
are spoiler hands, having a hight hand with a 3 isn't a guarantee of
a win.


We need a name for this; "3's a crowd" has come up, as had "Menage a
trois". For now, we call it "That 3 game"

--riverman

"Frank Reid" wrote in message
...

This was the year that Penns was unfishable. Really sad.

Penn's was fishable after you left, ya just gotta plan on staying for a
longer period...

Regardless, it was good fishing with you yet another year.

Still going up for Cicada Madenss. Will have a few open beds in the Cherry
Run Cabin Fourth of July week. You are more than welcome.


The Finn

On Mon, 26 May 2008 12:56:50 GMT, "Tom Littleton"
wrote:

First, next year will be Penn's Clave
no.10(or X in Roman numerals). It will be held from the Saturday before
Memorial Day(May 23?) until June 1. This will near-guarantee the Drake hatch
during the clave. I am going to try to encourage all former Penn's Clave
attendees to make the Penn's Clave X a big one, a homecoming, if you will.

I will try to make it, Tom. However, I hold no hope of ever seeing
that myth known as the Drake Hatch. Riiiiiiiight!

I'm at Lakewood using Joanne's VZ Access Manager (via cell phone) to
communicate. It's a little slow, but good enough for e-mails and
news. Had an excellent morning with two nice landlocks (21 and 19) on
nymphs, two more (16ers) on Adams. And then it clouded up. Without a
raincoat, I headed back to camps. Most fisherman are at Second
Current fishing the sucker spawn. Too crowded for me. I had the dam
from one side to the other and downstream to the first pool all to
myself.

Starting to cool off. Good afternoon to snooze and rest this old
body.

Dave

"Dave LaCourse" wrote in message
...


I will try to make it, Tom.

very good news. And, you are more than welcome without bringing me some gift
that proves spectacular.

However, I hold no hope of ever seeing
that myth known as the Drake Hatch. Riiiiiiiight!

save your receipts on the way down. I'll refund the gas
(ok, maybe I'll just fill it with regular when you're not lookingg) for
the trip if you don't see drakes, in large numbers, during that time-frame.
(disclaimer: this offer is only extended to Dave. I would not want to be
holding the gas tab for the whole bunch of you! )

On Tue, 27 May 2008 22:13:28 GMT, "Tom Littleton"
wrote:


"Dave LaCourse" wrote in message
.. .


I will try to make it, Tom.

very good news. And, you are more than welcome without bringing me some gift
that proves spectacular.

However, I hold no hope of ever seeing
that myth known as the Drake Hatch. Riiiiiiiight!

save your receipts on the way down. I'll refund the gas
(ok, maybe I'll just fill it with regular when you're not lookingg) for
the trip if you don't see drakes, in large numbers, during that time-frame.
(disclaimer: this offer is only extended to Dave. I would not want to be
holding the gas tab for the whole bunch of you! )

d;o)

Colder than a well diggers ass up here tonight. Gonna have to sleep
with my watch cap on as well as extra blankets.

Fishin is good, however.

Dave