dkile

Attention PAFF Team WWI (warm water insurgents Let's get together for some warm water FFing. On Sat, 7 Aug we'll team up for a float/wade trip on the Juniata River - target smallmouth bass and muskellunge. I think a mini Jam in August ought to fit in between the trico Jam and presumably a steel Jam in the fall (so many Jams - so little time).

This will be a combined float and wading trip. If you have a canoe, johnboat, or kayak by all means consider bringing it. When we get the group together we'll see if there are additional spaces in boats and how to pair up. Those without boat opportunities will have ample wading opportunities at both the start or end points of the float (or anywhere else they care to fish on the river).

We'll meet at the PFBC boatramp at Thompsontown at noontime and float downriver to Millerstown, about 5 miles and finish the day at dusk. Big WW rivers in PA usually fish best in the evenings during high summer. If you're new to bass fishing I'd be happy to provide some tips and check your rigging at the boatramp when we link up as well as suggest some locations if you wish to drive up or downriver and wade.

If you've never fished it, the Juniata is a very scenic river with nothing more than Class I riffles that might require a bit of dragging if the water is low in the area we're fishing. Wade fishing is easy although I recommend felt soles or cleats (skip the cleats if you hope to fish from a boat). The river is roughly about 100 yards wide with an average depth of about 1 foot dropping to several feet in some of the deeper holes. The bottom is mostly cobble and ledge rock with river grass islands. Thompsontown is off RT 22/322 between State College and Harrisburg. (Note: the PFBC boat ramps require that canoes/kayaks be registered or have a launch permit sticker - and of course don't forget a PFD and an extra if you've got one).

You can fish with trout tackle but I'd recommend a 7 or 8WT rod (or bigger if you want to target...

Last October I received an interesting email from someone in Hollywood. I took notice to this as I don't get many emails from Tinsel Town as most of my posse is right coast based.

Could it be they were looking to shoot a River Runs through It II and the wanted a young fresh face to help consult? Man I would love to go out west again. Maybe they were coming East to shoot the Bridges of Lancaster County with Clint Eastwood as he fished Donegal Creek and needed someone to guide the man with no name around? Big fan of Clint movies. All very novel ideas, but my youth and talent are more likely found in faded pictures than than on the credits of some blockbuster movie.

Interestingly, they did want my approval for the use of the of the Paflyfish website in a scene for an action movie. Makes sense to me because what can be riveting than a sulphur hatch on a stream or a spot burn debate in the forum?

As it turns out director Simon West is shooting The Mechanic which is based on the old 1972 version of the movie by the same name with Charles Bronson. Jason Statham and Donald Sutherland are in this new action-thriller centered on an assassin and his apprentice.

Somehow during the movie they will be chasing some bad guy, probably someone who spot burned a stream, and wind up doing research on Paflyfish to track this guy down.

I honestly think the chances of the website being mentioned or shown in the movie are as remote as me fishing with Clint Eastwood, but it sounds fun. And who knows this may just be some new marketing stunt for movie companies to approach hundreds of blogs and websites teasing they with fame for a blog post like this.

Movie due in December 2010. See you on the cutting from floor!

The Internet seems to have a never ending supply of material to gander at and digest. Some of my favorite fly fishing blogs should not be overlooked this summer.

The Trout Underground
Tom Chandler has built his fly fishing blog around the conversation with a less than serious approach to the sport. His casual, but candid dialog really gets back to the heart of what the sport is all about. My favorite line from Tom is, "The fly fishers who have the most fun are those who approach it like they were kids." Plus I admire him because he as more people following him on Twitter than me.

Fat Guy Fly Fishing
The site name pretty much says it all. Alex, Kyle and Aaron all post a variety of funny topical articles about fly fishing from all over the country. Alex adds some pretty damn impressive photography. I speak very highly of the site because they make me laugh and it looks like they could probably kick my butt if I said anything differently.

Moldy Chum
These posts are some of the best and most pleasing to look at on the Internet. Moldy chum finds the best pictures and photographs to visualize their blog posts. More pictures and less words especially when there is a Friday Pinup involved.


Thanks guys!

The USGS has been sharing a very cool and useful online database for many years that provides real-time stream flow conditions for many years. This web-based system provides timely details for many streams across the country with almost hourly updates being sent from radio and satellite transmissions to the USGS Water Watch web site.

A truly invaluable tool for me and has helped determined many a trip especially during heavy spring rains.

The U.S. Geological Survey WaterAlert service now can send e-mail or text messages from the system. The WaterAlert system is supported through the USGS Cooperative Water Program, the USGS National Streamflow Information Program, and by USGS data-collection partners.

Real-time data from USGS gages are transmitted via satellite or other ways to USGS offices at various intervals; in most cases, once every 1 or 4 hours. Emergency transmissions, such as during floods, may be more frequent. Notifications will be based on the data received at these site-dependent intervals.

Thanks Bruno for the scoop.

The creativity and talent of the members on the Paflyfish site always blows me away. Our own Skybay has created a wonderful visual representation of the Paflyfish 2010 Jamboree.

Many great scenes from the weekend of fishing, Penns Creek, Coburn area and our evenings. Skybay really worked hard as you can see from all the different scenes and time spent editing this together.

You must watch both parts to really capture the weekend and Skybay's talents.

2010 PaFlyFish Jamboree
May 21-23, 2010

Part I
Friday

2010 PaFlyFish Jamboree

Part II
Saturday and Sunday

Skybay thank you for your fantastic videos of the weekend.

One of my favorite fly-fishing books is back in print after several years. Trout Streams of Pennsylvania: An Angler's Guide, 3rd edition by Dwight Landis is must have book for anyone who spends any time fly-fishing in Pennsylvania. .

Landis provides an amazing amount of detail covering the most important streams across the state. Inspired by the streams and their surrounding landscapes, he wrote this 1st edition of this Pennsylvania fly-fishing guidebook in 1991 at a time when there were very few books of it's type.

His book was one of the inspirations for Paflyfish.com and I personally pack his book with me as I trek out on my fly-fishing jaunts.

The reprinted 3rd edition (no changes) can be found at many local fly shops and online Trout Streams of Pennsylvania: An Angler's Guide, Third Edition.

An interview with Dwight on Paflyfish can be found here.

The first week of June is one of my favorite weeks for fly-fishing. Warm weather and lots of good bugs make for fun days and better evenings. I especially enjoy of the late spinner falls that occur on some of the larger streams. My trips to Northcentral Pennsylvania have provided the best luck with some of these late evening spinner falls from what seems to be brown drake spinners. Being that these big spinners don't show up until about 9:00 they are not the easiest to identify.

This all started about 20 years ago with my friends Ron and Greg trying to outdo each other on these early June evenings up in Potter County. Naturally as the sun would start to set we would tie on our normal #16 rusty spinners and enjoy a casual evening of landing of few more fish that added to our counts for the day. We then would fall into the Wharton for a cold one and a replay of our great heroics.

After some period of cold beverages and tall stories of big fish we found ourselves discussing our limitless opportunity for fish the next day. The smell of over confidence was only outdone by the stink of our cigars.

These knuckleheads may have taught me how to fly-fish, but at 11:30 at night at the Wharton I was sure I could even out fish Lefty Kreh with one hand tied behind my back. We left that evening with a new challenge for the next days fishing derby. If I wanted to make sure Frick and Frack were going to be buying the cold ones the next night I was going to have to get up early and show them how to get it done.

The early morning plans got superseded by a very important resting and planning session until about 10:00 am. Well it was a marathon not a sprint right? The good news was those two seemed like they were planning as well from the sound of sawing wood rattling through the camp. I quickly dashed down to the stream and geared up for the battle of Fort First Fork.

Greg must have heard me leave...

The Paflyfish Jamboree 2010 was another terrific gathering of over 75 anglers with flyswaps, guest speakers, live music and the fishing the Green Drakes on Penns Creek. Not only the expected Pennsylvanians, but members from Ohio and Maryland made it up for the weekend. A wonderful time for many to to fish and reconnect with friends.

Kudos to GulfGreyhound who made the longest trip of the weekend traveling up from Florida.

Penns Creek provided it's usual wonderment and quandary for any angler. The evening fireworks on the creek seemed to start after 8:00 with several varieties of sulphurs, caddis and the Green Drakes taking center stage. Several different Green Drake hatches occurred during the days and evenings depending where you were at on Penns over the weekend. The size and number of these mayflies is always astonishing as the hatches exploded across the water. The creek and side roads were busy with people from all over the country checking out the late May spectacle.

Taking advantage of the great regional waters many folks took side trips to Spring Creek, Little Juniata, Fishing Creek and variety of local wild trout streams. General nymphing was popular during the day and sulphur hatches hit the streams with great predicability in the evening.

Friday night Jonas from the Feathered Hook Fly Shop spoke to the members about local fishing and hatches for the weekend. The next morning PaulG helped get the coffee going for the crew before everyone took off the day.

The weather turned on Saturday afternoon with rain slowing building into the evening. Everyone returned from the streams on that night to start off the evening with entertainment from Shaky and his band.

Dave Wolf author of a Flyfisher's Guide to Pennsylvania joined the crew for the evening. Dave provided an delightful and entertaining conversation about flyfishing...

I am always blown away by the talent that exists within the members of the Paflyfish community. This years fly swap was no exception. Yet again all those that participated did a masterful job in with their flies. Everyone was kind enough to share their talents with me and always thrilled when my flies arrive. Bruno has lead the fly swap over the last few seasons.

This years swap had a warm water theme and included streamers, bass surface bugs, grubs and many more exciting ties that I look forward to trying out this year.

Members that participated included: fredrockgrizzly, jerseygeorge, skiltonian, osprey, David, Goodfortune, shipnfish2006. MidasMulligan, Fredrick, Flipinfly, salvelinusfontinalis, BelAirSteve, flyfishermanj, FrequentTyer, RCHILDS, Bruno and HuntinFool.

Guys I really appreciate your efforts. A special thanks to Bruno for organizing this years fly swap again.

Adam Mizrahi caught my attention with a very intriguing fly-fishing video he put together on one of his recent trips to the Casselman River. The Casselman is beautiful trout stream that runs from Western Maryland into Pennsylvania that I have enjoyed some really nice spring caddis hatches. The five minute video really captures the fun and mood of the day Adam and his crew made their run out to Western Maryland.

Digging a little deeper I found that Adam has a YouTube site with a small collection of fly-fishing videos from some other trips he has taken. His creative edits and soundtracks add a light surreal tone to his video. Some of the other regional streams he has waded include the Gunpowder, Morgan Run and the Conewago.


When I caught up with Adam I was expecting to hear about some big production company and equipment that he has access to create his videos. I was blown away when he explained this was all done with just a couple of entry level $200 video cameras and the software program iMovie that came with his Macintosh. Really pretty remarkable stuff for a guy that when not taking time to fly-fish and shoot video on a Flip Mino runs a home remodeling business. Self taught, Adam really captures, edits and presents the essence of his days out on the stream.

In addition to these videos, he hopes to get something together so he can enter into the Annual Drake Flyfishing Video Awards.

You can catch up with Adam and see more of his videos on his YouTube site.

Lewis and Clark explored the lands acquired in the Louisiana Purchase starting in 1804. William Clark hand mapped their journey and his base map provided much of the information for the western expansion that took place during the nineteenth century.

Having concentrated my studies in digital cartography during college, Google Maps is one of my first bookmarks on my menu bar and enjoy how easy it is creating my own maps. Google Maps is an wonderful base map for me to plan vacations, photography spots and ventures in fly-fishing. It is very easy to create custom map points that allow you to add notes, links, pictures and more.

I have my own private fly-fishing map with all my fishing spots, camps, restaurants and points of interest related to fly fishing. I keep records of all the streams I like with notes on where to park, GPS locations and sections I like to frequent. This is a big time saver and keeps my fishing locations journaled in one location. I keep a wish list of streams I have yet to visit and change those map points once I finally hit those streams.


I also use this map to plan all my trips. I can figure out distances, times, food stops and best directions based on a few streams I might try and hit. Google driving directions can be pulled up then emailed or printed before I leave.

It is amazing to me what can be done with these maps and how simple it is to mange the information once you get started .

To get going log into Google and then over at Google Maps you will find a link to My Maps in the upper left hand corner below Google Maps Search. Once selected you can browse other maps or get started by creating your own. As you name you map, three new buttons appear in your new map and then you can begin by adding new map points with the middle blue icon.

Google provides several different map points that you can change or add your own. Once you select a new map...