What a weekend it was! 

As I sit here typing this I have just finished one of those marathon weekends of fun. Why is it as hard as we try when planing things everything seems to end up crammed into a span of 3 or 4 days? Well, that is what happened to me this past weekend. On Thursday I was at the South Jersey Coastal Fly Anglers monthly meeting. I was there to give my presentation "Shad Fishing 101". As soon as I got there I got an appreciation for what a cool town Ocean City NJ is. Driving around this quaint little town for a  minute you would never know that Atlantic City is just minutes up the road. From the clubhouse to the members of the SJCFA this club is top notch and Joe does a fantastic job keeping everything running smoothly. Of all of the clubs and all of the presentations I have given, this is only the second club that did the "Pledge of Allegiance" before the meeting. I gotta say...that is pretty damn cool! 

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How is this for a clubhouse!

The meeting was well attended with about 40 people there. Based on the conversations and the emails after the meeting, I think the members enjoyed it. 

I would like to thank Joe and all of the members of the South Jersey Coastal Fly Anglers for having me out last Thursday, I hope you enjoyed the evening as much as I did. I hope we can do it again real soon. 

So, you want to fish central PA do ya...
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I heard a smart man say not too long ago "why do you want to go to Montana to Trout fish?" "We have some fine fishing right in our back yard." The person who said that was Eric Stroup and the back yard he was speaking of is one of the premier limestone rivers in central Pennsylvania, the Little Juniata. The Little "J" as known by the locals is a beautiful river full, and I mean full, of Wild Brown Trout. I didn't get home, Thursday night from the presentation, until almost midnight. I was glad when Eric said there was really no need to be there first thing in the morning. The time change had the fish active later in the day. This allowed me to get at least a few hours of sleep. I met up with my buddy "One Boot" Ed at 7:00 and we began the 3 hour drive North West to Eric's lodge.  

This lodge is awesome!

We didn't waste much time and before long we were on the river looking for Trout. It wasn't 10 minutes into the first run and Ed knocked the skunk out of the boat with a solid fish! 

We continued having steady action throughout the first day. I don't know how many fish we landed, nor do I care. It was a great day on the water with great friends, to me that is what fly fishing is all about! 

Look at the width of the tail. No wonder they pull so hard!

look at the color on the caudal fin!

Watching the master at work...I was actually video taping this.

A great ending to a perfect day.

I didn't know Ed had taken this picture. It is kinda funny he would click the shudder at this moment. This was a fairly serious discussion about the industry and some heartfelt suggestions from Eric to me about the direction of Irish Flies. This one is going in a frame! 

Day 2, more of the same...or is it? 

​After a good night sleep and a trip to the local diner for breakfast (if you go to Diner 22 I would recommend the Diner 22 mess, a cool Breakfast meal with a little bit of everything) we were back at the lodge pondering the plan for the day. I will tell you this...it wan MUCH colder the second day! I actually changed clothes twice before we left. A full set of long johns, and a set of fleece over top of that. Trust me, I was glad I had it! 

It didn't take long for the action to start on the second day as I think on the third drift I was tight to a feisty little Brown. We fished our way through three runs netting about a dozen fish. The highlight of the morning was the hooking of a solid 20" fish. Ed stuck the brute on the dropper and before he even had time to react the big ole boy had snapped him off. It was literally less than a second! The only way we know what he was is he came out of the water as he was leaving almost as if to say "I win this one." What size tippet you ask...4X. It was a great morning, better than I thought it would be with 40 degree air and water temps. 

After lunch we went to a spot that Eric said we are gonna do a little "Donkey Huntin" We parked in the lot and walked about a half hour up to the spot. Apparently people don't fish this spot often because of the walk. "It is funny, people will drive three hours to get here, but they wont walk 10 minutes." A very true statement. We set up in the same run, me at the top and Ed at the bottom. Ed's rod was as hot as the hinges of hell... I don't know how many fish he landed, well over a dozen. I do know every time I looked down his rod was doubled over. It was pretty cool to see my buddy having a banner day.   

A big one just came unbuttoned at the net! This is my self imposed time out...

We were hooking up two at a time.

The fish of the trip. Ed's shouldered up 20 inch tank. It isn't often you see your backing on your Trout rig. We saw it today!

Well, there you have it, a 3 day marathon of fly fishing. If you are in the Ocean City NJ area and think you might want to chase some salt water fish with fly gear check out the SJCFA HERE. If you would like to check out some of the best fishing central PA has to offer check out my buddy Eric Stroup HERE, or contact me to book a trip. Both of these organizations are first class. Check em out, you will be glad you did! Till next time...

                                                                                                                       Tight Lines