Rossiter Lodge Grilled Bison Burgers

We all know that Bowhunter serves up some mighty fine meals featuring bison, from his famous Six Pound Meatloaf to his famous Hump Roast.  He can cook the creature any which way.  This year's bison meal featured Grilled Bison Burgers and Fresh Cut Fries. Over one pound of ground meat, seasoned with secret herbs and spices, topped with bacon and cheese went into the making.  As Bowhunter carefully grilled the burgers on the Lodge porch, the aroma filled the valley.  The Pro Staffers were treated to another great meal at the Big Woods Summit!

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THANK YOU BOWHUNTER AND GOOD LUCK.

The Making of the Six Squirrel Paella

It has been proclaimed that the Chief makes the best paella this side of Barcelona.  The Chief himself states that his paella has no rivals here or in Spain.  Each offering has its own character.  The Poe Paddy Paella was warming and full of flavor.  This BWS Paella was rustic in character and possibly the Chief's best ever.  But he could not have pulled it off without help.  The two most important elements in making a fine paella is one, having a level pan and two, having a controlled fire.  Finding anything level in Potter County had been difficult for the Chief this week and his 22" paella pan was giving him fits.  Chief neglected his wood supply and it became soaked during a deluge.  The paella was going to be a disaster thought the Chief so he hit the bottle.  Well the Boys pitched in and began leveling the pan.   How many Pro Staffers does it take to level a paella pan?

Midger saved the Chief's Six Squirrel Paella.  First with perfect marination of the tasty animals using no less than twelve ingredients.  Second, Midger managed the fire with true expertise, controlling the heat throughout the cooking process and producing a perfect socrarat across the entire pan! 

Thank you gentlemen for making the BWS Six Squirrel Paella a success!

GOOD LUCK!

Paella Night

For those of you who are regulars to this blog no doubt are familiar with the Culinary Performance Art Tour De Force which is the Chiefs Paella. For those of you who have not experienced this dish here is a sample of what you missed.
Warning the following series of photos contains images which might be considered disturbing by tree hugging bambi lovers, young children, and anyone lacking an appreciation for outdoor cookery.

Rule one

Have atleast 2 apprentice "xefs" on hand at all times

This is a minimum as one will have the direct responsibility of attempting to start a fire with wood that was thoroughly soaked in the driving storm the night before.

The second apprentice will be primarily responsible for keeping #1 from murdering the "soc un Gran Xef" for leaving the firewood (especially the temperature control logs) out in said torrential downpour. This is best acheived by keeping a steady stream of freshly seared wild ramps and morels along with spirited libations in apprentice #1 hands.

Rule 2

Always start with the meat.

In this case a melange of wild game including:

Turkey sausage, venison sausage, Squag of the fox and gray variety and the absolutely critical Chorizo (and not that damned dried stuff from Mexico)

Rule 3

DO NOT STIR

The spoon you see is actually defending the Paella from the ungodly flies that were yet again invading the Rossiter Lodge

Rule 3-A

If it ain't Bomba it ain't Paella

Rule 4

Frozen Peas, Shrimp and Clams in a bag are permissible only if the tedious prep for these items would interfere with the pickling process of the Xef and first apprentice (more on this in a moment).

Rule Five

Always return the meat to the pan for serving. If for no other reason than it is just a wholly ungodly presentation.

Addendum

I mentioned pickling the Soc un Gran Xef earlier. The primary reason for this is so some smart ass with a camera can capture the shot above, not to mention it adds to the quality of the show. Sort of like making the guy at Bennihana take a shot for every shrimp tail he tosses into his hat.

Not wanting to be outdone, Bunyan offered up his own delicacy:

Fire Grilled Jalapenos stuffed with cream cheese and Prosciuto.

We are still awaiting the official judgement of Bunyans dish from the Chief.

All of the above dishes were tested on the animals of the Rossiter Lodge............

The verdict is still out on whether they were harmed or not!

Big Woods Summit 2011

The RBF Pro-Staff descended on Potter County for the annual BWS

We covered the entire Sinnemahoning drainage area from Brooks Run to Prouty. Some of the guys also managed to hit the Kettle creek area.

Fishing conditions ranged from “Arduous” to “Not 2 Bad” and everywhere in between. Alcohol consumption was slightly elevated.

Stay tuned to updates by the Chief on the culinary delights at this year’s summit. No one lost any weight on this trip.

Good Luck!

And yes we did catch fish

BWS 2011

Any questions?

I read the news today oh boy...

...about a lucky man who made the grade.

Sorry to bump you from the headlines there, Woodrow. Something tells me you'll be heavily featured on this blog and I promise to be brief, but this is big:

Congratulations to Midger on his selection to Team USA!!!

http://troutlegend.com/forum/

Welcome Woodrow

The Chief engaged in a lengthly nationwide search for an Airedale Terrier pup from working/hunting parents. The search ended May 17 in Titusville, PA. The Chief had the pick of the litter and choose the big, calm male pup and named him Woodrow after the famous Texas Ranger, Captain Woodrow F. Call.

After nearly 20 years of living with little Jack Russell Terriers we decided to adopt an Airedale, the King of Terriers. Airedales are fearless and majestic in appearance. Their courage is unquestioned, but they are not quarrelsome.  They don't start fights, they finish them.

Most colorful among early Airedale fans was Theodore Roosevelt, who chose Airedales for his big-game hunting trips. “The Airedale” declared Teddy, “can do anything any other dog can do, then lick the other dog, if he has to.”

Woodrow seems special. In just three days at age seven weeks, he can sit, stay, come and shit on the floor. He has two speeds...Neutral and All Out. He investigates everything and anything and loves water.

Woodrow aspires to be a rabbit catcher, pheasant, grouse, duck and goose retriever and cat killer. He is well on his way as he is already attacking and eating June Bugs. It seems though Woodrow has taking a shining to the Fair Maiden. He follows her everywhere while the Chief has to lure him with treats.

Slate Run Tackle Shop & Wolfe's General Store

Next time you're up in the Pine Creek Valley stop in and see Tom and Deb.  After a morning's fishing, treat yourself to some hand-dipped ice cream.  Then before the evening spinner fall, enjoy a great sub with homemade bread.  Sit on the bench and relax.  Enjoy the big water with its brown drake spinner fall or fish the "Runs" and enjoy some the most beautiful scenery in all of Penn's Woods.

I suppose it was over 25 years ago when I would stop in the General Store to have my gobblers weighed.  It's also been about that long ago that I built the "Big Pine" 9 1/2' 5/6 wt. fly rod for Tom's new shop.

They have everything you need for a stay in the Valley except for Bureau of Forestry camping permits.

May in Potter County

With the break in the weather it was time for a trip north. Daily rains have filled the water tables. Here is a shot of the Shit House run. Conditions here will challenge the pro-staffers. Friday night had a lot of egg laying caddis. Fishing was quite slow, no mayflies of any type. I’m thinking it could be an excellent year if the rains ever stop.

Saturday morning had bowhunter climbing the mountain behind camp. A lovely climb that took almost 45 minutes, but I reached the summit in one piece. And I was greeted at the top with a couple gobbles.

Afternoon had me back in the woods looking for leeks (ramps) here is a shot of the mother lode.

A parting shot of Smokey. She is looking forward to sharing all the pro-staffers food.

7th ANNUAL BIG WOODS SUMMIT

Mike B enjoying himself somewhere

The BWS with be held at the Five Star Rossiter Lodge May 25 - May 30.  Reserve your bunk now with Bowhunter.  The Rossiter Lodge now features air conditioning, hot showers and TV so you won't miss the NHL Playoffs.  Good tenting spots are available for those that like to sleep on the ground.  There will be plenty of food.  There will be a Paella Night.  The Chief also plans to smoke a turkey.

Don't forget to make your plans with Bowhunter, VP of Culinary Affairs.

Big Woods Memories

Originally posted by Agrontrutta - May 2009

Ummm, sorry, I forgot.

Seriously, some of the reports about the raucousness at the Big Woods Summits are a bit overplayed and some are just pure fiction (mostly). Like, for example, the Chief did not set fire to his pickup (just the camp stove, which was on the pickup, which now that I think of it could have set the truck on fire, but it didn’t so let’s move on). And the rumor of the big rumble at the Old Tannery Inn between Midger, Flyrodder, and the local woods folk over their shuffle board abilities is just that, a rumor, or so I’m told. No, the Big Woods Summit is mostly a congenial gathering of like-minded souls who want to get in touch with their inner fisher-child, commune with the earth, breath the crisp air, be baptized in the piscatorial waters flowing through Penn’s woods, and gaze at the dazzling palette of stars in the evening. In others words, it’s just cosmic.

This is what the Big Woods Summit is about, the glorious splendor of woods, waters, and fish--

And the remarkable beauty of all creatures great and small.

Now, sometimes the boys get rambunctious and fix up some special spirits but its just for sippin while the grub cooks over the fire.

And speaking of grub, its mostly simple fare--the kind that any Valencian or Catalonian peasant might throw together for his friends.



So, if you desire a tonic that refreshes the body and spirit, if you seek the tranquility that quiets the mind, if you are searching for the answers to life’s most persistent questions, then stay the hell away from Rossiter Lodge during Big Woods Summit, because we means to fish, eat, drink, and have a good time!

"The road goes on forever and the party never ends!"

2011 Baetis Summit

The 2010 Baetis Summit was a great success.  Fishing, fellowship and food.  The Chief had to endure a TU State Council Youth Committee Meeting during the opening hours. Midger was already catching fish at the Sycamore Run.  After the meeting, the Chief and Midger joined forces and sight fished for bluegills.  Bowhunter introduced a cocktail that will rival Yucca as a deadly sin.  A combination of apple cider, apple juice and grain alcohol.  Tastes like apple pie.  Elliott was scarfing down Oreo's and casting like a pro.  After hammerin the dumb trout, GregG polished off several of the Fair Maiden's Golbaki.  The Goose repented during Lent and joined the troop on this snowless day.  GlenG served an incredible clam chowder that would compete with any chowder served in NE.  JonK loves fly fishing and beer.  Midger was presented with the Prestigious Chief's Award for bagging the Triple Trophy in 2010.  Yes, we caught fish. None were measured.

Next up - The Big Woods Summit - Don't Miss This One!

How I Want to Die

The following obituary of Stanley Bogdan, fly reel craftsman, appeared in the New York Times:

Stanley Bogdan, Maker of Much-Coveted Fly Reels, Is Dead at 92
By MITCH KELLER
Published: April 2, 2011
Stanley Bogdan, a maker of fly fishing reels so coveted that anglers were willing to spend years on a waiting list to buy them and then to pay far more than they would have for reels of only ordinary excellence, died March 27 in Nashua, N.H. He was 92 and a lifetime Nashua resident.

His death was confirmed by his son, Stephen.
In fly fishing, in particular fly fishing for the mighty Atlantic salmon, owning a Bogdan reel signals high seriousness about the sport and, not infrequently, a fair amount of disposable income. Many expert anglers consider it the finest reel ever made, a synthesis of incomparable engineering and aesthetic elegance.
Yet many fly fishermen, unless they have spent time on the classic salmon rivers in places like Quebec and the Maritimes, may have actually seen precious few Bogdans, let alone dared to dream of owning one. In a sport that is already expensive, they are content to pair their fly rods with any number of fine reels that will provide many years of service for a few hundred dollars.
A new Bogdan, on the other hand, ranges in price from about $1,500 for the smallest trout reel to about $2,400 for the biggest salmon reel. Hand-tooled by Stanley and Stephen Bogdan in their shops in New Hampshire — originally in Nashua and then in New Ipswich — Bogdan reels could not be rushed. Only 100 or so have been produced a year, and it has not been unusual for buyers to have to wait three or four years for delivery.
“Almost from day one, there has been The Waiting List, a sort of secular purgatory on the way to achieving tackle bliss,” Graydon R. Hilyard wrote in his biography “Bogdan” (Frank Amato, 2006). “How long must you dwell therein, who can tell? As the dreaded list has never actually been seen, your position on it can never be determined.”
Its salmon reels are what S. E. Bogdan Custom Built, the company’s official name, is best known for. What sets them apart and makes them so expensive is their innovative system for controlling “drag,” the adjustable resistance by which a properly handled reel tires and ultimately controls a powerful game fish.
Stanley Bogdan invented a braking system for his reels that allowed for drag of extraordinary smoothness and strength, greatly decreasing the chance that the fish of a lifetime would be able to strain and break an angler’s line. A Bogdan may not help you hook more fish, but it will help you land more of the fish you hook — and much more stylishly.
Stanley Edward Bogdan, one of four children of Polish immigrants, was born on Dec. 16, 1918, in Nashua. Like his father, a machinist, he had good mechanical aptitude, and after finishing high school he went to work at the Rollins Engine Company in Nashua, a manufacturer of steam engines. From an early age he had a deep interest in fishing, hunting and the outdoors. His entry in his high school yearbook was prescient, noting that the young man “could work miracles with fishing tackle.”
For years Mr. Bogdan made what reels he could on the side while working as a machinist and raising a family. His big break came in 1955 when he entered into a deal to provide reels to the original Abercrombie & Fitch, that era’s big retailer of high-end sporting goods. A few years later he struck a deal with Orvis, and gradually word spread that there was no fly fishing reel quite like the one being made by the friendly, smiling, occasionally contrary Yankee in Nashua, N.H.
Mr. Bogdan’s wife, Phyllis, died in 1995. In addition to his son, Stephen, of New Ipswich, he is survived by a daughter, Cheryl Doughty, of Palm Bay, Fla.
Stephen Bogdan, 61, started working with his father in 1973 and became the company’s sole owner in 1996.
A passionate and accomplished angler in his own right, Stanley Bogdan was devoted to the Atlantic salmon and pursued it on the sport’s best rivers. “He was a very, very good salmon angler,” said Bill Taylor, the president of the Atlantic Salmon Federation.
Last September, Stanley Bogdan, at 91, caught a 32-pound salmon on the Grand Cascapedia River in Quebec. “I believe that was his last fish,” Stephen Bogdan said


Agrontrutta comment:
Thats how I want to go: hooking a 32-lb Atlantic salmon at age 91. Carry on!

Baetis Summit

The Pro Staffers may well have good weather on their initial outing of 2011. PSU's Weather World is calling for a chilly morning followed by a cloudy day in the 40's.  The Mobile Command Unit will be stationed below Stackhouse at the hatchery bridge parking lot as suggested by Bowhunter.  The main paved parking lot may be full of flatlanders by mid-morning. They don't like to get their tires muddy.  The Chief will be arriving early and fully medicated.  The MCU shitter may be in operation.  Fresh coffee will be available.  The Chief will probably dredge some no-hackle sowspawns for an hour from the banks and then will retire to the MCU for recuperation and leader tying.  Agrontrutta wished us well in a hand written note.

Baetis Summit - March 26th 2011

How time flies!  Haven't even gotten to the happenings of the Christmas Gathering and how JohnW caught a creel full of dumb trout on sucker spawn and how the Chief created another ungodly cocktail drink and how Bowhunter served up some tasty deep-fried striped bass and how GregG ate all the smoked steelhead and we need to make plans for the Baetis Summit.

There are no signs of Spring here in Northern Centre County, still cold and snowing days.  Would be nice to feel some sunshine on my face, cast to a rising trout, hear the tales of a fellow RBF Pro Staffer and possibly gather at the new Otto's in the evening for some fine food and drink.

Chief Has Surgery

After suffering through a year of foot pain with conservative treatments for Morton's Neuroma, the Chief has surgery to rid himself of a nerve gone bad in his left foot.  Morton's Neuroma is fibrous tissue formation around nerve tissue on the ball of the foot between the toes.  Painful sumbitch.  He could only manage a couple hours of fishin and didn't even bother muzzleloader hunting.  After undergoing open heart surgery, the Chief thought that this outpatient surgical event would be a snap.  He was dead wrong.  Painful sumbitch.  Foot still thumping after four days.  Relief finally came fortuitiously while fly tying.  Seems the combination of narcotics and head cement works wonders.  The Chief will find out Thursday when he can slip on the waders.

Davy Knot

USA Youth Fly Fishing Team Member Dan Marino taught the Chief this simple, yet effective knot a couple years ago.  Once you master this knot, you will never use another.

The Prestigious Chief's Award

Only awarded three times in the past, the Prestigious Chief's Award, has been awarded to our very own, Midger.  Past winners were Woodrow F. Call, Teddy Roosevelt and Bowhunter.  Midger completed the Triple Trophy, competed admirably in the America Cup, won a Silver Medal in the Clarion River Classic II and landed Red Tail at the Big Woods Summit.

My Daughter Can Out-Fish Your Honor Student

Happy New Year

Happy New Year

May the New Year bring great hatches and tight lines.
Have a great year adn stay safe.