Paella Haiku

Rice peas and saffron

Intermingle with mussells

Heavenly morsels

Baetis Haiku

The rise ring expands

outward from a brown trout slurp

Baetis disappears

Baetis Summit

Appears that the majority wishes to rid themselves of cabin fever on March 14. I suppose it's time to make a few preparations. I am looking foward to the unique fellowship, food and beverage that these gatherings bring.

Cougar Hollow

Painter Run - Centre/Mifflin County Line

Folks come up to me when I'm in camp in Cougar Hollow and say, "You know how this hollow got it's name?"
"Tell me," I say.
And they explain, "They call it Cougar Hollow because the loggers found a big mountain lion up here -used to call them "painters"- and they tracked him in the snow with dogs and hunted him down and shot him and skinned him out and wore the hides for jackets."
"Is that a fact," I say.
"Yessir, that's the real story behind Cougar Hollow," the fellow tells me.
"It sure is interesting," I say.

I don't tell people the truth about the hollow, because I don't think they would ever believe me. It would spoil their weekend if I did, anyway. These outsiders who come up here might not always go back to Philadelphia or New Jersey with a turkey or a buck or a string of trout, but they bring home their stories of local lore and tell all their neighbors about the wild places they visited up in Clinton County. So I just let it alone.

But just between you and me, here's the real truth of it. This hollow was first settled by a Civil War veteran named Charles Kuglar. He was a trapper, and I have seen his 1862 Colt revolver. He moved up here after the war was over. He was from Enola, down by Harrisburg. After he died the state bought up his land. That was in 1928. They paid three dollars a square acre for it. This was the Twenty-eighth District and it was called Kuglar Hollow until some young forester came around. He must have been given the job of naming every stream and hollow. His name was Lawrence, and he decided that Kuglar wasn't a good enough name, so he changed it to Cougar Hollow. Ever since then, every flatlander who comes up here has been telling cougar stories about the place.


Snake Bite, Lives and Legends of Central Pennsylvania
James York Glimm
University of Pittsburgh Press

Trout Too Big

Two friends were walkin' along Pine Creek and one said to the other, "Yesterday I caught a trout that was a yard long. "Oh yeah, " said his friend, "Yesterday I saw a lantern at the bottom of the creek, and it was lit." "Aw, come on, now, I just can't believe that kind of trash," said the friend. "Well, I'll tell you what I'll do then," said the other man. "I'll blow out that lantern if you'll take a couple of feet off that trout."

Flatlanders and Ridgerunners
James York Glimm
University of Pittsburgh Press

Where Am I?

A change of pace for the mid-winter willies. This bridge is in a damp city that inspires lots of sighs from awe-struck visitors. Don’t be a prisoner in your cozy palace of snow and ice. Try to guess where I am:

1. High Street Bridge, Bellefonte
2. Bridgida, Gena Lola
3. Rio di Palazzo, Venezia
4. The Trestle footbridge, Coburn
5. Rio de la Rossitere, Etats Unis
6. Puente de Humberto, Andulasia, Espana

The first one to correctly identify the name of the bridge and its location will share in a recent $20 million windfall from my new friend Arundo Donax in Nigeria. Arundo’s family was recently ousted in a coup and he chose me to safe guard their funds in a PNC branch bank in Lagos. Just send me your SSN, bank account, and routing information and you will be set for life! Second prize is 100,000 shares in Bernie Madoff’s new hedge fund “Sing-Sing Growth and Income.” I hear it’s really secure.

Got Buffalo?

Any Questions?

The head alone weighed in at 96.5 lbs.

In Spite of Ourselves

The Chief and the Fair Maiden in the Third Meadow

She don't like her eggs all runny

She thinks fishin with bait is funny

She looks down her nose at money

She gets it on like the Easter Bunny

She's my baby

I'm her honey

I'm never gonna let her go

He gets laid every night and twice on Sundays

I like it when he buys me sexy undies

He’s real slow but he gets things done

Drinks his beer like it's oxygen

He's my baby and I'm his honey

Never gonna let him go

In spite of ourselves

We'll end up a'sittin' on a rainbow

Against all odds

Honey, we're the big door prize

We're gonna spite our noses

Right off of our faces

There won't be nothin' but big old hearts

Dancin' in our eyes.

She thinks all my jokes are corny

Vampire movies make her horny

She likes bourbon on her scrambled eggs

Swears like a sailor when she shaves her legs

She takes a lickin'

And keeps on tickin'

I'm never gonna let her go.

He's got more balls than a big brass monkey

He's a whacked out weirdo and a fly fishin junkie

Sly as a fox and crazy as a loon

Sulphurs come and he's howlin' at the moon

He's my baby

I don't mean maybe

Never gonna let him go

In spite of ourselves

We'll end up a sittin' on a rainbow

Against all odds

Honey, we're the big door prize

We're gonna spite our noses

Right off of our faces

There won't be nothin' but big old hearts

Dancin' in our eyes.

There won't be nothin' but big old hearts

Dancin' in our eyes.

She's Gonna Kill Me

This is the chick that I took fishin many, many years ago. Now you see why I call her the "Fair Maiden". She really liked Opening Day, but I preferred to take her night fishin.

Happy New Year!

I wish to thank the Pro Staffers for their fellowship, entertainment and dedication over this past year. It has been a very enjoyable time. It has been great gathering with such notable and interesting characters. Thank you for sharing your ungodly talents on this blog. It has been a great pleasure for me to be in your association. Thank you and may God bless you and your families in the coming year.

Yep, We Fished

Even though it was a might chilly during the Christmas Fishing Gathering on the 20th, we did fish. Goose was the most successful. He landed a couple of trophy rainbows along with a mess of browns. The Santa hat did the trick. Bowhunter dredged a couple of runs with nymphs but had no takers.
Midger did likewise and landed a few trout.

Yours truly spent most of the time breaking ice out of the rod guides, eating cookies, and brewing Brazilian java.

Happy New Year!

How to Spot a Prostaffer

Just look for the RBF sticker!

A Cold Day on Spring Creek

Good fellowship and libations kept off the cold on Saturday when select prostaffers met for the Christmas Fishin Gathering. Fortified with a hearty breakfast at the Bellefonte Waffleshop, the Chief, Bowhunter, Goose, and Agrontrutta gathered at the Paradise and dredged the runs with sucker spawn and pheasant tails. Midger dropped by later in the morning. It was good to see improved water levels on Spring Creek after a very dry autumn.

A highlight of the day was the award ceremony recognizing Bowhunter for his culinary feats at the Big Woods Summits.Later in the day we quaffed several Erie ales, munched on cookies and other goodies, and chowed down on the Chief's excellent venison with morels, and a great sheep'shead mushroom soup. Some Brazilian java with a shot of Gentleman Jack not only was a great apperitif, it also kept frostbite at bay.

Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year to all RBF prostaffers, sponsors, and hangers on.

Merry Christmas from the Chief

I hope to see some of you characters at the 3rd Annual Christmas Fishin Gathering. I will have some culinary delights for your enjoyment. Sheepshead Mushroom Soup, Cast Iron Skillet Venison, Smoked Wild Turkey Spread with Crackers and Genuine Polish Kielbasa! Wash it all down with some Jeremiah Weed Egg Nog and some fine Erie Brewery Ales. The Fair Maiden is preparing a Christmas Cookie Tray for our enjoyment.

We should experience partly cloudy skies and temperatures in the 40's. There should be a skiff of snow on the ground. Delightful weather for fishin!

Amend it, a slight chance of rain showers, snow showers, and freezing drizzle. Cloudy, with a high near 28. East wind 5 to 7 mph becoming north. Chance of precipitation is 20%.

Merry Christmas!

I finally got some time for a couple updates.The new PA mentorship program has been a success in my neck of the woods. Here’s a shot of my 10 year old nephew with a nice 6 point he got the first Monday of buck season. The only way it could have been better was if I would have been hunting with him. He is still smiling and pointing out to all of us how he got the biggest buck.

The weekend of Bear season we took a trip to potter county for a little fishing…. But after seeing the condition of the outhouse beat we decided to just work on the camp. It was down in the single digits and rather nippy.

After a good nights work on Friday and Saturday morning we were ready for the old wall to be removed. Saturday afternoon consisted of shoring up the ceiling and removing the studs and installing an 8”x8” x 14’ foot barn beam. Here is a shot of where we think the cabinets will be going.

I must say we are well on the way to getting to the Tiki deck by 2010.

RBF's 3rd Annual Christmas Fishing Gathering

Reminder and Roll Call

This year's gathering will be held on December 20th. We will meet at the Waffle Shop in Bellefonte at 9:oo AM for breakfast. Hopefully the weather will be cooperative. I will have propane heaters for all the flatlanders. It would be good to know how many Pro Staffers will be attending so I will have some idea how many gallons of egg nog will be needed. Additional menu item - Smoked Wild Turkey Spread. Feel free to bring anything to share.

Dem der Deer

Sorry, wrong type of deer.

I expect our illustrious leader and Bowhunter, Directory of Culinary Affairs (now what does that really mean--fooling around with cooking or the cook?), along with many others are in Penn's woods stalking the flesh and blood type of deer. Post some reports when you come in from the wilds.

Guess Who's Displaying a RBF Sticker?

Miquel Sala Medina being congratulated after beating the Americans on their home water.

Up North

Today’s cold snap and lake-effect snow blew in from Canada, home of Molson, the late Robert Goulet, and some fine flyfishing waters. Herewith some pics of eastern and western flyfishing waters in Canada.

The Margaree River is in the east central region of Cape Breton Island, Nova Scotia. Eugene, my French-Canadian guide, instructed me in the etiquette of pool rotation for Atlantic salmon fishing: Get in line, make two casts, move down two paces, repeat. I swung large blue doctors and other colorful salmon flies all day in the hope of at least hooking a fish. It was not to be.

A Margaree river regular

Red Deer river

Bow river

About 5000 km west of Nova Scotia is the province of Alberta, home of cowboys, oil sands, and k.d. lang. I floated the Red Deer river just north of Red Deer Alberta and the Bow river just outside of Calgary. The floats were interesting but not spectacular.

South of Calgary and west of Lethbridge near the Alberta and BC border is the Crow’s Nest river. This would be a great region for a future western summit.

Near the Crows Nest Angler Flyshop, Bellevue, Alberta

Athabasca River, Jasper National Park

Oh Canada, eh?

Where Am I Now?

The first person to identify the correct location in this latest Google Earth fly-by (click on the image for a larger version) will be the proud winner of a slightly used, but still functional, official industrial sized RBF Fart Suppressor.

Mulitple Choice:
a) Forks of the Delaware
b) Hammersley Fork, Pa.
c) Cross Fork, Pa.
d) First Fork - Costello, Pa.
e) Village of "Forks" (aka Coburn, Pa.)
f) Forks of Young Woman's Creek

If you know the correct answer, or think you know the correct answer, please jot it down on a slip of paper and attach it to a brand new 16" Meade aplanatic hyperbolic telescope with a 400mm aperture, a zero image-shift microfocuser, an oversized observatory-quality primary mirror with long exposure locking system, smart drive permanent periodic error correction system, Sony GPS reciever sensor, heavy duty double tine fork mounting, 26mm - 5 element eye piece, hand held Auto Star controller and a high precision 1-arc minute pointing system and mail the entire package to me, Wade Rivers c/o Cherry Springs State Park, Coudy Pike, Potter County, Pa.

Please make sure the package is properly insured.