I will be having an informal rod gathering in Spruce Creek the weekend of March 15th and 16th. Everyone is invited and there is no charge to attend. The event will take place at the Rivers Edge Guest House
www.riversedgeguesthouse.com on the banks of the Little Juniata River in the town of Spruce Creek. I will have "as many glass rods as possible" on hand to test cast and maybe a few to fish. I will also provide lunch (burgers, shiskebabs, chicken, sausages, etc. grilled by my wife Amanda) both Saturday and Sunday and there will of course be some good PA beer on hand. In addition to myself, Glenn Weisner and Wayne Samson from Glenn River Fly Co will also be in attendance. The three of us will be available to answer questions on rods, casting, flies, or pretty much anything else we can make up lies about.
I am planning on the events starting at 10:00am and lasting until about 4:00pm. As anyone from the North East knows, the weather in March can be a little unpredictable. It could be 70 degress or it could be snowing. We could have a nice BWO hatch or the river could be blown out from runoff. Given this fact we will kind of plan this as we go. Hopefully we will have decent water and we can all fish the C&R section of the Little J right in front of the Guest House. If not, we will hang out in the yard, cast rods, tell stories, drink a few beers, and eat some good grub. A few board members have already committed. You are encouraged to bring your favorite rods wether they are modern or vintage glass, bamboo, or graphite. Yes, your Steffens, D-glass's, and T&T's etc. are more than welcome. My vision here is to not only get people to cast my rods, but more importantly to meet some of you guys (and ladies?), cast some rods, and just have a great time.
In addition to the Little J, we are also about 1/2 mile from the confluence of Spuce Creek. Unfortunately most of this is private, but there is a nice small section section owned by Penn State and open to the public. We are also just upstream from the exclusive Spring Ridge Club, so if anyone has an extra $80,000 laying around and wants to be forever banned from owning a McFarland rod, you can go ahead and sign up for a membership while you are in town. Some of the best fishing though is right in front of the Guest House. This is a C&R area that has a healthy population of wild and holdover trout that were stocked as fingerlings. This stretch has a great mix of slow pools, deep riffles, and pocket water. Unless the water is blown out, I would expect to see midges and olives. This is decent sized water so bring a good streamer rod as well.
There are a lot of B&B's in town and there are also hotels in State College and Altoona both of which are within a half hour. If anyone wants more info on lodging, fishing, or other non-fishing attractions for the wife just let me know. Anyone who plans to attend please let me know so I can get an idea of how much food to get. Email me with any questions.
Hope to see a bunch of you there.
Mike McFarland