Hanging With Friends On Paflyfish

[DaveKile]

One of the more interesting outcomes of Paflyfish is how so many people have created connections and friendships from the website. I remember when @Maurice explained to me that there was a meetup about 20 years ago of a group of anglers from the website for a weekend of fly fishing. I didn't quite get the concept and was pretty taken aback by the idea that the site was a fly fishing meetup site. We are 27 years after the site got started I'm heading off to another Paflyfish Spring Jamboree tomorrow. I couldn't be more excited to see friends that I have known for many years.

This year more than ever I have tried to fly fish with people I respect on the site. Josh @3wt7X is one of those people who has been here for almost 15 years and always is just a class act. I first met Josh on a bus sponsored by the Cumberland Valley TU to the Fly Fishing Show in New Jersey. After many years of watching Josh catch some amazing trout in the region and share his adventures on Paflyfish, we finally got a chance to fish this week.

We both live in Maryland and spent an evening fishing a couple of streams along the Mason-Dixon Line. There is nothing better than learning some technics and locations from someone who really is passionate about their home waters. Josh shared a few fantastic flies with me for the evening and it didn’t take me too long to lose them in the trees. I’m good like that. A fun night with a light sulphur hatch and working some wet hackle flies was awesome. Josh made it happen for me with a beautiful brownie.

After a great start to this week, I get to head up for the Palfyfish Jamboree at Seven Mountains Campground. If you have never gone, it is a mix of fly fishing meets Woodstock without Jimmie Hendrick and hard drugs. It is really a great continuation of all the characters on the forum harassing each other online and now meeting up in person. To me, it is still a very interesting convergence of digital and analog that I would never miss. It is one of the few chances the moderators @Dave_W , @afishinado , @JackM and @Maurice get to meet up as well.

I wish I could take credit for all the friendships and connections that have occurred as a result of Paflyfish, but it is more chance than anything else. I just really appreciative of meeting people like Josh and the many others from the forum. Sometimes it is the little things in life that mean a lot.

 

[3wt7X]

I greatly appreciated and enjoyed our trip Dave! Thank you for all your work in providing this platform to connect fly fisherman. I would love to reconnect with some of the board members I used to fish with and one of these years I will make it up to the jam. Good luck to everyone up there this weekend. Stay safe and have a great time!!!

 

[turkey]

Great pic Dave and Josh. Also, well said Dave. I can't overstate how impactful this site has been for me and how special it is. Thanks for keeping it going.

Looking forward to seeing everyone this weekend.

 

[Oregon_OwlII]

I actually organized (if you want to call it that) the first Jamboree at the Woodward Cave Campground. It really took off after that. I think the second one was held somewhere else (I did not facilitate that one) and it has been going strong ever since. Noticed that some of the more recent ones (before Covid) had speakers and demos. I've made none after the first two and now living in Oregon has put a crimp in my travel style. Central PA is certainly the best place to hold such an event.

 

[AngryViking]

Really great story. I hope to make a jamboree at some point to meet some new folks with different experiences and knowledge. Always looking to learn and meet new people and hear their stories.