June 14th - Delaware River Bucks County

lars

lars

Well-known member
Joined
Feb 19, 2015
Messages
185
Excuse my digression before the fish report...

June 14th is a very special day, besides being Flag Day. Twenty two years ago as I was brushing my teeth getting ready to go to work my phone rang. It
was my best friend and lifetime fishing partners brother in law. Kenny had died early in the AM while guiding a sport for stripers off of Martha's Vineyard. Cause of death might have been a heart attack but it didn't really matter why. I could make this real long but to cut to the chase, if not for Ken I probably would not be writing
this fishing report as I probably would not be fishing, fly fishing, tying flies, messing with deer hair and wading all over streams and rivers. So every time I catch a fish, especially when its on his donuthin bug that i use all the time, I smile and holler thanks Ken.

I hit the river in Bucks county again from about Noon til 2:00. It was going to be a brief session so i headed out to where i found fish the other day. I managed to
get one more 12"er out of the spot on a donuthin. I thanked Ken. For many years i had a go to spot which i could always find a nice fish or two at. The past few years it's been hard to pull a dink out but i always give a try anyway. So I headed downriver needing to cross an island out to the Jersey current side of the river. On the way I fished the tailout of the middle channel with a donuthin and got slammed by a sweet 15"er that was a handful in the rapids. These smallies actually show you why your flyreel has a drag as it tested the smoothness of my recent Danielsson purchase. Great fish. I thanked Ken. Next cast into the same run and slammed again. Also right on the reel and pulling drag. It felt like a bigger fish but it turned out to be a fat slab of a 13"er. Thank you Ken!
I did cross the island and waded out to what used to be my go to spot. Couldn't buy a hit and i didn't care. I waded back and went home still missing my friend but so
thankful to be wading, flyfishing and catching fish. RIP Ken.
 
Nice. Care to share Kenny’s donuthin? Maybe we can all give him a shout out.
 
I remember Ken fondly. He worked at Pete Cooper's Brandywine Angler in Exton , and I would run into him in the Catskills. I loved his shop in Plumsteadville. A funny story - I was at Cairn's Pool on the Beaverkill and I looked down under the bridge out of the rain and Kenny and his gf were cooking dinner - steaks and the fixins. They invited me to join them and it was the best meal I've ever had at Cairn's. The next year I was in his store, and Ken pulled my pals over. He gestured at me and said "See that guy? He's great. He even gave me and my gf a steak dinner". I never could quite figure out how this turnabout came to be.

PS - this was decades ago, so forgive my confusion of the steak dinner/Plumsteadville guy with the actual Ken.
 
Last edited:
I'm sure many of us, myself included have a mentor who without...

We would be without the pleasures of fishing...

I'll leave my keyboard when I finish this reply to pour some Cognac and raise my snifter in a toast to "Kenny" and all of the other Kenny's out there that took the time to make us fishermen. 🍹

RIP Ken...
 
Back
Top