It was great seeing old faces and meeting some new ones. Didnt do much more than talk to people (no fishing to speak of) but that was ok. Chatting with Tark, Foley, Boz, Bruce, Dryflie and Holt was a good time. Wish I had of had more time to chat with Mike, Tim and Matt but they were all up to more than just chat. Only got to say hi to Don as he was busy fishing too. Guess he out fished the young guns from the stories I heard. Met Ron, Dale, Neal, Lion Bill and a couple others I didnt get to exchange names with. There were a lot of people there, thats for sure. The Eddy was UNREAL packed both nights. Couldnt have paid me to fish it with that many others out there. Was fun watching and taking pics though. Hopefully I won something although I doubt I did. Here are just a few pics I managed between conversations. It was a great weekend even with a few passing storms. I know everyone I talked to was having a great time so that makes it an official hit. Hopefully we raised some money, there were some great items there. Too bad Ken & Emily couldnt make it and I missed Hunter and FL.....if they were there????? Duane

Playing one while Bruce ignores him


casting to risers


Getting ready to take wifey out


Before rush hour


Parking is limited


Just before the house packed


People starting to show up

Duane, I believe that you won the cigars!

Had a good time, as usual. Fishing was good early on.

Nice to see folks. Sorry I didn't get to chat with more. Big thanks to WHB for sending up BBQ, slaw and the brownie/fudge/cake/bar, and to Ron for preparing it. A shame that more didn't take advantage.

Thanks as always to Mike for swapping his waders for a King Arthur apron in the AM.

Duane,

Nice pics! Thanks for posting. Did you really win the cigars? And don't think for a moment that Bruce wasn't watching that guy fight that fish!

Ken

Duane-

I opted to take a conclave break and fished the Moosehead togue derby all weekend instead. I was considering making the drive over for the auction Saturday night but the fishing was going too well in the morning to skip the evening ride (plus, I didn't feel like setting up a tent in the dark, again). All told- we boated plenty of togue, but few were over 3 pounds. Lots of boats out Saturday, very few Sunday in typical Moosehead fashion.

Sorry I missed you Duane. I didn’t circulate myself all that much around the place, just fished and relaxed. I did stop in for the raffle to see that you won the cigars, and saw that Bruce won your flies.

It was a great time this year, the weather was decent, the fish cooperated, we raised some money, we ribbed on Lynch, and the pulled pork was spectacular.

Matt: Did you ever get to throw those minnows?

Ken: Wish you hada been there, hopefully next year. Wish I had of gotten more/better pictures but at least a couple to post for those who werent there. I know Bruce glanced over at him a couple times too.

Hunter: I thought you were at the Penoby tourney? Man, youre all over the place. You shoulda showed just to see Foleys new "indicator".

FL: I heard a rumor you might have been there, but no definites. I woulda looked you up if I hada known you were hanging around.

Hopefully I did win the cigars, but Im not sure my bid was high enough. My wife is telling me that if those items werent at least to half their value, they were going to be auctioned off on the site, and I think my last bid was under half the value. We'll see once Tark reports. Duane

And BTW: Is ANYBODY going to post fish pics?!?!?! I know fish were caught, come on, lets see um already!

random photos, in no particular order

Awesome pics and very nice Brookies Tim

Great pictures guys. Some pretty fish there....glad the clave went well and everyone had a nice time. Wish I could have attended.

The stretch of the West Branch that I fished for the first half of the day was in-the-trees blown out :
<img src="http://www.umit.maine.edu/~brian_foley/IMGP0373.JPG?FCItemID=S37841E57">
So I had to employ the the largest strike indicator in my outfit:
<img src="http://www.umit.maine.edu/~brian_foley/IMGP0383.JPG?FCItemID=S37841DBC">
Once I moved down to the area of the Conclave, my luck picked up and I landed a few small salmon, a couple of brookies and a couple yellow perch. It's been a long time since I changed flies so many times in one day - those fish are completely dialed into caddis flies now and figuring out which one they wanted and how they wanted it was a challenge, for me anyway - for the first time ever, I saw the West Branch as a technical water. The most enjoyable part of the day was the Conclave itself - as usual it was fun to catch up with old acquaintances and meet some new ones as well - what an awesome spot that is for a gathering of friends and fly fishermen - anyone who doesn't make it to that event at least once is really short-changing himself - the raffle prizes were spectacular and Emily's pulled pork was heaven on earth - it was really hard to leave as early as I did - Thank You Dan, Ken, Tim, Emily, Duane and all the rest of you guys that made the event so much fun and such a success! Tight Lines!

PS - Steve, I'll be in touch momentarily.

Duane -- the cigars are indeed yours -- they are waiting for you in the office at Big Eddy (on the top of the big file cabinet, in case Susan isn't there when you arrive). Congrats -- a good buy indeed!

What a great time and what a great group. Everyone seemed to enjoy themselves and like Foley said if you haven’t gone to one of these events you are short changing yourself. Too much fun to just miss.

Here are some photos.

Drawing Tickets


And then this chub turned and ran - Almost spooled me that one did.



Please, please – no applause


And I'm supposed to believe that?


A little chit-chat


Bud and I went to Frost Pond to rent a canoe. That turned into a rescue mission as we found a careless guest at Front Pond Camps hadn’t tie their boat very well. We paddled after the boat in the canoe but used the motor to get back.


Getting ready - thanks to all who did the behind the scenes work of getting ready, setting up, tearing down and putting this whole thing together. Not to mention raising over $3,000.00 for jet fuel.


Just relaxing


Oh, Bud and I did catch fish at Frost Pond - this was the smallest. All toll we got 18 fish and the smallest was just under 18". That is if you apply the standard factor of six for one and only add 12" per fish.


Previewing the items


Matt roasts fresh beans and likes fresh beer


Please, please draw my name


CAn't a lady get any privacy around here

Well I had a little lesson in perception at the conclave. When I heard that there would be on and off rain I decided to get a room at the Big Moose Inn instead of camping out, figuring it was just down the road.
When I'm driving to the WB from Camden and I hit that spot I am so psyched that I figure I'm there. Not so in reality! When you drive back and forth from the Big Eddy, it's a ways!
That so, breakfast is served early and I hit a few more isolated spots after seeing the gang at the Eddy but I was so pooped at the end of each day I wasn't really too sociable. Caught fish everyday but nothing huge and I felt like I was really pressing sometimes. At the end of each session my fly patch was full. The fish I did catch seemed really fat and healthy.
Duane- I bid on your flies and someone came under the wire and got them instead. I see you bid on my print and lost out as well- want to trade?! Let's talk! I also have that Footer print that you were interested in a while back; it's buried in the flat file which is 15 drawers high, chock full of art work. I know it's there, I just don't know where. Are you still interested in that, at the price we talked about?
Went over to the TU Trout Camp on the Kennebec to give an art lesson on Monday and the water was so high I didn't even bother to fish afterwards. Does everyone with a kid know about the camp? It is such an oppertunity! It took me forever to learn on my own what those kids learn in a week. Every kid with an interest should know about it!

My crew had a great time last weekend, I did not score on any of my raffle tics but Dennis did win some Matts coffee. Did well fishing, missed Mikes Doughnuts again! Maybe next year. Mike,( what a great pic of the Pileated woody)