Paflyfish Spring Jamboree Weekend May 15-17, 2026

Mark your calendars for Friday, May 15–Sunday, May 17, as we enjoy the Annual Paflyfish Spring Jamboree Weekend at the Seven Mountains Campground. It’s that time of year again when members of our site gather for a fantastic blend of fly fishing, fly tying, camping, and camaraderie. Set against the backdrop of north-central Pennsylvania streams—including locations like the Little J, Penns Creek, Spring Creek, Fishing Creek, and more—it always offers a fun weekend.

The heart of our Jamboree is the pavilion at Seven Mountains Campground, rented by Paflyfish and serving as our central hub for meet-ups, impromptu conversations, and fly-tying sessions.

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New this year will be our Saturday morning meetup. We will be offering a Fly Fishing Casting Clinic led by Derek Eberly (@FinFurFeather), a state-level competitive casting champion. Derek will offer a demonstration of casting techniques from 10:00 AM to 11:00 AM on the central Seven Mountains lawn—a great opportunity for new and experienced anglers to sharpen their casting skills.

Another addition this year will be a Fly and Gear Swap on Saturday morning at the pavilion from 10:00 AM–12:00 PM. Attendees are encouraged to bring their old or unwanted fly fishing gear—such as rods, reels, waders, books, and packs—to trade or barter. Fly tyers are welcome to bring their flies to sell or swap at the event. (Please keep it to fly fishing gear only—no weapons and no businesses. Paflyfish has the right to ask a participant to leave for any reason.)

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There’s no shortage of spontaneous fly tying, casting pointers, and friendly guidance on where to cast your line. Whether you’re a seasoned angler or new to the area, our community members are here to ensure you feel right at home and equipped to make the most of your fishing adventures.

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Many of our fellow anglers opt to extend their stay, arriving early or lingering longer after the weekend festivities. Keep an eye on this thread for real-time updates, or feel free to drop any questions you may have.

For accommodation arrangements, please reach out directly to Seven Mountains Campground. With a limited number of cabins, RV hookups, and campsites available, it’s advisable to secure your reservations without delay.

Event Details:
- Dates: Friday, May 15 - Sunday, May 17, 2023
- Location: Seven Mountains Campground, 101 Seven Mountains Campground Rd., Spring Mills, PA 16875
- Contact: (814) 364-1910 or Online
Don't forget to leverage the exclusive 10% discount by using the code "PAFLYFISH" when booking your stay. We can't wait to see you there!

 

Coming, with my son. But arrival time TBD. Thursday is wife's b-day, so can't come then, and Jeffrey has a baseball game Friday night. I may come Friday then he joins me Saturday, or we both arrive Saturday, or who knows, if its supposed to rain we'll bank on game getting cancelled and both come Friday. But we're staying till Monday either way.

Reserved the RV spot closest to pavilion, same site as last year, trying to occupy what I can so at least no noise complaints from that site. Will be in a tent, reserved it Fri-Mon.

Would like to get Jeffrey some casting work with Derek, so will try to be there in time.

 

Hello folks,

I am looking forward to attending my first Spring Jamboree, and I hope to meet some people and make some new friends. As far as the weekend's activities go, I'm wondering what to expect. Do most folks spend a lot of time on the water, or is there more time spent hanging out at the campground telling stories, sharing ideas, having a few drinks, etc.?

I do not have a lot of experience fishing central PA waters, so I am beginning to ask myself whether I should be spending more time worrying about what I will be eating and drinking for a few days or whether I should be looking into options to fish local waters under different conditions, expected hatches, travel times and directions to streams, public access, where to park, etc. I inevitably will be doing some of both beforehand, but I'm curious whether this is likely to turn out to be more of a camping trip or a fishing trip.

Any advice based on past experiences is welcome and appreciated. Thank you.

 

Its a very late crowd. Generally...

People fish till dark. Spinner falls, etc. Then they drive back to the campground. Arrive sometime between 10 and 11:30 p.m., depending how far away (both drive and walk) they were fishing. A gathering will start, at the pavilion on Sat night, wherever it forms other nights. Guitars, a fire, drinks and stories. We always are nervous about noise complaints at such a late hour. 11-12 is probably the prime soicializing hour, and people then begin to filter out and the crowd slowly shrinks, but many will stay up till 2 or 3.

Then of course sleep in. There will be some random B.S.ing in the morning, many will fish the afternoon somewhere, maybe quit and go out for a dinner somewhere, then be back on the water for the evening hatches and spinner falls. Fish till 0 dark thirty and repeat the night before. If you show up at a random time midday it will feel rather empty, you may find someone to talk to a while, or not. Its when everyone comes back after the spinner falls that it picks up. It'll go from like nobody at 10 p.m. to pretty crowded by 11.

 

As for fishing, central PA, in mid May, is very hatch centric. On a bluebird sunny day honestly the big waters are extremely difficult until right at dark. We do all of this for a half hr of good fishing, and its just getting to its best when its getting too dark to see your fly, lol. Expect to come out by flashlight. By big waters, I mean the big 4 mainly. Spring, Penns, Big Fishing Creek, Little J. If you don't have experience on the big limestoners, know there's no lack of fish, but they are well fed and at times, its like they don't exist, then suddenly the switch flips on. Those times can be predictable, but weather can mix things up too.

High water, or clouds/drizzle can change that and make that switch get thrown anytime. And there are lots of smaller streams around that fish better during the day, the switch is always on.

 

Hello folks,

I am looking forward to attending my first Spring Jamboree, and I hope to meet some people and make some new friends. As far as the weekend's activities go, I'm wondering what to expect. Do most folks spend a lot of time on the water, or is there more time spent hanging out at the campground telling stories, sharing ideas, having a few drinks, etc.?

I do not have a lot of experience fishing central PA waters, so I am beginning to ask myself whether I should be spending more time worrying about what I will be eating and drinking for a few days or whether I should be looking into options to fish local waters under different conditions, expected hatches, travel times and directions to streams, public access, where to park, etc. I inevitably will be doing some of both beforehand, but I'm curious whether this is likely to turn out to be more of a camping trip or a fishing trip.

Any advice based on past experiences is welcome and appreciated. Thank you.

I went to my first jam 2 years ago and knew nobody personally. My experience was that the only time there was a mass gathering of people was after dark at the pavilion at the campground. In the mornings you have to be willing to walk around the campground and introduce yourself to people. Most of the cabins are filled by members so they shouldnt be hard to find. Everyone splits up on their own or in their friend groups to fish in the afternoon and evening then as I said when dark falls everyone meets up for beers, guitars and shooting the breeze at the pavillion, you cant miss that. Dave has a Saturday swap meet and casting demo set up so that is new to me, plenty of guys will probably hang around for that.

 

I went to my first jam 2 years ago and knew nobody personally. My experience was that the only time there was a mass gathering of people was after dark at the pavilion at the campground. In the mornings you have to be willing to walk around the campground and introduce yourself to people. Most of the cabins are filled by members so they shouldnt be hard to find. Everyone splits up on their own or in their friend groups to fish in the afternoon and evening then as I said when dark falls everyone meets up for beers, guitars and shooting the breeze at the pavillion, you cant miss that. Dave has a Saturday swap meet and casting demo set up so that is new to me, plenty of guys will probably hang around for that.

Good observations.

Trying to add a little structure to Saturday morning this year with the Swap and formal fly casting clinic. Hoping others will meet there at the pavilion in the morning to catch up and maybe even doing some fly tying together before folks head out for the day.

About the Swap, if people want to bring new flies they are tying to sell that would be great. I have a few books I'll be throwing out on the table to offer.

 

I was thinking about coming for the first time this year, but have an Upper Delaware trip planned the same weekend. Hope everyone has a good time.

 

I want to add that everyone was super friendly but want to stress that there isn't a "lets meet here and fish" type setting. The fishing is definitely cliquey.....and I don't mean that as a bad thing ,but a good portion of the crowd have been doing these jams for 20ish years so they have their groups. Saturday night is really where you will have a chance to meet people and make connections. My 2nd year was a totally different experience as I got to fish with people I got to know the previous year. I would imagine if conditions are right most guys will head to fish penns at poe paddy.

Anyhow I hope to meet you, my name is Ron and I have no idea what cabin im in yet but I'm in one of them and will have coffee on.

 

Is there any scenario whereby having a roof top cargo box installed on my vehicle for storing camping gear would be a hindrance on certain roads that I may end up using?

I apologize for the questions. I will try to do better, lol.

 

I want to add that everyone was super friendly but want to stress that there isn't a "lets meet here and fish" type setting. The fishing is definitely cliquey.....and I don't mean that as a bad thing ,but a good portion of the crowd have been doing these jams for 20ish years so they have their groups. Saturday night is really where you will have a chance to meet people and make connections. My 2nd year was a totally different experience as I got to fish with people I got to know the previous year. I would imagine if conditions are right most guys will head to fish penns at poe paddy.

Anyhow I hope to meet you, my name is Ron and I have no idea what cabin im in yet but I'm in one of them and will have coffee on.

Thank you, Ron. I appreciate your guidance. My name is Tom, and I have Tent Site #3 booked for Friday, Saturday and Sunday nights.

Dang. I was envisioning a scenario where we all fished together, and I had the chance to win a new bike for the biggest fish or a new sleeping bag for the first Palomino caught, lol.

 

Is there any scenario whereby having a roof top cargo box installed on my vehicle for storing camping gear would be a hindrance on certain roads that I may end up using?

I apologize for the questions. I will try to do better, lol.

Dear Skook,

That kind of depends on the vehicle. Most of the forest roads are easily traveled by even a passenger car, and the roads to Poe Paddy can be traveled by someone pulling a camper trailer or driving an RV. That should give you an idea of how much clearance you have. Unless you are trying to squeeze by something on the shoulder, you'll easily have at least 11 feet of clearance in the crown of the road. Just watch for broken limbs overhanging the roads and you'll have no problem.

Regards,

Tim Murphy
🙂

 

Mainly Penns is a lot of dirt roads, but overhead clearance is not really an issue.

My name's Pat. I'll be in a canvas tent right by the pavilion (but may not arrive till Saturday). Been going to jams a long time. I know the area well and happy to point people towards fish. Others are welcome to fish with me too but started bringing my son last year. He's 11. Does well for an 11 year old but is still an 11 year old, so my focus will be getting him into areas appropriate for him (wading is biggest issue, he's short and light).

 

O gosh I will need to attend this next year.

 

I'm always looking for casting help so looking forward to the Saturday morning thing

 

I forgot to mention we will have a bonus on Saturday morning at the pavilion with Dave Weaver setup and making one of his paintings. I would describe his anticipated pairing as "The Beauty of Wild Trout With Dave Weaver". Not only is his artwork fantastic to see, but his process is a real treat too. Thanks @Dave_W , we look forward to you and your talents next week.

 

I will be bringing my inventory of Vintage Hardy (flyweights and golden featherweights) and CFO reels (screw-back and inverted script), plus an H.L. Leonard Catkill bamboo for the swap on Saturday. If interested, message me.

 

I'd like to do this (if for no other reason than to see dcoffey's reels and that Leonard rod in the swap), but my son is graduating Air Force basic training that week and I'll be in San Antonio and not home soon enough.

 

I forgot to mention we will have a bonus on Saturday morning at the pavilion with Dave Weaver setup and making one of his paintings. I would describe his anticipated pairing as "The Beauty of Wild Trout With Dave Weaver". Not only is his artwork fantastic to see, but his process is a real treat too. Thanks @Dave_W , we look forward to you and your talents next week.

Oh, I'm sorry that I'll miss this too. I've spoken to Dave about a possible commission at some point and I'm a huge fan of sporting art and original paintings in general.

 

Just wanted to mention my GF Lissy plans on displaying and hopefully selling some of her original water color fly paintings.
If she sells everything, maybe I will be in the market for a Hardy or CFO reel!! lol!!! I think I will leave my money at home so I'm not tempted!
Glad to hear Dave is going to be doing a painting, always fun to sit, talk, and watch him at work.