Veteran Second Genner Is the 2023 Gabby Champion
Kettle Creek near Cross Fork, Pa., April 15, 2023. Veteran Second Genner
Darien Bohdal puts more work into Gabby Camp than just about any other
Gabby Guy, including maintaining and erecting Colaianneville each year.
As the Fire Guy, he also usually is preoccupied in camp tending our
campfire and monitoring it throughout Gabby weekend. His duties have
often kept him mostly off the stream. But this year, historic high
temperatures and a prolonged dry spell in Potter County resulted in a round-
the-clock fire ban. Making lemonade out of lemons, the ban allowed Darien
to hit the stream early Saturday with his son Caleb. The result: a 13 7/8-
inch rainbow taken on a meal worm at 1 p.m. on the first bend in Kettle
Creek down from Camp, christened “the Fire Ban Gabby.” It was his first
and only win since his first Gabby Hayes Memorial Trout Fishing
Tournament in 2001.
The drought also affected the water level on Kettle Creek, where the mean
and median discharges for April 15 are 334 and 440 cubic feet per second,
respectively. By Saturday the 15th, the discharge on Kettle Creek had
dropped to 150 cubic feet per second.
Despite the low flow, Darien faced stiff competition, with 28 trout caught by
the 11 out of 16 Gab Guys who fished the tournament, including seven past
champions.
Afternoon temperatures topped out in the high 80s on Thursday and Friday,
making it one of the warmest weekends if not the warmest in the 47-year
history of the Gabby Hayes Memorial Trout Fishing Tournament.
Thankfully, the emergence of clouds on Saturday dropped the high
temperature to the low 70s.
The warm weather also brought out the bugs, both in camp and on the
stream. With everyone in t-shirts and most Gab Guys in shorts, nats and
mosquitoes raised red bumps on arms, necks and legs, making for an itchy
faux chicken pox epidemic. Fortunately, there were no reports of tick bites.
There also were no reports of injuries, which is somewhat abnormal for a
Gabby weekend.
By most accounts, the business meeting Saturday night was enjoyable and
unusually productive. As usual, Founder Dane Konop was the master of
ceremonies, following an agenda that he printed out and distributed on
Friday.
Following Julius (acting Sargeant of Arm) opening the meeting,
Mike Shanks began the meeting with the “In Memoriam,” recognizing the
ten Gabby Guys who have passed on.
For the first time, the head count was completed in one iteration, possibly
because Darien, who often trips up the count, was given responsibility for
the tally. Gab Guys included Darien and Caleb, who arrived in camp on
Wednesday. Thursday arrivals included Mike Shanks and his son-in-law
Jeff Marlow, Zach Anderson and his rookie Tim Lovelady, Joe Hrubos,
Julius Czarnecki and Ty Albert, who left camp Saturday afternoon. Friday
arrivals included Elders Byron “Andy” Anderson and Keith “Robbie”
Robinson, Jeff Mueller and his nephew Eric Mueller, Alex Bedont, Founder
Dane and his son Dane Christian.
The Housekeeping segment of the meeting followed.
Darien reported on the improvements made on Colaiannville since last year.
Mike reported that only a half cord of wood had been ordered this year, at a
cost because of the warm conditions and likelihood of a fire ban. The Steve
Mueller Fire Guy Fund covered the $200 charge for the wood, with a
balance of $260 remaining in the fund. Contact Mike if you’d like to
contribute to the fund. Mike also reported that at his urging, local state
forest managers took down 13 dead white pine trees that posed a threat to
camp.
Webmaster Julius Czarnecki reported that certain technical adjustments were
necessary to maintain GabbyHayes.net, which he was prepared to handle,
and that these upgrades would be seamless and virtually invisible to users.
He and Jeff Marlow also were planning to upgrade webpage graphics with
the introduction of video.
Mike reported that the state had a new requirement to obtain a permit online
to camp in The Pines, now designated an official campsite, and that he spent
about four hours on the phone with various state bureaucrats figuring out
how to make the state registration site work properly and to register our
camp this year. Mike has assumed responsibility for future registrations,
since he is the only one who understands the process. Unless this is done
early each year, the Gab Guys face the possibility of another group
snookering us out of “our” campsite.
With only two spaces for Gabby winner tags remaining on the traveling
trophy, Founder Dane laid out options for the future: retire the trophy and
make a new one or enlarge the existing trophy by either adding a section or
by fabricating four new sides. It was determined that a four-sided, four-inch
addition would provide space for 36 more winner tags. In a voice vote poll,
the overwhelming majority favored adding a new section.
Following a Gabby fish count, the Gabby Fish Quotient was determined to
be a very respectable 2.55.
Despite a half dozen smoke breaks, the meeting was progressing well
enough to allow mostly forgettable fishing reports by each of the Gab Guys
who fished the tournament.
The Awards Ceremony closed out the meeting. The Gabstick was
positioned on a cut tree trunk as two contenders were laid out, one by rookie
Tim and one by 2022 Gabby Champion Jeff Marlow. After several
repositionings of the two contenders, both rainbows measured almost
exactly 12 inches. A quandary or possible tie was avoided when to the
group’s astonishment Darien laid out his winning 13 7/8-inch rainbow. It
was a well played “Gabby Poker” move introduced by the legendary, seven-
time Gabby Champion Jaymie Smollen, aka Dr. Trout.
Following congratulations all around and a refreshingly short acceptance
speech by Darien, Founder Dane adjourned the meeting at 11:15 p.m.
The 48th Gabby Hayes Memorial Trout Fishing Tournament will be on
April 13, 2024.
DK
Kettle Creek near Cross Fork, Pa., April 15, 2023. Veteran Second Genner
Darien Bohdal puts more work into Gabby Camp than just about any other
Gabby Guy, including maintaining and erecting Colaianneville each year.
As the Fire Guy, he also usually is preoccupied in camp tending our
campfire and monitoring it throughout Gabby weekend. His duties have
often kept him mostly off the stream. But this year, historic high
temperatures and a prolonged dry spell in Potter County resulted in a round-
the-clock fire ban. Making lemonade out of lemons, the ban allowed Darien
to hit the stream early Saturday with his son Caleb. The result: a 13 7/8-
inch rainbow taken on a meal worm at 1 p.m. on the first bend in Kettle
Creek down from Camp, christened “the Fire Ban Gabby.” It was his first
and only win since his first Gabby Hayes Memorial Trout Fishing
Tournament in 2001.
The drought also affected the water level on Kettle Creek, where the mean
and median discharges for April 15 are 334 and 440 cubic feet per second,
respectively. By Saturday the 15th, the discharge on Kettle Creek had
dropped to 150 cubic feet per second.
Despite the low flow, Darien faced stiff competition, with 28 trout caught by
the 11 out of 16 Gab Guys who fished the tournament, including seven past
champions.
Afternoon temperatures topped out in the high 80s on Thursday and Friday,
making it one of the warmest weekends if not the warmest in the 47-year
history of the Gabby Hayes Memorial Trout Fishing Tournament.
Thankfully, the emergence of clouds on Saturday dropped the high
temperature to the low 70s.
The warm weather also brought out the bugs, both in camp and on the
stream. With everyone in t-shirts and most Gab Guys in shorts, nats and
mosquitoes raised red bumps on arms, necks and legs, making for an itchy
faux chicken pox epidemic. Fortunately, there were no reports of tick bites.
There also were no reports of injuries, which is somewhat abnormal for a
Gabby weekend.
By most accounts, the business meeting Saturday night was enjoyable and
unusually productive. As usual, Founder Dane Konop was the master of
ceremonies, following an agenda that he printed out and distributed on
Friday.
Following Julius (acting Sargeant of Arm) opening the meeting,
Mike Shanks began the meeting with the “In Memoriam,” recognizing the
ten Gabby Guys who have passed on.
For the first time, the head count was completed in one iteration, possibly
because Darien, who often trips up the count, was given responsibility for
the tally. Gab Guys included Darien and Caleb, who arrived in camp on
Wednesday. Thursday arrivals included Mike Shanks and his son-in-law
Jeff Marlow, Zach Anderson and his rookie Tim Lovelady, Joe Hrubos,
Julius Czarnecki and Ty Albert, who left camp Saturday afternoon. Friday
arrivals included Elders Byron “Andy” Anderson and Keith “Robbie”
Robinson, Jeff Mueller and his nephew Eric Mueller, Alex Bedont, Founder
Dane and his son Dane Christian.
The Housekeeping segment of the meeting followed.
Darien reported on the improvements made on Colaiannville since last year.
Mike reported that only a half cord of wood had been ordered this year, at a
cost because of the warm conditions and likelihood of a fire ban. The Steve
Mueller Fire Guy Fund covered the $200 charge for the wood, with a
balance of $260 remaining in the fund. Contact Mike if you’d like to
contribute to the fund. Mike also reported that at his urging, local state
forest managers took down 13 dead white pine trees that posed a threat to
camp.
Webmaster Julius Czarnecki reported that certain technical adjustments were
necessary to maintain GabbyHayes.net, which he was prepared to handle,
and that these upgrades would be seamless and virtually invisible to users.
He and Jeff Marlow also were planning to upgrade webpage graphics with
the introduction of video.
Mike reported that the state had a new requirement to obtain a permit online
to camp in The Pines, now designated an official campsite, and that he spent
about four hours on the phone with various state bureaucrats figuring out
how to make the state registration site work properly and to register our
camp this year. Mike has assumed responsibility for future registrations,
since he is the only one who understands the process. Unless this is done
early each year, the Gab Guys face the possibility of another group
snookering us out of “our” campsite.
With only two spaces for Gabby winner tags remaining on the traveling
trophy, Founder Dane laid out options for the future: retire the trophy and
make a new one or enlarge the existing trophy by either adding a section or
by fabricating four new sides. It was determined that a four-sided, four-inch
addition would provide space for 36 more winner tags. In a voice vote poll,
the overwhelming majority favored adding a new section.
Following a Gabby fish count, the Gabby Fish Quotient was determined to
be a very respectable 2.55.
Despite a half dozen smoke breaks, the meeting was progressing well
enough to allow mostly forgettable fishing reports by each of the Gab Guys
who fished the tournament.
The Awards Ceremony closed out the meeting. The Gabstick was
positioned on a cut tree trunk as two contenders were laid out, one by rookie
Tim and one by 2022 Gabby Champion Jeff Marlow. After several
repositionings of the two contenders, both rainbows measured almost
exactly 12 inches. A quandary or possible tie was avoided when to the
group’s astonishment Darien laid out his winning 13 7/8-inch rainbow. It
was a well played “Gabby Poker” move introduced by the legendary, seven-
time Gabby Champion Jaymie Smollen, aka Dr. Trout.
Following congratulations all around and a refreshingly short acceptance
speech by Darien, Founder Dane adjourned the meeting at 11:15 p.m.
The 48th Gabby Hayes Memorial Trout Fishing Tournament will be on
April 13, 2024.
DK