Amazing Fishing at the Spring Ridge Club in Spruce Creek, Pennsylvania

August 23 and 24, 2006

“Don’t pinch me. I might wake up and find all this is a dream.” When your buddies you’re fishing with say stuff like that, you know you’re into some pretty good fishing. That’s exactly what happened when four Project Healing Waters participants – Neil Frustaglio (USMC), Bill Johnston (former Marine), Chris Short (USA), and Josh Williams (USA) – spent most of August 23 and 24 as honored guests at the Spring Ridge Club at the junction of the fabled Little Juniata River and Spruce Creek in central Pennsylvania. Ed Nicholson and George Gaines got lucky and drove the guys up to the Club, and tagged along for the fishing – really tough duty!

We arrived just before noon on Wednesday, and took over the entire spacious Camp Little J Lodge just up the hill from the main Spring Ridge Clubhouse. After getting settled, we were treated to a delicious lunch in the dinning room of the Clubhouse. Then six of the Club’s outstanding guides, who had volunteered to make sure we got onto some good fish, took us out on Spruce Creek for an afternoon of exciting fishing. The Creek, which was crystal clear and loaded with huge rainbows and browns, offered great fishing access for our guys, even the two in chairs. Amazing fishing!

When you lose count of the 20-25” rainbow and brown trout you catch, you know the fishing is about as good as it gets. And when nearly every fish you land is “bigger than any freshwater fish I’ve ever caught before,” you can’t imagine the fishing getting any better. It’s so good that you are actually a little relieved, along with your disappointment, when the monster 27-29” browns break you off, saving you from having to very carefully play them for 10-15 minutes or so before finally being able to net them.

After returning to the Clubhouse, we enjoyed a terrific grilled chicken dinner before being taken back to Spruce Creek for fishing until dark. When we got back to our Lodge we sat around a relaxing bonfire and swapped unbelievable, but true, fish tales until time to fall into bed and dream about those awesome fish.

Following a full breakfast Thursday morning, we got an early start back on Spruce Creek. It had rained Wednesday night so the morning fog and mist made the stream even more beautiful. With another crew of great volunteer guides, we fished all morning, and returned to the main Clubhouse dinning room for a delicious lunch. We wished we could stay longer, but after lunch we packed up and drove the guys back to Walter Reed Army Medical Center, arriving just in time to hit rush hour traffic. It seemed an especially long way from the beauty and excitement of Spruce Creek and the wonderful hospitality of the Spring Ridge Club.

While everyone at the Club gave us a warm welcome and top notch service, we offer special thanks to the following: guides – Mike Harpster, Bill Hubler, Dave Krupa, Babe Corbin, Larry Winey, Tom Kauffman, Barry Johnson, John Stoyanoff, and Ben Lago; Club staff – Erik Fuoss, Tim Trexler, Richard Harris, Debbie Wilson, Donna Basalla, Dorothy Stevens and everyone’s favorite, Judy McMullen, who made sure we had an endless supply of delicious food. Judy even gave Ed her wonderful chocolate zucchini bread to bring back to Eivind, who couldn’t make the trip because he was recuperating from surgery at WRAMC (I’m including this to make sure that Ed actually delivered Judy’s bread to Eivind). Thanks, again, Spring Ridge Club. We had a great time!

George Gaines