An event and auction called Dr. Frank Plucinsky’s Fly Sale will be held at Epler Schoolhouse on the grounds of the Berks Heritage Center on Jan. 13 from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.
The one-room school is in Bern Township along the Tulpehocken Creek, part of the Berks County Parks and Recreation system of historic, outdoor, leisure areas.
Dr. Francis C. (Frank) or Doc Plucinsky of Spring Township was 82 when he died on Dec.12, 2021. He was active in the sport of fly fishing, and one of his favorite fisheries was the Tulpehocken.
With its limestone creek bed and a steady flow of temperature monitored and regulated water, the Tully, as it’s known to many, is a stocked stream that also provides habitat pure enough to sustain holdover trout as it also encourages trout breeding.
Many other species of fish, reptiles, invertebrates, birds and plant wildlife also make their home at, in or along the Tully, but for sure the creek’s star attraction is the population of trout that live and flourish in its waters.
Many people who get into fly fishing go deep down the rabbit hole as they learn the nuances of this or that bug, or fly, when certain bugs will hatch, emerge from the creek or crawl or bounce the water. Plucinsky was no stranger to the type of research that goes along with eventually producing consistent success while fishing on a specific body of water.
He created what many aficionados think is the most comprehensive guide to the what, when, where and how of various bugs’ life cycles on the Tulpehocken Creek, and you can find it at tullytu.org/index.php/tully-hatches. In addition to being a guide to help you find fishing success more rapidly than going it alone, Doc’s guide also makes for fascinating reading if you enjoy learning about the nature of things in general.
Volunteer events coordinator Eric Hess reached out to me looking for a place to hold the sale in a building near or on the Tulpehocken Creek. I suggested he reach out to the team at the recently moved and restored historic Epler Schoolhouse because they are always looking to have the light of some publicity shine their way, because they’ve done a fantastic job with the restoration and preservation of the building, and because they’re literally along the Tulpehocken Creek.
The folks at Epler’s welcomed the event, and once that connection was made, the event team was off and running.
According to Hess, the idea for this public event came from the results of a sale of much of Plucinsky’s fishing gear a while ago. After selling all his rods and reels last winter on eBay for a substantial sum for his grandkids’ college fund, Hess decided to help the family and take on selling all of Doc’s materials and flies as a project this winter.
Quickly realizing this project would be too large in scope for a basic eBay sale, Hess said: “It occurred to me that I had enough materials to literally to open a fly store or hold some type of sale event. Then it was a matter of location that led me to you and Epler’s Schoolhouse. Doc was featured in an article in the Reading Eagle on Dec. 12, 2020.
“His flies are hand-tied and he truly was an artist and expert fly-tier. He actually went out into the field to collect specimens to model his flies from. Long before there was an internet to look things up on, Doc was already helping people learn through his work.”
Included in what will be offered for sale will be several thousand hand-tied flies and more than 1,200 packages of fly-tying materials, including feathers, hackle, fur, hair, dubbing, thread and hooks.
Flies will be sold for 25 cents to $1 each, and materials will be sold for between 25 cents and $5. For people who want to buy in bulk, the volunteer sales team will entertain offers to buy entire boxes of flies and lots of materials.
A portion of the profits from the sale will be divided among three beneficiaries, which include Plucinsky and family’s grandkids’ college funds, Epler’s Schoolhouse and the Tulpehocken Chapter of Trout Unlimited. There is no admission fee.
An alternative inclement weather date is scheduled for the same location on Jan. 20. Cash and Venmo accepted for purchases.
Source: Berkshire mont
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