This is destined to be a great year, especially for those who will be enjoying time on the water. We are off to a good start in January, aptly named for Janus, the god of beginnings. The word January also derives from the Latin word “ianua,” meaning “door.” January is the door to the coming year.

Opportunities will abound, so let’s not just sit around gazing at our unfrozen lakes or ponds waiting for them to build up enough ice for our “tip-ups.” There is plenty to do in the meantime. Now is the time for all good fishers to prepare for the coming season. It is the time to check our equipment, add to the arsenal in our fly-fishing vests and tackle boxes. It is also a great time to plan or book a special trip. (Don’t we all deserve at least one every year?) It does not really matter if it is a trip of a lifetime to Patagonia in South America or a guided float from Long Eddy to Callicoon. It’s all good. So let’s get out and mark our calendars (you know, the one you got from Trout Unlimited, Bassmaster or FNBJ).

The 24th Somerset Fly Fishing Show will run January 29, 30 and 31 at the Garden State Exhibit Center, Somerset NJ and is the world’s largest fly fishing show. Check the website at www.flyfishing show.com. This show has it all: casting instructions and demonstrations, seminars by experts, programs geared for women, (featuring Erin Phelan and Kelly Buchta of the Catskill Fly Fishing Center and Museum (CFFCM), right alongside celebrity Cathy Beck, fly-tying instruction, even a presentation by Jeff Skelding of Friends of the Upper Delaware River, who is scheduled to give a presentation titled “The Future of the Upper Delaware River.”

This is the big show, three solid days of demonstrations, lectures, exhibits and gear. You can buy just about anything from size 26 flies (little more than the size of the period at the end of this sentence) to your own drift boat or flats boat and everything in between. You can book a trip or two on the Delaware with one of the many amazing guides we have here. Several of our local guides will have a booth or literature at the show. If you want to carpool, just let me know. I will be going every day.

Locally, there is the 11th annual Flyfest at CFFCM on Saturday, February 6 from 9:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. This is a great antidote for winter doldrums and a great opportunity to share and learn from others. You can contact Rick Fischer, center coordinator, at fischington@hotmail.com, CFFCM at flyfish@catskill.net, Catskill Flies at flyshop@catskillflies.com, or call 607/498-6146.

This is the time to plan your fishing year and get ready for 2016. It is my hope to have several columns devoted to anglers who have just experienced some extraordinary success or have some skills or techniques they would like to share. Doesn’t it always seem that some of the finest fish are always caught by a handful of local fishers? If you have a suggestion for someone who fits this category, please share with me.

We all have the chance to make this year our best ever; the door to 2016 is open. Let’s embrace the opportunity and make it a year to remember. Tight lines to all!