CASTEL DI SANGRO, ITALY — At the ninth annual SIM (Italian School of Fly Fishing) Fly Fishing Festival, held in Castel di Sangro on June 23, the Catskill Fly Fishing Center and Museum (CFFCM) and the International Museum of Fly Fishing Stanislao Kuckiewicz established a relationship to exchange history, information and friendship to preserve and promote the universal language of, and interest in, fly fishing.

Over the past seven years, the CFFCM featured international fly fishing exhibits. The 2011 Italian exhibit was coordinated by Italy’s Alberto Calzolari in cooperation with SIM and the Italian Fly Fishing Museum. This outstanding exhibit included a large variety of flies by some of Italy’s finest tyers, hand-crafted fly tackle and fly tying tools, and antiquities including a Roman hook verified as being over 2,000 years old.

As a result, CFFCM executive Jim Krul and Calzolari determined that both museums should develop a sister relationship to share in each other’s fly fishing cultures. Calzolari said, “Fly fishing and fly tying is an international language and words are not required. It is also a rich and common friendship that we all share.”

The Catskill Fly Fishing Center and Museum is located on the banks of the Willowemoc Creek in Livingston Manor, NY. Visit www.cffcm.net.