The River Reporter

Outdoors

Featured Most recent Most commented

Currently viewing stories posted within the past year.
For all older stories, please use our advanced search.

138 results total, viewing 1 - 20

Kayaking is a great way to practice social distancing while enjoying what nature has to offer. It is spring; birds and frogs will be calling. Look for some spring migrants and listen for the spring peepers near the wetlands.

Outdoor activity amid the COVID-19 Pandemic

The onslaught of the COVID-19 pandemic has affected, in some way, virtually every person in the region. An event like this is unprecedented in the modern history of our country. Anyone reading this … more

By SCOTT RANDO | 4/8/20

A tribute to Dave

It was a long time ago—a cool rainy morning, late April in the Catskill’s. I was one of five instructors gathered in the little schoolhouse at the Wulff School of Fly Fishing on the Upper … more

By TONY BONAVIST | 4/8/20

Pennsylvania unexpectedly opens trout season

HARRISBURG, PA – Effective 8:00 a.m. on Tuesday, April 7, 2020, the Pennsylvania Fish and Boat Commission (PFBC), in consultation with the Office of the Governor, Pennsylvania Department of … more

4/7/20

Brook trout in the Catskills: a history

A very long time ago, in fact many thousands of years before the introduction of brown and rainbow trout to the fabled rivers of the Catskill Mountains, brook trout were the only native species of … more

By TONY BONAVIST | 4/1/20

The Sasajiscymnus tsugae beetle is a species of beetle that is actually beneficial to the eastern hemlock. It has been found to be host-specific for HWA and has been used as a biological control for HWA. This individual is about 2mm long. The first S. tsugae were imported from Japan, but landowners can get assistance with this biological control from a supplier in Pike County here: www.tree-savers.com.

Cold water fisheries in trouble

The next time you walk to your favorite trout stream to fish, take notice of the different habitats that you pass through. If you had to walk any distance from the stream, you may well have seen a … more

By SCOTT RANDO | 4/1/20

The balm of birds

My frail bird-loving mother has come to nest with me for the time being—that as-yet-undefined span of days we will share as we shelter together away from most human contact in hopes of avoiding … more

By SANDY LONG | 4/1/20

Fishing tails

Feet kicked up, hat brim low. One eye peripherally guiding the boat as it chugs along as the other resting lazily on the stern where the lines lay taught, spread wide behind the trolling vessel. The … more

By HUNTER HILL | 4/1/20

Another opening day

Each year at this time, right around the end of March, anglers eagerly await the start of another trout season. In some angling circles, that is all the talk is about. I know I’ve been hearing … more

By TONY BONAVIST | 3/25/20

This spotted salamander was under a log not too far from a vernal pond. It is probably waiting for a warm, damp evening to make its way to the pond to breed. I did not disturb this individual, but I estimated it to be close to five inches long.

The unseen salamanders of spring

If you have walked past a small pond within the last few days, chances are you have heard the first wood frogs quacking away as they strive to attract a mate and breed. Soon after, spring peepers … more

By SCOTT RANDO | 3/25/20

My neighbor’s sap house cooking down that watery sap into sweet maple syrup.

A sappy story

Smoke filled the sky across the road at our neighbor’s house; white puffy billows came upward from behind their garage. Even fully aware that it was sap season, I was at first startled and … more

By HUNTER HILL | 3/18/20

Restore your sense of hope by watching for expressions of the natural cycle of life, as evidenced by these egg masses deposited by wood frogs recently in the Upper Delaware River region.

Combatting coronavirus—naturally

Are you overwhelmed with anxiety over the insidious creep of the new strain of coronavirus, COVID-19? Does it seem like everywhere you turn you are being told to wash your hands, practice social … more

By SANDY LONG | 3/18/20

Most bears seen are around 200 pounds, with females topping out at 300-400 pounds and males being much larger. The PA state record for largest bear is 879 pounds. The bear here was seen in the wild in Blooming Grove Township. The weight was estimated between 350 and 400 pounds.

The return of the bears

There are not too many people thinking about bears at the moment as they have been largely absent over the course of the winter. The gestating females in their dens gave birth to cubs during the … more

By SCOTT RANDO | 3/11/20

William Dorato and the Dorato Hare’s Ear

Those of you that read this column may recall that the name William (Bill) Dorato; it has appeared several times. I first met Bill at the Rivers Edge Motel, along the East Branch of the Delaware in … more

By TONY BONAVIST | 3/11/20

Delaware Highlands Conservancy’s Amanda Subjin and Hawley, PA business owner Grant Genzlinger discuss the history of the recently completed Hawley Trail in preparation for a guided walk on Saturday, April 18. Visit www.bit.ly/hawleyearthweek to learn more.

Trail talk

Have you heard about the new trail initiatives transpiring in Wayne County, PA? Would you enjoy the opportunity to trek from Honesdale to Hawley by land or by water? Considerable progress has been … more

By SANDY LONG | 3/4/20

Although they can be both a nuisance and a blessing, I look forward to seeing my chickens out and about scratching through the fresh soil—hopefully not in my garden boxes like years past…

A look ahead

Have you ever owned one of those nifty weather gauges that gives an insightful summation of the current climate and such? Growing up, our family had a wooden plaque on the front porch with a … more

By HUNTER HILL | 3/4/20

Hooded mergansers are named for the feather ridge at the crown of the head that can be raised, making its head look bigger than it actually is. Like the common merganser, this species is also a diving duck that feeds on small fish. This male shows black and white plumage that is very distinctive. Its yellow eyes put it up in the top five in the “Duck Beauty Contest.”

Winter has been just ducky

This probably happens to most of us in the outdoors at some time or another: We rig our lines for largemouth bass and end up hooking into a musky. Maybe we go looking for a peregrine falcon that has … more

By SCOTT RANDO | 2/26/20

Evolution of a fly fisher

In his book, “Small in the Eye of a River,” my old friend Frank Mele wrote: “On having turned his 75th year in reasonably good health, any fly-fisher must feel immense gratitude for … more

By TONY BONAVIST | 2/26/20

An example of the Japanese principle of wabi-sabi, which reminds us that we are all transient beings—that our bodies, as well as the material world around us, are in the process of returning to dust, as illustrated by nature’s cycles of birth, growth and decline. “Through wabi-sabi, we learn to embrace both the glory and the melancholy found in these marks of passing time,” writes Robyn Griggs Lawrence in the UTNE Reader.

Ways of seeing

Readers of this column know me to be a longtime advocate for attentive awareness of the endless wonders of nature. Engagement with the illuminating insights that can be experienced in the natural … more

By SANDY LONG | 2/19/20

Wayne County Ag Day

Part of living out here means if you aren’t a farmer, then you know at least five people who are. Part of the appeal to living in this area is the closeness to agriculture that we all get to … more

By HUNTER HILL | 2/19/20

Lightly tied flies, left, versus commercially tied dry flies.

Artificial versus natural flies

Whether you call them patterns or (in the new vernacular) recipes, things change with fly fishing and fly-tying nomenclature over time—only the natural flies and trout stay the same. One of the … more

By TONY BONAVIST | 2/13/20

1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 Next »

Currently viewing stories posted within the past year.
For all older stories, please use our advanced search.