Ramblings of a Catskill Flyfisher

The other river creatures

As fly-fishing anglers, most of us approach a river with a certain intensity, especially when we find a good hatch of flies and rising trout. Under those conditions, it is very easy to become …

To know and love a river

I began to fish the East Branch of the Delaware River below the Pepacton Reservoir as a teenager, in 1958 or ‘59. That was a long time before the adoption of the water release regulations was …

Sulphurs in the mist

I’m not sure whether it was the summer of 1989 or 1990, when my friend Bill and I began to fish together. I do remember that we purchased an RV at the end of May in 1989. We kept it at Oxbow …

Fishing the river with Bead Head Nymphs

I always considered myself a pretty good fisherman, fly or otherwise. That conclusion came after years of fishing worms and assorted spinning lures in all types of water, from tiny brooks to the main …

Night on the Camp Pool

There are times when I have to remind myself that sometimes there are pools that, upon initial observation, are actually better than they appear. That is exactly what happened when we moved our …

The impact of sawbellies on Catskill Reservoir brown trout fisheries

I do not know when sawbellies (aka alewife herring) first became a food source for brown trout in the DEP’s Catskill reservoirs, but it has been a very long time. For example, I recall visiting the …