NarrowsburgFair, 27°
Wind: 4.6 mph
Narrowsburg
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This week’s column was supposed to be about the new trout stream management plan released by the NYS Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) last November, but it is not. Instead, …
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By TONY BONAVIST
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1/13/21
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Right about the time this piece appears in the River Reporter, the winter solstice will be more than a week in the past. For those of us that fly fish, the day after the solstice begins the countdown …
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By TONY BONAVIST
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12/30/20
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I can’t recall the last time someone spoke with me about stoneflies—you know, the order Plecoptera? There are reasons for that, especially here in the Eastern U.S. and, in particular, our …
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By TONY BONAVIST
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12/16/20
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These days, with all the social media chatter and fast-paced lifestyles, it is hard to know how many anglers have what we used to call a “home water.” From what I’ve observed over …
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By TONY BONAVIST
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12/2/20
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Because of my training as a fisheries biologist, along with some knowledge of aquatic insect life cycles, I’ve made remarks about the hatching process that mayflies and caddisflies go through …
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By TONY BONAVIST
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11/18/20
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Logic might dictate that current weather conditions would be reason enough to forget fishing today. The local meteorologists report that this is one of the driest summers on record, with lawns, crops …
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By TONY BONAVIST
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11/4/20
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Fall means different things to different people. Under normal conditions, fall means back to school for students and the beginning of another work year for teachers. Sadly, the virus has interrupted …
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By TONY BONAVIST
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10/21/20
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In previous columns, I’ve written that most mayfly hatches on some Catskill tailwaters, with some exceptions, end by August. But a recent trip to the lower East Branch found excellent hatches …
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By TONY BONAVIST
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10/7/20
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We went forward on this early September day with almost no expectations. The river had been quiet these last weeks—few hatching mayflies and fewer rising trout. Normally, at this time of fall …
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By TONY BONAVIST
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9/23/20
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A very long time ago, in what seems like another life, I had the opportunity to fish the Bitterroot River in Western Montana for most of one summer. At the time I was a student enrolled in the School …
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By TONY BONAVIST
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9/9/20
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For those involved with the effort that led to the adoption of the Water Releases Legislation, Part 671 of the Environmental Conservation Law (ECL), none of us knew, back in 1976, the dilemma that …
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By TONY BONAVIST
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8/26/20
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A few months ago, an old friend suggested that my writing style was a bit too technical and professorial for a fishing column, so for this piece, I decided to lighten things up a bit. While the event …
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By TONY BONAVIST
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8/12/20
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Fly fishing is a fragile and fickle sport. By that, I don’t mean to imply that rivers are fragile, or that trout are fragile, although, in some instances, both are. What I do mean is, unlike a …
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By Tony Bonavist
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7/29/20
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Some of my angling friends call this time of year “The Dead Time” because hatches of mayflies and other aquatic insects are on the wane. For the most part, they are absolutely correct in …
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By TONY BONAVIST
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7/15/20
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Isonychia bicolor is a large, dun-colored mayfly that does not receive a lot of attention from the Catskill fly-fishing community. Perhaps that is because the species is not as widely distributed as …
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By TONY BONAVIST
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7/1/20
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As a group, it seems that fly fishers are always waiting. In the early spring, they wait for the equipment they might’ve ordered for the coming season. Then they wait for April 1, the opening …
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By TONY BONAVIST
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6/17/20
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It was in late 1972 or early 1973 at a Catskill Mountain’s Chapter of Trout Unlimited (TU) meeting in Kingston, NY that I met Arthur Flick. I was at that meeting as a fisheries biologist …
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By TONY BONAVIST
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6/3/20
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Soon, if not already—stream flows permitting—Catskill anglers well be treated to hatches of March Brown and Grey Fox mayflies. Both flies are large with the March Brown being the larger …
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By TONY BONAVIST
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5/20/20
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Those words may sound like an odd title for an article, but they describe one of the most confounding fishing situations anglers are likely to be confronted with. I know that up versus down has been …
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By TONY BONAVIST
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5/5/20
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Very soon, and with a little cooperation from the weather, the season’s first, eagerly awaited mayfly hatches will begin. Right now, most fly fishers are looking over their tackle, waders, …
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By TONY BONAVIST
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4/21/20
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