NarrowsburgA Few Clouds, 53°
Wind: 6.9 mph
Narrowsburg
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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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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 …
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By TONY BONAVIST
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4/8/20
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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 …
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By TONY BONAVIST
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3/25/20
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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 …
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By TONY BONAVIST
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3/11/20
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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 …
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By TONY BONAVIST
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2/26/20
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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 …
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By TONY BONAVIST
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2/13/20
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Sound like a strange title? Perhaps, yet it is the very method that fly fishers should adopt if they wish to maximize angling opportunities when fishing small flies, dun colored flies, or when …
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By TONY BONAVIST
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1/29/20
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A long time ago, when I started to fly fish and began the process of weaning off worms, Mepps Spinners, assorted lures and baits, I adopted the standard up-and-across-stream practice of casting my …
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By TONY BONAVIST
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1/15/20
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One could legitimately ask, why would fly fishers want to fish a reservoir? But yes, the title is correct. This piece is about the Pepacton Reservoir and the possibilities it offers fly …
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By TONY BONAVIST
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12/31/19
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One day several years ago, when the afternoon light was exactly right, I saw a trout rise and then swim swiftly 20 feet away. Boy, was I surprised! Granted, it was in a flat, low gradient pool, so …
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By TONY BONAVIST
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12/18/19
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I stopped by the house today to drop off some books and pick up a few things. All the leaves were down and most had been washed away by the night’s rain. There were no tire marks in the drive …
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By TONY BONAVIST
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12/4/19
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As most anglers that fish the Catskills soon learn, rainbow trout are not as widely distributed throughout the region as brown trout. However, that is changing. As far as stream fisheries go, …
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By TONY BONAVIST
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11/21/19
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DEC proposes controversial fishing regulations
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By TONY BONAVIST
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11/6/19
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“Today I have fished again in France. Oh, but that sunlit hour was wonderful.” Those were the words of Romilly Fedden, a weary soldier away from the carnage of the front lines during a …
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By TONY BONAVIST
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10/23/19
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It seems that the debate about the relevance of different fly patterns, how they are tied and how well they function, continues as an age-old controversy. Every spring, with the opening of another …
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By TONY BONAVIST
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10/9/19
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It is natural, I believe, to search for better and more balanced equipment as we evolve as fly fishers. This is especially true for those hooked on cane fly rods. Most of us are continuously seeking …
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By TONY BONAVIST
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9/25/19
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Fly fishing is mostly a quiet and contemplative sport, but sometimes an event occurs that far exceeds a normal day of casting flies to rising trout. This is a story about one of those events: an …
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By TONY BONAVIST
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9/11/19
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