Finally now in the middle of May we have a run of perfect spring weather! The mountainsides are green and friendly looking and the rivers are rounding into perfect wading conditions once again. I was pleased to hear from my friend Andrew from Chambersburg and to firm up plans for his visit this week. I have been trying to get him to join me for some Catskill fly fishing for several years, and at last the time has come.
Andrew is a physician and has a large and growing young family, so there are countless demands upon his attentions. He measures his opportunities to relax for a little fishing in hours, sometimes minutes, rather than days. The weather and our rivers seem poised to show him a good time, and I hope they bestow a few of the special gifts they have shared with me for nearly three decades.
I sorted through the flies I had tied for him this morning, filling a fly box with the dries for the current hatches, and leaving others in the pill bottle they have occupied these past months. I filled that box out with some caddis, spinners and sulfurs, as well as a few March Browns; the hatches we hope to meet during his stay. Oh, and there are still a few more to tie…
I blame myself somewhat for my friend’s infection with the vintage bamboo bug. My love for fishing old Granger’s rubbed off on Andrew, and he can be found casting a couple of his own when he steals away some time on the stream. I truly began to appreciate mine when I brought them here to the rivers of my heart. I hope he makes some lasting memories of his own here this week.
Bright Waters Catskill 