It was April 1993, and at last I had my first sight of the storied Beaver Kill and the lovely Willowemoc, and the chance to fish the Catskills. I was on my way to Manchester Vermont to meet with the Orvis Company in preparation to opening my own fly shop. I took care of the working part of that work trip as quickly as possible that I might retire to the beautiful rivers that had meandered through so much of my reading. I carried my first really good fly rod outfit, my Orvis Rocky Mountain rod, adorned with the Battenkill Disc reel that my girl had given to me. That outfit and I made some great memories!
A number of years later I had traveled back to my father’s home country, the Berkshire Hills of Western Massachusetts, to angle the great Deerfield River. My grandfather Alfred was the last fly fisherman in our family until I took up the calling of trout and fly, and the Deerfield was his river. I was going home.
One evening, tired from a long day on the water, I climbed the trail back to the road and my Buick station wagon, a gift from my dad. My routine was broken by the arrival of a car with two lost tourists speaking broken English. Trying to communicate and help, I placed my best rod, an Orvis HLS nine-footer and my Battenkill reel on the roof rack while I tried to direct them. It was a long, difficult conversation, during which I removed my vest and waders and stowed them in the wagon. As they drove off through the rain, I closed the liftgate and headed back to town, discovering my mistake a mile down the road: my rod and reel were gone. I searched that mile of roadway until darkness fell, then searched again in the morning. I found one three-inch piece of my rod tip. The rest of my cherished tackle lay somewhere down that steep, forested 100-foot-high bank that separated river and road.
For many years I thought about replacing that reel, though I acquired others during the years I owned Falling Spring Outfitters. I figured I couldn’t replace the sentimental value and never bought one. Eventually Orvis discontinued the model and came out with a new Battenkill.
Over the past few seasons, my thoughts have returned to my first great fly reel, and I looked for one when I perused the used tackle lists. Just over a week ago, I found the reel and extra spool pictured above. When I opened the package this afternoon, I found a Battenkill Disc 5/6 reel and spool in new, unfished condition, each bearing a fly line that also appears fresh out of it’s box.
The previous owner had been a right hander, so I carefully stripped the line and backing from the reel after changing it’s retrieve direction, then wound them back on. The fly line is an Orvis WF5F in the gray color that I fished regularly back when I had my fly shop. Orvis long ago replaced these with bright, fish spooking colors that I abhor. Having my new replacement Battenkill come with my favorite gray fly line is an added bonus!
The Battenkill will take it’s place in the reel seat of my Rocky Mountain when nostalgia strikes me, and it is already planned to accompany a sweet little 7-1/2 foot Madison bamboo rod I found last summer.
The spare reel spool has a new weight forward line on it as well, though it did not have a stick-on label to reveal the line weight. I will determine that the old fashioned way, by casting it. Chances are it is also a five. The reel would also match nicely with my other Orvis bamboo, an older 8-foot Battenkill that I fish with a WF6F line. Wouldn’t it be handy if that unmarked line turned out to be a number six?
The rain arrived later than promised but has been falling for about an hour now. I know the rivers will continue to rise. Cannonsville is spilling substantially, and Pepacton soon will follow, despite three increases in it’s release rate. Seems the City doesn’t want the eastern one to spill, but Nature will have her way.
With the typical spring high flows occurring after all, I uncovered the drift boat today, checked the trailer lights and parked it in the driveway more or less ready to go. The calendar shows two weeks until my target date, though with more rain coming later in the week, the boat may be the path to hunting the early season hatches.
Bright Waters Catskill 