On the weather map, it was nothing more than a thin line of white snaking along the border between New York’s Southern Tier and northern Pennsylvania. Here in Crooked Eddy the end of that line falls gently and turns our landscape white.
We expect no more than a dusting, though as near as Binghamton there are warnings for hazardous travel along the interstates. No worry for me, as I am tucked in here fighting a head cold, with no plans to travel further than the Town’s transfer station.
The Guild’s winter Zoom gatherings begin on Thursday evening, and I am hopeful that the coughing and hacking will subside by then. If not, perhaps a warmed combination of Catskill Bootlegger Bourbon and Falling Spring honey will soothe my throat sufficiently.
JA will reintroduce an old Jimmy Deren pattern to kick things off, and then the group will tie or not as they please and talk a bit about our season past. I will set aside some muskrat fur, Teal feathers and rusty dun hackle beforehand and see what I think of the old “50 Degrees”. The tale is that Deren, famed proprietor of New York City’s Angler’s Roost so named the fly as he had found it effective on Catskill rivers when the waters reached that prescribed temperature.
I expect I will defer to my own Catskill Adams when it comes to fishing. Natural Fox Squirrel fur provides a mixed gray and brown coloration along with the black and tan barred guard hairs to produce a rougher, spiky body. Teal flank feather wings provide the bold black and white wing barring and is more durable and more Catskill, and I dearly love Cree hackle!
I do enjoy tying the classic Catskill patterns though. While looking through a can filled with decades worth of dubbing blends the other day I found the bag of special dubbing for the Davidson Special. Guild member Seth Cavaretta carefully researched the late Mahlon Davidson’s methods and, with the able assistance of Dave Catizone, dyed some cream fox fur with willow bark to produce a good supply of this pale green fur. He was kind to bring a large amount to a Guild meeting and offer some to all present. I look forward to shedding this fog in my head and trying my hand at this old classic!
Mahlon Davidson was a gifted Catskill fly tyer, and obviously had high regard for this particular coloration. I do not believe he recorded it as having been tied for a specific hatch, though it seems to be an ideal imitation for the Green Drake to me. When I sit down to tie it, I will have long shank size 8 and 10 hooks at the ready!
Bright Waters Catskill 