I am still in that stage of watching the light play on that beautiful barrel of walnut burl and Dennis’ signature style of bamboo flaming. There was sunshine yesterday, a lovely calm afternoon just above forty degrees, and I took the rod outside for my first casts. The feel was crisp yet wonderfully delicate, even more magical than the prototype!

My passion is hunting large, difficult wild trout with dry flies, and summer is my favorite season. The widespread mayfly hatches of spring are finished for the year, and the trout have adjusted to the heavy fishing pressure the season of hatches brings. River flows are much reduced, sparklingly clear, and the pools transmit each subtle movement when an angler approaches. It is the most difficult season for difficult trout. It is heaven…

Some may scoff at a three weight bamboo fly rod for such fishing, and certainly I have cast many that were not suited to the quest for wild trout best measured in pounds. This rod is different.

I was convinced five years ago when Dennis brought a new eight-foot 2 weight rod to the Catskill Cane Revival in Roscoe, New York. The rod was impressive, easily casting sixty to seventy feet in the gymnasium, and there was a strength that belied the rod’s slender proportions.

When I sat and we talked about that two weight, Dennis told me that he had made the rod for a customer that fished schoolie striped bass with it. These fish average eighteen to twenty some inches in length and fight with the power expected of saltwater gamefish. A nine-foot six weight graphite is a good light rod for schoolies. This fellow’s new Menscer rod not only survived, it has flourished!

I wanted one, but I waited. For the kind of fishing I had in mind, a fly line with a long, fine taper is part of the necessary gear. I felt a number three fly line would be best suited, handling a bit wider assortment of dry flies on breezy days, and so began my campaign of suggesting, and then cajoling Dennis to expand his line of rods once more.

Summer lies far out on the horizon in this first week of February, but there is still more to be accomplished. The next phase of the game involves the search for the perfect fly line to bring out each nuance of this wonderful rod, grace, power and control. For each bamboo rod, there is a particular line that will rise to the ideal of the individual angler. Once the line has been chosen, a leader will have to be tailored to suit. There are some flies to be tied as well; Schwiebert’s Letort Beetles that I promised myself, the tiny replicas of Art Flick’s blue-winged olive variants, and the barest impressions of rusty spinners. June will arrive when I least expect it!

After kicking around the house since the first week of deer season, battling my old foe chronic bronchitis and feeling generally bad, I emerged yesterday to attend the open fly tying session at the Catskill Fly Fishing Center & Museum. It was good to smell the fresh, cold air as I wandered about the grounds, and great to see old friends and new from the Catskill Fly Tyers Guild!

I wore one of those irritating masks left over from the assault of the Coronavirus, just to provide some protection less I cough near anyone. Bronchitis in itself is not contagious, though whatever cold or infection that fires it up can be. My cold came through the last week of November, and headed out four days later, the past two months and counting being courtesy of the scourge of the bronchitis itself.

I tied a handful of favorite patterns and talked a little with some friends, the best therapy yet, short of the brilliant sunshine the afternoon provided.

A Catskill winter is usually conducive to life as a hermit, so little gatherings like this one, or our Thursday evening Guild Zoom meetings become rather precious. I do enjoy talking fishing when I am not involved in doing it.

We are beginning another run of warmer weather with the blessing of sunshine. Cathy and I enjoyed a river walk this morning with the sun doing it’s best to set aside the cold, cold winter air. Rivers have cleared and dropped, though the Delaware reservoirs did begin spilling again this past week. Sunshine and warmer air has always been the cure for my bouts with bronchitis, and I am hopeful to find enough of that this week to free me fully from winter’s harness.

Planning is underway for Fly Fest 2024 here in the heart of the Catskills, and I am anxious to enjoy another of these wonderful winter gatherings. The Catskill Fly Fishing Center and Museum has now officially added the date to their events calendar: Saturday February 24th from 9:00 AM until 3:00PM at the Rockland House, 159 Rockland Road, Roscoe, NY. A winter festival of Catskill fly tying and a wonderful lunch at the Rockland House, what could be better?

Groundhog Day 2024, and old Punxsutawney Phil has made his prognostication: an early spring for those in need of warmth, sunshine and the healing touch of bright water. The old boy seemed excited amid the cheers of a record crowd, for whom he bolstered hope for a quick end to winter.

I would most assuredly welcome the sun once again, to feel the warm breeze on my cheek, and look for mayflies where the riffles blend into the deeper waters of a run. Often during my thirty Catskill seasons I have encountered sleet, snow and frozen wading boots in April, crunched frost from the riverbank even mornings in May. By this angler’s hopeful calendar, there are 66 days ahead before I walk those banks with a dry fly snugged in the hook keeper. I would love a chance to take that walk in shirtsleeves!

Twenty twenty-three complied with my overwhelming need for sunshine, reaching sixty degrees on the first day of spring. The river managed a peak temperature of only forty-two though. I actually saw three rises the next day, something very briefly interested in the little black caddis or stoneflies?

By the end of my countdown, April 10th, the river had warmed to forty-nine on another sixty-degree day. The three rising trout I found that afternoon were pleased to sample my Quill Gordon, spin the reel and put a long-awaited arch in my old Leonard bamboo.

Imagine the faithful gathered on April first, for it will always be Opening Day here in the Catskills, with mayflies floating on clear water and trout rising! We would all love to see it, and we thank old Phil for leaving us with just a little hope that this year the dream will come true.