It seems as though Saturday’s Fly Tyer’s Roundtable has served as an inauguration of our winter fly tying season, as the weather remains unfriendly for fishing the dry flies we Catskill fly tyers love to tie.
I looked up from tying a 100-Year Dun to see the face and camera of Mr. Richard Lodge who has graced us with a wonderful new book about the life of Rueben R. Cross, one of the most heralded Catskill fly tyers, and the man many praise as the father of the Catskill School. I was pleased to meet this author, shake his hand and tell him face to face how much I enjoyed his book. If you are a fly tyer, or wish to be, this is one you should read! “The Rise of the Neversinker, Fly Tier Rube Cross” is published by Plaidswede Publishing in Concord, New Hampshire and is available from the author via his website https://crossingtherubicon.net
Our brief meeting got me thinking about Cross once more, so I read the book again today. That got me to open the packet of dubbing I had blended last winter for Rueb’s signature fly, the Cross Special. Looking through the box that houses my dun hackle capes, I latched onto the perfect Charlie Collins gray toned medium dun and tied a few of those Specials in both traditional Catskill and my own 100-Year Dun styles. If I am fortunate to find a few more of the cream-colored mayflies that have danced upon the river these past two weeks, I shall be ready!
A little rain did grace the Catskills on Sunday and overnight, though not nearly enough without being followed by some steady reinforcements. I’ll waste no time in getting out to prospect tomorrow, cane rod in hand.
Wednesday’s forecast still calls for snow showers, making me think I should be out in the mountains in search of a grouse or two. Snow on the mountain is somehow better than snow on the river, and those forested slopes are a better place to welcome the first real sign of winter if it comes.
Bright Waters Catskill 