Here we are at last, April First. The gathering was much smaller than remembered last night, at the twenty-sixth Angler’s Reunion, and I thought that somewhat sad. Tommy Roseo and family once more blessed our palates with the Rockland House’s wonderful prime rib, toasted with single malt, friendship and dessert. Thank you, Tom, for all the wonderful meals you have hosted for our humble gatherings of anglers and fly tyers!
By now the faithful have gathered in the cold fog at Junction Pool, eager for that first cast. May they find whatever they seek along the bright waters of the Beaver Kill and the Willowemoc!
I am a week away from my own reclamation, though I have wandered bright water and may do so again before it is truly time.
Our weather remains fitful, as is the norm for a Catskill spring, though in truth we fare better than our neighbors to the north. There is talk of ice and snow upstate and into new England, while we look to a mix with cooler, then warmer days and, we hope, the rainfall our rivers so genuinely need. By the time the day dawns, our rivers should have been blessed with an inch and a half of rain, though the sunlight needed to warm them is expected to be lacking. So be it: rain first, warmth thereafter.
I’ll be busy as this last week of anticipation closes, tying flies and teaching a few tricks and patterns amid the season opening reveries at the Catskill Brewery. I offer thanks for the fly tyers of the Guild who have helped me fill two boxes with excellent spring patterns for the brewery’s charity raffle: John Apgar, Nuno Figueiredo, John Kavanaugh, Tyler Morehouse, Christina Muller, David Seifritz and Chris Takacs. A couple of ticket holding anglers are going to be catching some very fine trout this spring!
Just yesterday I packed a few more Gordon Quills and Catskill Adams in my new shirt pocket fly box. They will attend whatever forays I make during this last disheveled week of waiting. I’ve cleaned the floating line on the CFO that accompanies my old Orvis 99, freshened the leader and made it ready to fish wet or dry. It is still the season of the swing, though I will always be prepared for the miracle of an early rise!
Bright Waters Catskill 