Ah the joy of starting a blog for the first time! Seems my icon identifier is not too functional. I guess this is to be expected going from print media to electronic. Bear with me, I like bamboo rods and dry flies much more than computers, and I won’t own a smart phone…

I fell in love with the Catskill Rivers more than 25 years ago. The combination of the sheer natural beauty, the quiet simplicity of the hamlets scattered throughout the mountains, the glorious wild trout and stunning insect hatches that sustain them left an indelible mark on my soul.

I wrote often of the fishing here in my weekly Outdoors column during 22 years in Chambersburg, Pennsylvania, talking myself into retiring here so to savor the seasons along the rivers during the best years of life. I am inspired to continue, to share the wonder of a winter’s morn, the struggle of a spring mayfly to take flight from the rippled surface of these bright waters, and the rise of a trout to the fly.