TRR photo by David Jackman On display at the Catskill Fly Fishing Center and Museum are many angler-oriented works of art, bits of history and tools of the trade. (Click for larger image)

A new angle on the future

Through preserving fly fishing’s past

By DAVID JACKMAN

LIVINGSTON MANOR — “Preserving what we presently have, and [planning] for the future” is the message Paul Dahlie, Executive Director of the Catskill Fly Fishing Center and Museum (CFFC&M), is promoting. The museum was the idea of Elsie Darbee, of Darbee’s Fly Shop in Roscoe, NY, who made and sold fishing lures.

In 1979, Darbee wanted to create a repository for angler artifacts. The Catskill Museum of Fly Fishing, as it was called at that time, was incorporated in 1981, with Darbee as its charter president. The organization’s first home was in the old Roscoe Theatre, where it remained until 1983. In 1983 the museum purchased 35 acres near the Willowemoc Creek with the support from former President Jimmy Carter and Paul Volker, Chairman of the Federal Reserve Bank prior to Alan Greenspan. Carter visited Roscoe in 1984 to kick off the crucial capital campaign that ultimately helped to build the present museum that was completed in 1995. Individual and member support was essential to this fundraising effort.

“Promoting education and research of cold water fisheries, and supporting the ecology and ecosystem of the Catskill Watershed,” is the mission of today’s CFFC&M, Dahlie said. “The number of youth participating in hunting and fishing is on the decline.” The electronic world has now “created entertainment,” according to Dahlie, where we once created our own.

The CFFC&M, in conjunction with the Sullivan County Cooperative Extension 4-H program, works with local schools to “create an awareness in youth that this is a fun sport” while teaching ecology and conservation to children ranging from ages eight to 16. Dahlie said, “If we can’t continue to preserve the quality of the fishing, then the fishing itself will deteriorate.”

	TRR photo by David Jackman This bronze angler, by Sculptor Bob Wolf, has resided at the Catskill Fly Fishing Center and Museum since its opening in 1995. (Click for larger image)

A charter member since 1982, Dahlie is excited about the Catskill River Symposium 2001 that will be held at the Frost Valley YMCA from November 2 to 4. The event is expected to attract government officials and representatives from the Department of Environmental Protection, who will discuss the issues connected to merging the environmental interests around the Delaware River with the region’s growing economy. Top environmentalists, biologists and individuals concerned about the river will attend the symposium. All of the presentation speeches will be published to create topic discussions for the following years. “If municipalities have rivers that go through towns and villages, a neutral group needs to know about the zoning ordinances… let’s study this,” Dahlie said. “The better the water quality in the Catskills, the better the fishing, the better the economy… more people will come to fish.”

A long-term goal of Dahlie’s is to build a research center to study all aspects of the ecosystem that could have international significance, because “each river is different in structure and uniqueness. People from Cornell could have a river monitoring system, and the Catskill Center for Conservation and Environment, DEC and Trout Unlimited would be involved… because the future is better fishing, and for better fishing, we need better water.”

The CFFC&M will be celebrating its 20th anniversary on Saturday, August 25 at the Annual Angler’s Summerfest from 10:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. The event will include 40 to 50 vendors of new and used angling items, exhibits and casting demonstrations. See how a natural resource in the Catskills continues to inspire all ages, and how the CFFC&M is ensuring the future of the sport of fly fishing for generations to come. For more information call 845/439-4810.