Contributed photo Ignore the long, tall, drink of muddy water in this picture. Instead, focus on the happiness radiating from that youngsters face. Thank you, L. L. Bean. (Click for larger image)

And the winners are...

The Trout Unlimited fly fishing and fly tying program put on at the Callicoon Community Center was a whiz-bang success this year. All of the students made good progress towards becoming proficient fly casters and fly tiers. The happiest student was Ricky Pena of Long Eddy, who won the fly casting outfit donated by the L. L. Bean Company of Freeport, Maine. Tony Jansic donated a repaired graphite rod that was won by Tom Davies of Youngsville. Tom won this rod by taking first place in the accuracy fly casting contest held on the last day of the school. Arlin Fleckenstein of Callicoon and Jim Kyle of Callicoon Center won books on fly fishing by taking second and third places, respectively, in the accuracy casting contest. Due to the generosity of the Federation of Fly Fishers, each youngster received a new fly line, a leader and a roll of tippet material, manufactured by Scientific Anglers, a division of the 3M Corporation. Tony Jansic, the 83-year old, super fly tier, put the frosting on the cake, by tying a group of 10 different flies, which he gave to each student. The Tangler would like to give a big tip of the cowboy hat to the folks who helped teach the program, Tony, Ed, and Jim Graham of White Plains New York, and my long time, best fishing partner, Barbara Ann.

Some good news for fishers and boaters. The NYSDEC is in negotiation with the Town of Cochecton to reopen the abandoned river access site in that town.

The Tangler is anxiously awaiting the arrival of his new boat, a sleek,16-foot Wenonah canoe that will weigh only 50 pounds. Even an ancient mariner should be able to put that boat up on a canoe rack with ease. See y’all on the river.