On trespassing

“ …let’s kill all the lawyers.”

—William Shakespeare

Mark Rando, a member of the Upper Delaware Chapter of Trout Unlimited, had an unusual and not exactly pleasant experience this past Saturday. He had stopped to fish an area on the East Branch of the Delaware, where he had fished several times before. In order to reach the river, it was necessary for him and his friend to walk across a wide field. Just as they reached the river, Mark noticed a fellow riding an ATV approaching at high speed.

This gentleman proceeded to order them off of his land, stating that he would no longer allow fly fishers access because they were suing the Town of Hancock. For a moment, Mark was stunned. He recovered quickly, however, and in a reasonable manner explained to the landowner that he was a member of Trout Unlimited and was absolutely not a member of the Friends of the Upper Delaware River (FUDR). It was FUDR that had threatened to sue the Town of Hancock, not Trout Unlimited. After a few moments of calming dialog, the landowner relented and allowed Mark access to the river. Nevertheless, in the future anyone using this unofficial access would have to come to the home of the owner and obtain permission to access the East Branch. How he will be able to separate the guilty from the innocent puzzles me. I certainly intend to introduce myself to this property owner the very next time I am in the vicinity.

Sadly, this is discouragingly similar to an experience that Tom Brown, another member of the Upper Delaware Chapter, suffered while visiting the Hancock school. This year the chapter will send two area youngsters to the DEC Conservation Camp. Tom was visiting the school in Hancock explaining to the principal what the DEC camp teaches, and that Trout Unlimited would pay the entire expense for the pupil. One of the teachers, upon learning that Tom was discussing a program in which the school could participate, became very upset. She felt it was not proper to give Tom an audience, “when that organization, Trout Unlimited, was suing the Town of Hancock.” Tom, a former teacher himself, eventually was able to explain to this teacher that there is a vast difference between Trout Unlimited and the ill-named Friends of the Upper Delaware River. Once the teacher understood that Trout Unlimited was not suing the town, she was mollified.

This year, Trout Unlimited will be sending a child from the Hancock school and the Sullivan County 4H organization to the DEC Conservation Camp. At the April meeting, the Upper Delaware Chapter voted to always send a second youngster to the DEC camp in memory of Tony Jansic, a long-time member of the chapter who passed away this winter.

Over the winter, the Upper Delaware gang had cut approximately 1,000 willow slips. These were placed in buckets full of water and stored in basement areas. On Saturday May 6th, we put in 500 of these willow slips along the bank of Hankins Brook below the railroad bridge on the left-hand bank. By next weekend, the balance of these willow slips will be placed along the banks of other tributaries to the Delaware. This is part of a continuing effort to maintain the integrity of the tributaries. No trout spawning occurs in the Main Stem of the Delaware. All trout spawning happens in the tributaries. They are the heart and soul of the wild trout fishery on the Main Stem.

Some 20 years ago, a friend who could no longer fish gave me a nine-foot, six-weight, five-piece fiberglass fly rod. I considered it an ugly puppy, never even bothering to try to cast it. Out of curiosity, I put it together the other day and cast it on the lawn. It gave me a pleasant surprise. Despite its five-piece construction, it is a sweet casting tool. Its action is soft enough to protect even light tippets from breaking either on the strike or while playing a fish. I can hardly wait to fish this rod. Guess which rod I will be using on my first outing. Anticipation, as Carly Simon once sang, is a pleasant sensation.