This one’s a keeper

“Good vibrations, great citations”

— The Beach Boys, 1970s

Sparse Gray Hackle, aka Alfred W. Miller, was a wonderful spinner of fishing tales. Whenever I reread one of the stories from his book, “Fishless Days and Angling Nights,” I come away with a feeling of being cheated. Sparse had a thousand interesting stories locked up in his head. Sadly, he wrote only one book; therefore we will never know what grand writing has been denied us.

Fortunately for all anglers, this is not the case with Ed Van Put. Some years ago he wrote a neat book titled, “The Beaverkill.” I am not a student of literature, so my standard for rating an author’s work is quite simple. When I turn the last page, do I fervently wish that there was more? “The Beaverkill” was certainly such a book.

For some years now, Ed had mentioned that he was working on another book. I truly yearned for the chance to read his second book. The only question was, would the book be finished before I found myself fishing on the far side of the River Styx. The good news is that the book, “Trout Fishing in the Catskills,” won the race.

Visually it is an absolutely stunning book. Ed’s writing makes it a real page-turner. I have been up past my bedtime a number of nights recently because I could not bring myself to close the book. Gentle reader, if you have ever fished in the Catskills, are now fishing there or dream of fishing the Catskill area someday, this book has been written for you. Even if you are not an angler but have an interest in local history, this book will beguile you and prove to be a treasure trove. In it, you will discover the most obscure bits of trivia.

Many fishers are familiar with this quote from the aforementioned Sparse Gray Hackle. “Go fishing often, for the trout do not rise in Greenwood Cemetery.” I had always thought that Sparse had picked that name out of thin air simply because it sounded good. However, as Ed weaves the history of several well-known early 19th century anglers into his story, you come to learn that several of these men now rest in—Greenwood Cemetery. Sparse was an expert on early American fishing history. His choice of the name for the cemetery was not a random one, but a subtle indication of his knowledge regarding vintage anglers. “Trout Fishing in the Catskills” will take you back to the early days of trout fishing for the beautiful brook trout. Days where a catch would be measured in pounds of fish taken, not inches. The actions of our forefathers in the number of trout they would kill in a day makes me wince. A brook trout fishery that is unimaginable in these times was gradually destroyed by uncontrollable greed.

Fortunately for the anglers of today, as the brook trout fishery faded, rainbow and brown trout were being placed in many of the Catskill area streams. Within a few years, they were to have a tremendous impact on trout fishing in this area. Rainbows and browns grew faster than the brook trout they replaced. In a short time, trout of over three pounds were being captured, whereas a brook trout of more than two pounds had been cause for celebration. In reading this book, I discovered that rainbows and browns had been placed in Catskill streams much earlier than I had thought. It seems most of these early plantings occurred in smaller tributaries rather than in the larger rivers. Once they reached a good size, most of these trout would seek bigger waters. The descendents of these fish provide the angling we enjoy today. We all need to defend our current fisheries vigorously, lest they go the way of the brook trout fishery and we wind up fishing for chubs.

“Trout Fishing in the Catskills” is not a book you will read once and then put up on a bookshelf to be forgotten. I expect this book will be in print for a long time. The fellow who invariably fishes in a Bosox baseball cap has done himself proud with this fine bit of angling lore. From the handsome photographs on the cover (who is that pretty gal casting a bamboo fly rod; I think I know her) to the magnificent color photographs inside, plus the complete history of angling compiled by the author, this book is a keeper. Get yourself a copy, pour some sipping whiskey, turn the first page and enter into the world of Catskill fishing as it once was, is now, and hopefully ever will be.