Texas ho!

You will be hard pressed to find any dull spots in the new book titled, “The Legendary Neversink,” edited by Justin Askins. It is an anthology of writing by those who have fished this famous trout stream. A number of my favorite authors have a chapter or two in this tome. Mr. Theodore Gordon, Sparse Grey Hackle (aka Alfred W. Miller), Jack Atherton and Albert Jules McClane. Those not mentioned above are no slouches either.

The last two paragraphs of Atherton’s chapter particularly struck a chord with me. In them, Atherton described failing to raise a large brown trout. After he admitted defeat, his wife Maxine proceeded to catch the whopper with only two casts. Ah yes, “thus two more males had underestimated the power of a woman.” Hello, Barbara Ann.

I can vividly recall as a teenager immediately opening the newest issue of Field & Stream magazine to the column written by A. J. McClane. McClane was not a fisherman who wrote; he was a writer who fished. His columns both informed and entertained his readers. One of the great thrills of my life was shaking hands with him one day on Kellams Bridge. He had been taking photos of Ed Van Put, who was fishing Kellams Pool.

There is always a chance to learn when reading the thoughts and experiences of the father of dry fly fishing, Mr. Theodore Gordon. Oh, for the chance to have fished alongside that gentleman for an hour or so. Reading his words is almost the equivalent of such a happening.

Then, of course, this book contains two chapters by the incomparable Sparse Grey Hackle. His companions often referred to Sparse as “the reporter,” since his vocation was working for the Wall Street Journal in that capacity. How I wish I could string together words in the manner of this kindly old gentleman. Many years ago, Barb and I attended a surprise birthday party for Sparse at the Williams Club down in Manhattan. When Arnold Gingrich led Mr. Miller into the room, he was obviously taken off guard. After lunch and a number of toasts, Sparse rose to his feet. He cleared his throat and grumped, “On this type of occasion it is expected the recipient should say a few words. I am unfortunately, totally unprepared.” He then proceeded to hold his audience in thrall for the next half hour with a string of marvelously delivered reminiscences. It is a shame none of us were able to record those words. In his chapter “The Search for Theodore Gordon,” Sparse delivers one of his classic paragraphs. That would be the next to the last on page 90.

Money spent on this book will prove to be an investment in hours of pleasurable reading time. After reading the final page, I could hardly suppress the urge to toss my rod and fishing shirt into the van and head off for the Neversink. Alas, I could not, as we are packing frantically to return to the Lone Star state in a matter of days. However, Lord willing, there will be next year. Will it be Denniston Flats or the Gorge? Shucks, why not both.

Good news. The Delaware River system has a new flow management plan. The thermal bank system has been done away with for a much simpler release system. The new system went into effect on October 1, and will be in effect for three years, after which it can be tweaked if necessary. This new plan should be a great improvement over the old system of complicated thermal banks. (For more information, see “DRBC agrees to adopt flow management plan” in the October 4 issue of The River Reporter.)