The upper Neversink at last

“A dream come true.”

— The Old Grouch

A few days ago, Art Salamon, Steve Girard and I fished on pools that I had only been able to dream of ever fishing. As far back as the late 1800s we would have been considered to be poachers for fishing this water. Recently, the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) has been able to acquire the fishing rights along roughly a mile of the upper Neversink above the reservoir. No, that word above is not a misprint. Due to the cooperation of the Open Space Conservancy and the due diligence of Mr. Ed Van Put, for the first time ever the DEC has a footprint on the upper Neversink. Kudos also need to be given to Pete Grannis, the DEC commissioner, for immediately recognizing a great opportunity. The money to clinch the deal was provided by the DEC. Wild brown and brook trout inhabit this stretch of stream and the setting is truly an area where “one can wash one’s soul.”

Anglers whose only interest is catching large fish will be disappointed when fishing this water. As for me, when fishing here, size does not matter. Pretty water, wary wild fish, beautiful surroundings—this is a picture-perfect trout stream. I do hope there will soon be signage indicating both the lower and upper limits of this water.

Once again, the public will be allowed to fish formerly closed water because of the swift and diplomatic approach exercised by Ed Van Put. The average angler, including me, has no idea how many sections of Catskill streams are available to us due to Ed Van Put’s tenacious approach to obtaining fishing rights.

On Saturday, October 18 at 3:00 p.m., Mr. Van Put will at last be inducted into The Catskill Hall of Fame at the Catskill Fly Fishing Museum. It would be a fitting gesture if as many of the recipients of Ed’s efforts showed up to honor him on this occasion. Y’all come.

I had a pretty good evening on July 29 while fishing Willowemoc Creek. I hooked three brown trout in 40 minutes of fishing time. All of them ate a size-14 Roan Antelope beetle imitation. It had been a typical dumb mistake that led me to fish this particular pool. I had originally intended to fish a location that is reached by descending a particularly lengthy and steep trail. After putting on my waders, boots and fishing shirt, I discovered I had left my wading staff at home. Uh oh! I negotiated the trail, but when I reached the stream, I found it running high and swift. Crossing over to the far bank looked dicey. After glumly watching the flow racing by for some minutes I chickened out. I decided to drive to a pool downstream where I could fish without crossing over.

Luckily, unlike the alchemists of old, I was able to turn lead into gold. Two of these fish were at least a foot long and on the three-weight bamboo rod, put up considerable resistance prior to surrendering at bank side. Pure dumb luck put me in a pool where I was able to catch a few trout. I do have a rather lame excuse. Since my three grandchildren and daughter are up from Texas, Barbara had commandeered my minivan, which contained my equipment checklist.

Willy Landem, my Texas fishing buddy, called the other day. Willy told me he had just finished reading “Casting A Spell,” which is all about bamboo fly rods and their history. Said he, “See if your readers know the author’s name.” Good idea. The first three answers received at PO Box 103, Hankins, NY 12741, or by phone will receive a poorly tied fly.