As a columnist for this newspaper it’s often difficult to find topics to write about, especially when articles are due every two weeks. Not today. Today it was easy. I’m at my desk holding a document. Its edges are worn and the whiteness is gone from the paper. It’s a very old document. My eyes are moist and there’s a lump in my throat while I read the words. The document is a memorandum; it’s dated July 25, 1972. It’s from Ed Van Put and addressed to me. 

Here is some of what it says about the very high water temperatures Ed recorded in the Delaware River on that date:

Delaware River

Listed below are some observations made on the evening of the above date:

8:15 PM

H20 mouth of Hankins Creek 70° F

H2O main Delaware River 80° F

Air 70° F

Approximately 200–300 fish off mouth of creek.

Approximately 95% of which were trout.

Observed at least one large trout in first pool above the mouth. Pool approximately 2’-3’ deep 25’ long.

Quite a few smaller trout also seen in this area. There is a good deal of cover in this pool in the form of willows and roots being undercut by the stream.

Because of Ed’s dedication to and monitoring of the Delaware River, that memorandum began the process that led to the adoption of the water releases legislation of 1976. As a result, any angler who fishes the Delaware system owes a great deal of gratitude to Ed for the efforts he made to restore flows to that great river system. 

I met Ed during 1968 or ‘69 while working for the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) in Region III. I was a fisheries biologist; Ed a Fish and Wildlife technician. Ed had moved to the Catskills to be closer to the trout fishing he loved. It didn’t take long for him to learn about the excellent fishing for rainbow trout that the Delaware offered despite erratic flows and water temperature issues. And it didn’t take long for us to begin fishing together. 

We began in the area around Kellams Bridge, but later moved upriver to Bouchoux Brook and Dark Eddy, which offered better water temperatures. During the fall we hunted grouse and woodcock near the power enclosure close to the Willowemoc. 

Sometime in the mid 1970s Ed met Judy O’Brien (Obie), who also had been hired as a Fish and Wildlife technician. They became friends and later married. Judy became the mom of their two boys and an excellent angler in her own right. 

In the fall of 1978, Ed called to explain that Joan and Lee Wulff had moved to Lew Beach to open their fly fishing school. Ed said they were looking for someone to teach trout stream entomology and suggested I contact them. I wrote to Lee; we met and I was hired. Beginning in 1979 Ed and I worked for the Wulffs as instructors for many years.

When Ed began work as a Fish and Wildlife technician he was assigned to the Regional Fisheries Unit, where he helped conduct lake and stream surveys. Later he was assigned to the Stream Protection Unit, where he investigated stream disturbances and reviewed permit applications. At some point he was assigned to the Regions Public Access program, where his duties included the purchase of Public Fishing Rights (PFRs), fisherman parking areas and boat access sites. He was also responsible to ensure that those areas were posted properly and not posted against fishing. When he found landowners that posted against DEC fishing access, he would remove the signs and replace them with state signs. In some cases, landowners were issued a summons and perhaps fined if they did not comply.

At some point in his career Ed was promoted to the position of principal Fish and Wildlife technician, where he continued his work to manage the public access program in Region III. He was responsible for that program in the seven counties that made up that region. However, most of his work was conducted in Sullivan and Ulster counties. 

During the 40 years that Ed ran that program, he purchased about 54 miles of PFRs along the Esopus Creek, Neversink River and branches of Callicoon Creek. He also purchased access paths, fishermen parking areas and boat launch sites, thereby guaranteeing anglers the opportunity to access those Catskill waters where fishing could have been denied by certain landowners.

In addition to his work with the DEC, Ed became a celebrated author with his books: “Trout Fishing in the Catskills” and “The Beaverkill.” Both remain the definitive works on those two subjects. Anyone interested in trout fishing in the Catskills should add both volumes to their libraries.

Looking back at the life of Ed Van Put, we can say that he was an uncompromising fisheries professional, talented writer and a fly fisherman with few if any peers. Not many of us will achieve that many accomplishments during our lives. More importantly, he was a dedicated husband and father and my friend. I can still see him standing in the Delaware River off the mouth of Bouchoux Brook. Ed held clipboard in hand while we monitored and recorded the high water temperatures and photographed the hundreds of trout at the mouth of that tributary.

Sadly, Ed passed on December 14 of 2024, so my thoughts are with Obie and her family as they go through this very difficult time.