ROSCOE, NY — As legend has it, where the pristine waters of the sun-glittered Beaverkill and Willowemoc meet at Junction Pool dwells the Beamoc, known as the ever-elusive Two-Headed Trout.

Its home is near a small town in the Catskills, appropriately known as Trout Town USA.

On Saturday, February 24, dedicated fly-fishing anglers and fly-tiers “rose to the catch” as they gathered at the Rockland House for the Catskill Fly Fishing Center & Museum’s (CFFCM) annual Fly Fest.

The event was hosted by the CFFCM, and organized by the Catskill Fly Tyers Guild and the Mid-Hudson Chapter of Trout Unlimited.

In addition to the scores of fly-tiers demonstrating their skills and passing on their knowledge to others, representatives of the Mayfly Project, an organization that uses fly fishing as a catalyst to mentor children in foster care, were on hand.

They explained explain their mission, which states in part, to “support children in foster care through fly fishing and introduce them to their local water ecosystems, with the hope that connecting them to a rewarding hobby will provide an opportunity to have fun, feel supported, and develop a meaningful connection with the outdoors.”

After Dave Catizone, a CFFCM Catskill Legend and early member of the Catskill Fly Tyers Guild, got out of the U.S. Air Force, he attended a fly-fishing show in Massachusetts. He met Poul Jorgensen and Ted Niemeyer, and was promptly hooked on the sport.

Jorgensen was one of the best known fly-tiers in the world, primarily because of his classic salmon flies. Niemeyer was a master tier, recognized at the time as “the number-one authenticator of fly fishing in North America,” according to Catizone.

As history records it, Catizone was inspired by the late Jorgensen to relocate from New Hampshire to Roscoe, next to the birthplace of American fly-fishing.

There he soon met the Darbee and Dette families, leaders in the world of all things related to fly-fishing and tying.

“I’ve been very, very blessed to have been associated with them, recalled Catizone. “They treated me like family, and I learned a lot from them.”

Catizone is a volunteer at the CFFCM, serving on the archives committee, and is now credited by many as one of the preeminent authenticators of flies in the world. Thus does he carry on the legacy of Jorgensen and Niemeyer.

In days recently gone by, he would sit down in the old Beaverkill Anglers Sport Shop in Roscoe and discuss the founding of the Catskill Fly Tyers Guild, and later design the colorful patch worn proudly by its members.

During the Fly Fest, Catizone sat alongside Ed and Judy Van Put, all members of the CFFCM.

Asked about the allure of the sport of fly fishing and the art of crafting realistic trout files, Judy Van Put replied, “I love fly fishing because it’s very relaxing, and I love the history of tying flies that were used for hundreds of years in the same pattern. It’s creation.”

As to her favorite fishing spots, Van Put listed the Beaverkill, Willowemoc and quiet stretches of the Upper Delaware River.

“Wherever the day happens to be,” she said, adding that she and her husband of 42 years, “love to fish together, being excited when each other catches a fish.”