A Brief Catskill Angling History
By Roger Menard
(Roger Menard is the author of the new book, My
Side of the River: Reflections of a Catskill Fly Fisherman.
Mr. Menard will be a featured participant of the MTHS special program
A CELEBRATION OF CATSKILL MOUNTAIN FLY FISHING, April 6
from 1:00 to 4:00 pm at the Windham Civic Center, featuring demonstrations
of fly tying and casting, a slide show, historical and art exhibits, and
a book signing with Mr. Menard.)
Angling history has been recorded for hundred of
years. Fly fishing history, largely European, followed suit. Cumulative
over time, information on tackle, knowledge of anglers, intimate knowledge
of rivers and local lore all add to the history of fly fishing.
Historically, New York State's Catskill Mountains
capture a unique position in the annals of American fly fishing. The
Catskills have the distinction of being the birthplace of the American
dry fly. It was here in the late 1800s that Theodore Gordon, a Catskill
writer and angler, after much overseas correspondence with Mr. F. Halford,
a leading British authority, developed dry flies suitable for the fast
flowing rivers of the Catskills. His signature fly, the Quill Gordon, remains
a basic pattern for eastern anglers. Right next to the Quill Gordon is the
very popular Hendrickson, tied by Roy Steenrod, an acquaintance of Gordon's.
Over the years, a legion of resident fly tyers following
Gordon's footsteps became the nucleus of the Catskill school of fly
tyers. They included Harry and Elsie Darbee, Walt and Winnie Dette,
Reub Cross, and Herman Christian. Their skills gained popularity on
the Beaver Kill and Neversink rivers of the western Catskills. Towards
the eastern side of the mountains, Preston Jennings and Ray Smith were
tying flies and catching trout on the Esopus. Art Flick, an intrepid
angler and fly tyer who owned the Westkill Tavern in Greene County, was
familiar with the waters of the Schoharie Creek. He also wrote a little
book on Catskill flies that still remains a classic for anglers wishing
to familiarize themselves with popular patterns.
Visiting anglers from large metropolitan areas were
eager to bring fine reels imported from England, the best Spanish silkworm
gut leaders, and quality hand-tied American flies to match wits with
wily Catskill trout. Classic bamboo rods have also contributed to Catskill
angling lore. The William Mills Company in New York City, agents for the
H.L. Leonard Rod Company and the E.F.Payne Rod Company (both rods were made
in Central Valley, New York), offered anglers an array of split-bamboo fly
rods to cast over their favorite waters. Several rods were river-tested in
the Catskills, and a few models were named after the region.
In the mid-1800s, the coming of the Ulster and Delaware
and Ontario and Western railroads to the Catskills opened up new horizons
for visiting sportsmen. Fishing towns, boarding houses, and hotels sprung
up throughout the Catskills. For over one hundred years notable anglers
visiting the region read like a veritable "Who's Who" of fishing fame.
Angling writers Hewitt, LaBranche, McClane, Zern, Wulff, and Sparse Gray
Hackle led the way.
Fishing was good, too good, and the heavy baskets
of trout, along with increasing pollution, were beginning to take their
toll on the rivers. Brook trout require cold, pure water for survival.
Excessive timbering and the denuding of the mountains changed river
channels and caused heavy silting. Warming water temperatures were devastating
to the eastern brook trout.
Things looked bleak. Fears were growing among anglers
that trout fishing would become a sport of the past. Then, a significant
breakthrough occurred. In the late 1800s brown trout were imported from
Europe and planted in Catskill waters. Being more tolerant of warmer
stream temperatures, they also had a good reputation for rising to the
fly. In addition, native west coast rainbow trout were transported to eastern
waters. The rainbows quickly adapted to the Esopus Creek. It didn't take
long for rainbow stocks to spawn naturally. Even today, rainbow trout still
fare well in the Esopus and its tributaries.
New York City's watershed, with its myriad of reservoirs,
has also had its impact on fly fishing. The Ashokan Reservoir, built
in the early 1900s, has been a haven for large rainbow and brown trout.
The cold water discharge at the portal in Allaben (water transported via
a tunnel from the Schoharie Reservoir) enhances the quality of the Esopus
and contributes to the natural reproduction of its trout population. It
is a great nursery river. There is also a migratory run of browns and
rainbows in the fall of the year.
The tailwater releases below the dams of the reservoirs
have been beneficial to both trout and insect populations, creating first-rate
fisheries.
The Catskills have enjoyed worldwide fame for over
one hundred years as an ideal place to fly fish, and that reputation
continues today. With care and nurturing, there is no reason why the
Catskill rivers shouldn't lure sportsmen for another hundred years, and
even much, much longer.
Roger Menard is a resident of Ulster County's Catskill Mountains.
He was a charter director of the Theodore Flyfishers and is a member
of the Catskill Fly Fishing Center and Museum, the Catskill Fly Tyers
Guild, and Trout Unlimited. A conservationist, he was instrumental in
obtaining "artificial lure-only" regulations on the Amawalk River in southern
New York. An avid fly tyer, he has sat alongside the vises of his friends
Harry and Elsie Darbee, Keith Fulsher, Charlie Krom, Herb Howard, and Matt
Vinceguerra. Besides fly fishing his home waters of the Catskills and Adirondacks,
his angling travels have taken him to the western rivers of Montana, Idaho,
and Wyoming as well as to the Atlantic Canadian Province of New Brunswick,
Nova Scotia, and Quebec.
MTHS GETS REEL COOL!
Join us for GO FISH! A CELEBRATION OF CATSKILL MOUNTAIN FLY FISHING
