This past weekend brought the first frost to our garden - not a killing frost, but the first harbinger of more to come. Autumn is beginning to show a bit more this week, with muted orange, yellow and gold accented by bright bursts of red foliage on the hillsides; and October fly-fishers are being challenged by falling leaves on the water.

The long weekend was a special one for fly-fishers, as Saturday marked the induction ceremony and reception to honor the three new members of the Catskill Fly Fishing Center’s Hall of Fame: Charles Meck, Steve Raymond and Charles Jardine.

On Sunday, members of the Catskill Mountain Fly Casters Club convened at the field near the Catskill Fly Fishing Center’s bunkhouses. The 8 or 10 fly casters who assembled are members of the local group that meets at the CFFC each month. On this day,  the casters were meeting for fun; members of the club also travel to the “Nationals” competition of the American Casting Association, recently to Kentucky and San Francisco, California, as well as the Internationals, and compete with casters from around the world.

Per Brandin, the organizer of the Catskill Mountain group, explained that the local Club actually had its beginnings in the early 1980s when Joan and Lee Wulff held a casting tournament at the Catskill Fly Fishing Center’s pond. Per won the Bass Bug contest and was ‘hooked’. After having moved to the West coast, he became involved with the casting clubs in California, and when he returned to the East coast twelve years later, organized the Catskill Mountain Fly Caster’s Club based in Livingston Manor.

The contests were originally planned to help improve your fishing skills - whether you fished for trout or bass,  and is an enjoyable way to improve your casting skills. 

To the casual onlooker, the setup is pretty simple - about five targets (similar to hula hoops) placed on the grass, the near target placed about  25 feet away from the front edge of the starting point, with the far target placed about  50 feet away.  Three remaining targets are placed randomly in between, although not in a straight line.

The contest begins with a score of 100 points, with points deducted for failing to miss the target. The casting is done from a specified point or “box” with no more than two feet of flyline out of the guides. Each cast is measured - a cast that lands the fly in the target is “perfect” with no points deducted. A cast that lands the fly within 12 inches of the target is scored a -1; a cast that lands further out is scored a -2.  The contest consists of ten casts, two at each of the five targets in the course, in the order as directed by the tournament Captain. On this day, the club held three contests  - Trout Fly, Bass Bug and Dry Fly (Distance.) 

The American Casting Association is comprised of about 16 clubs across the country. For those wishing to participate or learn more about the Catskill Mountain Fly Caster’s Club, please contact Per Brandin at per2@comcast.net 

And on Sunday afternoon, the Catskill Fly Fishing Center & Museum offered a free and exclusive screening of the documentary on the life of Lee Wulff. Shown to an appreciative crowd in the Wulff Gallery by Jill Borenstein,  CFFC Program & Development Director, the film depicted the life of Lee Wulff, the internationally known host of the American Sportsman TV show, angler, artist, hunter, conservationist, filmmaker and all-around outdoorsman. 

Now that the weather has cooled and the regular fishing season on most rivers and streams ends as of October 15, many anglers will be putting their fishing gear in order, carefully checking for repairs that need to be done and storing their fishing vests, rods and waders safely away. Wishing you all a happy and healthy winter season, with the hope that we will meet again when Streamside returns in the Spring.