It’s the end of June/beginning of July, and we enjoyed a wonderful two weeks of cool temperatures and some ample rain showers heading into the heat of the summer. Water temperatures on the Willowemoc and Beaverkill had been relatively cool, but at this writing, Sunday afternoon, they are beginning to creep up toward and into the 70s. Monitoring water temperature before beginning a fishing trip is important during these warmer days. Fishing in the cool of the mornings, especially before the sun hits the water, and again in the evenings, especially around dark, will be most productive. Fly hatches on these streams have been spotty, continuing with tiny Blue Winged Olives, some Blue Sedges, and tan Caddis flies along with the lighter colored summer flies - Sulphurs and Light Cahills. 

Water levels are back to below the historical average on both rivers; after some heavy rain showers, the Willowemoc had reached its historic median average flow on Friday afternoon, but by Sunday afternoon had receded to 33.2 cubic feet per second, which is less than the historic median average of 52 cfs based on 40 years of record-keeping. The Beaverkill at Cooks Falls was flowing at 135 cfs on Saturday afternoon, below its historic median flow of 199 over 112 years of record-keeping. And by this week, with air temperatures predicted to be in the 80s to 90s by week’s end, no doubt flyfishers will best be headed for the tailwaters to try their luck.         

Fly hatches on the Neversink have not been heavy, but are consistent in the evenings until dark, about 7:30 pm. In addition to a few Blue Sedge and Tan Caddis flies, there are two types of Sulphurs making up the bulk of these hatches lately: size #14 Invaria Sulphurs mixed in with the main hatch of size #16 Dorotheas. 

Reports from the East Branch Delaware are similar to that of the Neversink; however, the West Branch Delaware has been getting an afternoon hatch of sulphurs and then a second hatch in the evenings. 

On Saturday afternoon, the CFFC Museum was the place to be, where Seth Cavarretta was tying flies, serving as the Catskill Fly Tyers Guild’s Guest Fly Tyer of the week. Seth demonstrated how to tie on slip wings, and was producing beautiful flies - including the Wickham’s Fancy - to a very attentive group of onlookers. The Saturday series of guest fly-tyers not only demonstrate how to tie specific patterns of flies they’ve chosen but give tips on how best to tie the fly, answering questions and providing helpful information. In this session, Seth stressed the importance of setting the wings in the correct position on the hook, not too far forward towards the eye, explaining that if the wings are too far forward, the fly will tip on its nose when cast out on the water. Often, when you are tying, he explained that when you set the wings, if you think the wings are where they are ‘supposed to be’ they may end up being tied on too far forward; it’s actually better to set the wings on the hook a little further back, toward the middle of the hook, from where you think they should be. Seth also said he tends to tie the tail a bit longer, making the tail the length of the entire hook, including the eye, rather than just the length of the shank of the hook. He said that if the tail is too short (or if the hackle is too short), the fly will tend to roll on its side, and has found that a longer tail helps the fly to float better and more correctly.

The group watching Seth included 20-year-old Steven Makky, who travels up from Queens. Steven is a self-taught fly-fisher, despite being the only one in his family to take up fishing, and now ties flies as well; he has been coming up to his uncle’s place in Hasbrouck on a regular basis. He loves to fish, and has been a fly-fisher for about a year and a half, but was spin fishing “for a little longer than that.” He mentioned that about a year or so ago, he had ridden his bike from his Uncle’s to the nearby Neversink and kept coming up on rising fish. He enjoyed spending time watching the trout rise to flies on the surface, but was frustrated in his efforts in fishing for them, saying that he could never catch them on his spinning rod. He decided to try fly-fishing, but as his uncle wasn’t a flyfisher, the 19-year-old went off on his own and picked up an inexpensive fly rod kit, saying that it worked successfully, and that he still uses it. He began frequenting Dette Flies in Livingston Manor, where he met Seth, Pat, and the rest of the staff, and it became his favorite place to visit every time he came up. 

Steven’s favorite fly is the Rusty Spinner, and he said that he started tying flies because of his frequent visits to the Dette shop; Seth took him under his wing and set him up, giving him not only fly-tying equipment but lessons on how to tie. Seth explained, “We liked his enthusiasm - he was like a sponge, soaking up everything,” and is now becoming an accomplished fly-fisher. Steven said he feels lucky to have a mentor like Seth - remembering that he met him on the Neversink, which is just a two-minute bike ride from his Uncle’s, and now fishes frequently with him on the Neversink, being introduced to all the new spots he’d never fished before. “He taught me how to cast a dry fly properly, how to do a ‘reach cast’ for a downstream presentation, and with his teaching, I pretty much have learned everything I know now about dry fly fishing.”  

Steven was fishing with Seth on the Neversink just the night before, on Friday evening, with his favorite Rusty Spinner dry fly, size #16, when he hooked, landed, and released a beautiful brown trout that measured 21 ¼ inches in length- which, according to his mentor, was not his first 20-inch trout - proof in the magic of mentoring. 

And similar to how ripples spread across quiet waters, the magic of mentoring moves us to extend a hand to others. And at times, the best way to keep our passions for fishing and the outdoors alive is simply by sharing them with the next generation.