These wonderfully cool nights of September have brought a resurgence in trout fishing over the past week or so. Water temperatures on both the Beaverkill and Willowemoc have cooled to a favorable temperature for trout - however despite Thursday evening’s rainstorms, which brought water levels up to about the average flow, the Beaverkill and Willowemoc are still quite low. Trout fishers would fare best fishing the tailwaters of the East and West Branches of the Delaware, Esopus and Neversink.

Tom Mason, of Livingston Manor, reported a great day of fishing on the East Branch. Having scouted the river for rising fish, Tom observed that they were taking tiny Blue-Winged Olives, and returned home to tie up several in size #24. He returned to the river with a friend, armed with a box of the tiny flies, and proceeded to have a banner afternoon, catching and releasing more than a dozen nice trout.

Seth Cavarretta also had a great evening fishing earlier this past weekend, noting that fishing was productive from about 5:30 until dark. He shared some photos of four large brown trout he had netted that were as long or longer than his net, as well as some beautiful photos of a Blue-Winged Olive fly and Sulphur fly that were hatching. Seth said that the Olives and small Sulphurs, sizes #18s and #20s have been the predominant hatches lately, with a few Light Cahills and Isonychias mixed in, although he did confess that the Tup’s Indispensable dry fly he was fishing with was used to good effect in the evening!

It was a great week for the fishing community - in addition to successful fishing, 85 Bamboo Rod makers and aficionados traveled to the Catskill Fly Fishing Center for the annual Catskill Rodmakers Gathering. 

This popular event has been hosted at the CFFC for the past 31 years. Attendees from across the US and across the Canadian border came to participate and enjoy camaraderie, great food, and have the chance to learn more about bamboo rods and how to make them; as well as try out some of the 70+ rods that were on hand. 

The weekend agenda included meeting and learning about the history of bamboo rods, tips from experts in the field on various rod-making topics, and buying and selling of classic tackle, as well as a discussion of Classic Catskill Rods by Hoagy Carmichael. 

Everyone left Sunday afternoon in high spirits and looking forward to next year’s 32nd Gathering. Thursday evening, September 4, was the first meeting of the new Beamoc (Beaverkill/Willowemoc) Chapter of Trout Unlimited. Held at the CFFCM’s Wulff Gallery at 6 pm, dozens of enthusiastic supporters came out to celebrate the “rebirth” of the Chapter, first founded in 1974 but dissolved some 10-15 years ago. The new Beamoc Chapter President, Judy Van Put, called the meeting to order and welcomed all to this “very special historic event”, introducing the Board: Trout Unlimited’s Engagement Manager Jesse Vadala - Advisor; Laura Colangelo - Vice President; Rachael Yaeger - Secretary; Don Borelli - Treasurer; Seth Cavarretta - Director, and Manny Zanger - Director. Manny was a long-time member and former President of Beamoc TU since the late 1970s. Everyone present was given the opportunity to introduce themselves and talk about the reason they wanted to join, and what it meant to them. 

Many mentioned the importance of conservation of our cold clean waters and were excited for the ‘rebirth’ of the Chapter. The atmosphere was charged with an electric enthusiasm, with most all in attendance volunteering to help in whatever way they could to ensure the success of the organization. A brief history was given detailing how Judy was inspired by learning that her husband, Ed, was a founding member of the Beamoc Chapter of Trout Unlimited back in 1974, and when re-launching Beamoc was brought up by Laura Colangelo, she agreed to work with Laura in heading up the project in honor of her husband. Laura spoke about the goals of this new chapter that is being recreated, which harken back to the original intent: conservation efforts.  

Our Beamoc chapter will celebrate history, clear stream passageways to encourage trout spawning, plant trees, and help to improve our fishery’s environment, topics that Ed and Manny had focused on so many years ago. Jesse described the importance of the work that TU has done in the past, and how Beamoc members can become involved with getting our local streams cleared of fallen trees/branches; learning how to take water samples to assist in reclassifying streams; learning how to conduct spawning surveys, and many other important and fun projects.

The history of the Beamoc began in the late 1940s when it was originally the Beaverkill-Willowemoc Rod and Gun Club, Incorporated. By 1951, copies of their newsletter, “Voice of The Beamoc” were printed with the original logo of “Beamoc”, the two-headed, antlered trout. The organization at one time had 1,000 members and was headed up by Walter Bock, President; Lauren Smith, Vice President; Wildlife artist Francis W. Davis as Treasurer; Elsie B. Darbee, Secretary, and Harry Darbee as Chairman -Conservation Committee. Trustees were William Bailey, Carl Campbell, Bertrand Cable, Raymond Baker, and J. Fred Ackerly. 

Copies of the 1951 July & October Edition, as well as a Special Bulletin warning against the dangers of intended spraying of DDT in the Beaverkill and Willowemoc Valleys were available for all in attendance to read and take home. The membership voted to create a Beamoc TU Newsletter and continue on with the name Voice of the Beamoc. 

Patrick Cook volunteered to help format and manage the newsletter, in addition to helping create stories and short video interviews on what constitutes good fisheries habitat, nature vignettes, etc. that can be used across social media to help promote the chapter and encourage new members. Beamoc’s first “Work Bee” of clearing a local tributary of fallen trees/branches in addition to viewing and monitoring trout spawning redds will be held on Saturday, October 4 at 10:00 am, meeting place to be decided. For more information, or to join Beamoc, please email Jesse.vadala@tu.org or beamoctroutunlimited@gmail.com You can also follow us on Instagram@beamoctroutunlimited. Stay tuned!