July dawned bright and sunny, with temperatures that rose throughout the week. Fireworks flashed throughout Friday evening, their beautifully colored bursts lighting up the sky; a welcoming warm weekend ending with a summery Sunday rising to nearly ninety by midday.

Fishing this week has been a bit challenging; an evening trip on Friday to the Beaverkill and Willowemoc above Roscoe was slow, despite favorable flows and water conditions - air temps at 72 degrees and water at 67. No flies or hatches were seen, nor rises, despite fishing hard with an Isonychia dry fly upstream, a Baby Brown Trout streamer down, back up with a Green Meanie dry, back down with a Gold-Ribbed Hare’s Ear nymph and Royal Coachman wet fly combo and finally an Adams at dark.

However, the smaller tributaries were the place to be! “Catskill John” Bonasera fished two of his favorite creeks, a trib of the Willowemoc in the morning and a trib of the Delaware in the evening.

John related that both streams are fishing very well, “though I saw no mayflies whatsoever, not on the stream or under the lights at the laundromat in Jeffersonville, my go-to place for bug activity.”

His morning choice proved to be cool, clear, and memorable; almost immediately he hooked and landed a 13” brown with vibrant red spots that took a Dun Variant on the first drift. He caught four more browns from 7-10”, all wild (as the DEC stopped stocking there a few years ago.) Stating that the brook trout there are always smaller, he caught five, none over 7”, while fishing large dry flies there to keep the tiniest trout off the hook, explaining, “They can’t get the long hackle in their mouths.”

In the evening he fished a favorite pool on the Delaware trib and found that it has now moved toward the far bank and is fast-moving, but has some undercuts and holds numerous trout for the short stretch the pool now is. “I probably caught seven smaller rainbows, a few small browns and one 12” rainbow that really put on an aerial display!” 

All were taken on Dun Variants, Athertons dry flies 2-5, and a Bivisible, on size 12 hooks. Moving upstream to a short deep pool he found it was full of trout. John landed a bunch from 8-14” until “it just felt too easy and I walked away. Curiously enough, only one of these browns were stocked, and as always the rainbows are wild.”

During this heat-of-summer time, anglers are reminded to bring along a stream thermometer and use it - the best times to fish now are early mornings and later in the evenings through dark. And when water temperatures rise to 70 degrees, it’s best to head upstream or try the smaller tributaries (and take a water temperature there, as well!) or head to the cool, refreshing Tailwater fisheries of the East and West branches of the Delaware or the Neversink below the dams. A special Saturday was hosted at the Catskill Fly Fishing Center for about a dozen youngsters, ages 12 - 17, from the FUDR (Friends of the Upper Delaware River) Bill Canfield Camp at Beechwoods. 

Now in its 13th season, the camp was officially launched in 2012 in honor of Bill Canfield, an avid angler and passionate supporter of the rivers and streams of the Catskills who loved to see youngsters become involved with the sport. 

Today the Camp partners with FUDR, French Woods Sports & Arts Center and more than a dozen volunteers to host and teach two one-week sleep-away camp sessions each summer. Since its inception, the camp has introduced more than 150 youngsters to the world of fly fishing. 

And during this week’s camp, there were 27 volunteer mentors over the 6 days of instruction. In addition to French Woods and FUDR, help and support were provided by members of the Catskill Fly Tyers Guild, the Catskill Fly Fishing Center & Museum, the Beaverkill Trout Club, local professional fishing guides and others in the fishing community.

According to Steven Taggart, one of the Camp organizers and guides, the team works year round to put together the two weeks of camp, and solicits donations to help fund scholarships so that no child is left behind due to cost. 

“We try to get about half of our kids from the local communities. It is very important to us, and to Bill’s legacy, to send local, underprivileged children through our camp so they can utilize the amazing resources they have in their own backyards.”

In the morning after their arrival, the youngsters were eager to fly-fish Wulff Run on the Willowemoc in front of the CFFC&M, which resulted in some very nice sized trout being caught! There was a tour of the CFFC Museum, followed by a pizza lunch (with birthday cake celebration for one of the boys) and a fly-tying session. 

All had a great time, as judged by the excited chatter as the group made their way back onto the bus to return to the camp. For more information on the camp, please visit https://www.fudrcanfieldcamp.com/bill-canfield-legacy.