Beaverkill

Our time in NY state was FUN!  When we arrived in the Lake Placid area to fish the Ausable River, it still seemed like winter.  There was still snow on Whiteface Mountain.  It was cold and rainy and perfect for fishing.  As we left Roscoe, NY, we’d had days in the 70’s and sun.  Spring finally caught up to us in New York and we had many fun adventures.

The Lake Placid / Wilmington area is rich with Olympic history and great fishing.  We had a trip down memory lane touring the Olympic Center where the “Miracle on Ice” occurred.  I could still hear the call… “Do you believe in miracles?”  A plaque on the wall memorialized all of the winners, including Eric Heiden who won 5 gold medals in speed skating which was held on an outdoor track, the football stadium for Lake Placid High School, which was flooded for the events.

When we were planning our trip to the area, we had numerous recommendations to get Rachel Finn from Hungry Trout Fly Shop as our guide.  We were so lucky to get Rachel and on a very cold, rainy day, I went fishing with her; Barb decided to stay in the SaraLinda and keep warm and dry.  Rachel took me to several different spots on the West Branch of the Ausable River and taught me to tight-line nymph (euronymph or czech-nymph).  We got into a few fish and had a blast fishing.  We did the guide talk interview in the guide shack of the fly shop.  Rachel is a great guide and her interview is one to be sure to watch.

When we headed south from Lake Placid to Roscoe, we saw spring emerging.  It was fun seeing all the trees budding out and flowers starting to bloom.  And yet, tonight as I’m writing this, we are in a freeze warning.

Roscoe, NY is known as “Trout Town USA”.  It is one of the  top 10 trout towns according to Forbes magazine.  We had some fun taking pictures of all of the “Trout Town USA” sites in town as well as sampling the locally sourced Trout Town brews of Roscoe Beer Company.  We also sampled some of the Catskill Brewery’s products on the recommendation of Zach Anderson.

Zach was our guide on the East Branch of the Delaware River.  I got to float fish with both Barb and Dr. James Kelley who came in for a long weekend.  Zach put us all on fish as you can see in the video.  Ken and Michelle Tutalo of the Baxter House River Outfitters put us together with Zach and also shared some prime spots for us to fish as well as what flies to use.  They were spot on.

Speaking of Dr. Kelley, we had a blast as he came in when Barb went home for her Mom’s birthday and Mother’s Day.  We fished the Beaverkill, Willowemoc, East and West Branches of the Delaware.  We even got to visit not one, but TWO, Hall of Fames.  First, we took a day and went up to Cooperstown, NY, to visit the hallowed halls of the Baseball Hall of Fame.  Next, we visited the Catskills Fly Fishing Museum and Hall of Fame in Livingston Manor.  More stories to tell but we were missing our third “Amigo”, Dr. Dan McCormack, who will hopefully join us this fall in Colorado.

Barb and I tried to get in to see a Midnight Ramble at The Barn, Levon Helm’s studio.  Unfortunately, nothing was happening when we were there… BUT…. we finally made it to the site of the Woodstock Music and Arts Festival, Bethel Woods.  We geeked out and went onto the original site of the festival, stood on stage and pretended to play to the crowd.  The spirits of Jimi, Janis and all the artists were present.  It was a very special trip for us.  The museum is not to be missed.

NY was definitely a “State of Fun” but it’s now time to head back to Pennsylvania and….

Ramble On!