A Shore Thing - Opening Weekend of Trout Fishing Season

Many people celebrate April 1 with pranks, tricks and gags in celebration of Fools Day. The jokester's holiday is celebrated differently in the Catskills with winter-weary anglers descending on area streams and rivers in welcome of opening day of trout fishing season.

The western Catskills are the birthplace of American fly fishing as the likes of Theodore Gordon bestowed fame on the headwaters of the Beaver Kill in Ulster County.
Marketing geniuses capitalized on the oft-told fish tale of the BeaMoc, a two-headed trout who forever swims beneath the waters of Junction Pool, the convergence of the Willowemoc and the Beaver Kill in Roscoe, NY and rebranded the tiny town "Trout Town USA."

Those in the know forego the hype of the ceremonial first cast on opening day and head to favored secreted fishing holes.

However, opening day this year came complete with the ultimate April Fools Day prank by Mother Nature herself - a morning filled with freezing rain, followed by an afternoon of light snow and an evening of downed limbs and branches as a coating of ice proved too weighty for some tired trees.
An early morning decision to hike rather than fish proved to be an exercise in well ... exercise, as slushy, grainy snow became something akin to walking through beach sand, for six miles.

We stopped to admire the tenacity of budding maple leaves that appeared to be encased in a snow-globe and for some non-purist cairn building.

The naked forest welcomed us by showing us some love.

Venturing out the following day proved to be more angler friendly. However, access to area waters, like the East and West Branches of the Delaware River in Delaware County, was denied unless one was equipped with a boat or waders.

Not a single complaint was heard from shore-bound anglers up and down the river banks - with too big smiles and empty lines - who revealed with the fish simply were not biting.

*Between hikes, Lillian Browne writes about the environment, politics and business in Delaware County. She is a NYS licensed outdoor adventure guide exploring the world around her, one step at a time, with her dog - Charlie. Follow her on Instagram @catskills.unleashed on Twitter @browneinwalton or on Facebook/Catskills Unleashed. www.CatskillsUnleashed.com - #unleashyourpotential