tangled lines

Autumn angling through lunar mud

Autumn angling through lunar mud

The lunar mud was thick on the banks of the Esopus in Boiceville, New York, near where the stream enters the Ashokan Reservoir.

Patrick L. Sullivan

I spent a couple days two weeks ago in Ulster County, New York, prowling the Esopus, around and below the Rail Trail pedestrian bridge in Boiceville.

The water temps were acceptable but on the sunny days approached the danger zone by mid-afternoon.

Water clarity was decent. Where it was murky, it was green murky, which is good, as opposed to brown murky, which means mud.

The flows were decent but definitely on the low side. We need rain badly, in the Hudson Valley and in the Northwest Corner.

And the area where I was had a decidedly lunar feel to the landscape, if the Moon has mud.

What worked: Junk flies.

What didn’t: Woolies, Tequilleys, unweighted streamers, Leadwing Coachmen, soft hackle wets in darker colors, orange-y caddis dries.

There were stonefly and isonychia casings on the rocks, but not a lot of them.

I was hoping for fat brown trout moving up into the river from the Ashokan Reservoir to spawn. Failing that, I was hoping for greedy rainbows looking to eat the brown trout eggs. It’s a little early for that sort of thing, but hey, I don’t make the rules.

No trout were disturbed, by me anyway.

Moment of triumph: Way down by where the stream enters the reservoir proper, and the lunar mud figures into the equation, I latched into three excellent smallies and one junior partner in a boom-boom space of about 45 minutes. What made this especially pleasant was that I had ventured forth with an 11 foot 4 weight single hand rod intending to either tight line nymphs or play with unweighted streamers such as Mickey Finns and Grey Ghosts.

Stonefly and isonychia casings on the rocks.Patrick L. Sullivan

At the last moment I stuck a small box containing mops and squirmy worms in the pack. This was a very good move and almost made up for the Dr. Boing-Boing moment when I realized I forgot the lanyard with the trout-sized tippet, forceps and clippers.

Reluctant to perform the Walk of Shame the half mile or so back to the car, I improvised. I had heavy tippet material, 0X through 2X, on a separate holder attached to my pack, and I found that with a little juju the cigar cutter worked as a clipper. What I could not approximate was the forceps, for squashing barbs, so I was limited to flies I had used before.

That turned out to be a two-fly rig, with the squirmy worm on a dropper up top and a green mop tied on a jig hook and with a bead head on point. Three of the smallies, including the fair-to-middling one, opted for the worm, and one bold soul took a flyer on the mop.

The commotion was such that an angler using spinning gear upstream wandered down to see what was up when I took a break. He then directed me to his companion, who was working a riffle further up with a fly rod.

Not wanting to hog the hot spot, and keenly aware that my wonky shoulder was sending out mild but unmistakable distress signals, I ceded my spot to angler number one and made my way upstream to angler number two.

He turned out to be from Millerton, N.Y. and had read Tangled Lines in the Millerton News.

He didn’t specifically say he was a fan but I assumed he was.. If he wasn’t then he was after I gave him a squirmy and a mop to try.

Note: As I peck this out on Sunday, Oct. 6, the 10-day forecast doesn’t look good for rain. If you take a shot at the very low Housatonic or Farmington rivers, your best bet is dawn to noon, long rods and longer leaders, clothing that blends into the background, and a high tolerance for frustration and agony of spirit.

tangled lines

Latest News

Juneteenth and Mumbet’s legacy

Juneteenth and Mumbet’s legacy

Sheffield resident, singer Wanda Houston will play Mumbet in "1781" on June 19 at 7 p.m. at The Center on Main, Falls Village.

Jeffery Serratt

In August of 1781, after spending thirty years as an enslaved woman in the household of Colonel John Ashley in Sheffield, Massachusetts, Elizabeth Freeman, also known as Mumbet, was the first enslaved person to sue for her freedom in court. At the time of her trial there were 5,000 enslaved people in the state. MumBet’s legal victory set a precedent for the abolition of slavery in Massachusetts in 1790, the first in the nation. She took the name Elizabeth Freeman.

Local playwrights Lonnie Carter and Linda Rossi will tell her story in a staged reading of “1781” to celebrate Juneteenth, ay 7 p.m. at The Center on Main in Falls Village, Connecticut.Singer Wanda Houston will play MumBet, joined by actors Chantell McCulloch, Tarik Shah, Kim Canning, Sherie Berk, Howard Platt, Gloria Parker and Ruby Cameron Miller. Musical composer Donald Sosin added, “MumBet is an American hero whose story deserves to be known much more widely.”

Keep ReadingShow less
history

A sweet collaboration with students in Torrington

A sweet collaboration with students in Torrington

The new mural painted by students at Saint John Paul The Great Academy in Torrington, Connecticut.

Photo by Kristy Barto, owner of The Nutmeg Fudge Company

Thanks to a unique collaboration between The Nutmeg Fudge Company, local artist Gerald Incandela, and Saint John Paul The Great Academy in Torrington, Connecticut a mural — designed and painted entirely by students — now graces the interior of the fudge company.

The Nutmeg Fudge Company owner Kristy Barto was looking to brighten her party space with a mural that celebrated both old and new Torrington. She worked with school board member Susan Cook and Incandela to reach out to the Academy’s art teacher, Rachael Martinelli.

Keep ReadingShow less
community

In the company of artists

In the company of artists

Curator Henry Klimowicz, left, with artists Brigitta Varadi and Amy Podmore at The Re Institute

Aida Laleian

For anyone who wants a deeper glimpse into how art comes about, an on-site artist talk is a rich experience worth the trip.On Saturday, June 14, Henry Klimowicz’s cavernous Re Institute — a vast, converted 1960’s barn north of Millerton — hosted Amy Podmore and Brigitta Varadi, who elucidated their process to a small but engaged crowd amid the installation of sculptures and two remarkable videos.

Though they were all there at different times, a common thread among Klimowicz, Podmore and Varadi is their experience of New Hampshire’s famed MacDowell Colony. The silence, the safety of being able to walk in the woods at night, and the camaraderie of other working artists are precious goads to hardworking creativity. For his part, for fifteen years, Klimowicz has promoted community among thousands of participating artists, in the hope that the pairs or groups he shows together will always be linked. “To be an artist,” he stressed, “is to be among other artists.”

Keep ReadingShow less
exhibit

Matter and memory: The mixed media art of Sophie Eisner

Matter and memory: The mixed media art of Sophie Eisner

Sophie Eisner in her studio in Kingston, New York.

Hannah Vaughan

Sophie Eisner is a mixed media artist working in steel, fabric, concrete, silicone and other materials. Her solo show “Holding Patterns” at the Norfolk Library will be on view through July 1.

Thematically, “Holding Patterns” explores the energy of potential and how the human body holds emotional experience. Her work often depicts empty vessels and uses negative space to explore tension between objects.

Keep ReadingShow less
exhibit