Hi everyone, hope all is going well for you this winter. I've been playing a bit of hockey and must say that aside of the many ailments that come with playing hockey (recent broken nose (Took a nice slap shot to the nose), dislocated arms, broken teeth, black and blues everywhere (yes, even there (I don't where a cup)) etc...) I'm actually in the best condition I've ever been in. I went from weighing 225lbs just a few years ago, and from playing hockey, I'm now between 170 - 180 and went from a very tight 38 pant to a perfect fitting 32. Something strange about hockey... Nothing feels better than getting hit with a puck. That sting followed by the pain shortly thereafter really gets me going and I love it. Getting knocked around and knocking others around is the best! Anyway...

I haven't put a fly in the water since some time in Sept. Strange huh... I used to fish all year round but now I feel as if I can do without it. When I first started this site a while back, I was in love with the sport of fly fishing. I fished as often as I possibly could. I remember working for a company in Manhattan back in 97'. The manager picked up and left, leaving the few of us with a very laxed manager. So laxed that we could roll into the office at 10:30, and be out by 2:30. I took advantage of those early hours and fished just about every day when I got home. Those were the days! I couldn't wait to get to a stream and cast a line, whether or not I was catching wild fish or stocked fish; it just didn't matter.

Then I put up a little shitty website (Click to see the original version of this site) and learned some website development. I didn't develop the software that runs this site but I've had to learn quite a bit in order to modify it and customize it. It was fun learning how to do all of this.

You meet some strange characters on the web. I'm not saying that in a bad way... We're all strange in some way or another. It's interesting to meet other people who are strange in different ways.

Everyone has a different opinion about how things should be done. A perfect example is that I complained about the most recent fly fishing show in Somerset, NJ. A few chimed in and added their thoughts on the show which were considerably different than mine. Hey, to each his/her own. Everyone will get something different out of the same experience. Some enjoy catching 2lb trout in the KLG while I prefer to catch any size trout as long as they're wild (at least as long as I think they might be wild, I'm satisfied). There is definetely a difference in catching a fish that's been in a river for a while then one that has not.

I no longer fish places like the KLG because it doesn't do anything for me. Recently a friend called and asked if I wanted to fish the Little Lehigh. Now I don't care what anyone says... There might be some wild fish in that stream but there is a hatchery spill way there, and if you stand near the spill way, there are thousands of fish that are willing to take anything you toss at them. That's fine for some people and that brings plenty of joy and excitement to some people. Personally, it puts me to sleep.

Although I stopped fly fishing the catskills a while back, I found my way back probably around 2001 or so... Then with some words from a few on this site, I was lured to the Delaware river. That changed everything for me in a great way. I fell in love with the river and never looked back. The size of the river, the numerous types of water to fish, and of course the scenary! I think that's what keeps me going back every weekend. If you put 3000 more fish in per mile (they'de probably all die off because of the lack of water management ) but put developments and factories along the river, I probably wouldn't return. The beauty combined with the fishing is simply magical though, and it keeps me coming back.

Now we're introducing power lines, casino's, and the worse part of all, poor water management with various organizations who from my point of view, cannot get along.

We read about some townspeople who hate the fishermen (I even remember seeing something on the news about this... Someone speaking in Livingston Manor blamed the flooding on the fishermen). I understand that person cannot speak for the entire Catskill area, but there are people out there that would love to see the rivers void of fish and fishermen. I even believe that some would break the windows of our cars to deter us from coming to the area. Now this hasn't happened to me or anyone I know, but some of the rumours I've heard from what I would like to call reliable sources have told me that people broke into the cars of fishermen. Whether the purpose was to steal the goods and pawn them off or deter the fishermen from coming, doesn't matter. Oh yes, I can drive to a local mall and have my car broken into, but it's not the same because I would expect something like this to happen in a local mall or similar place. I would never expect this in such a nice area up in the mountains. Either way, it does appear to happen, and I still park my car wherever I can in order to catch a trout.