I was looking through my computer stuff and came up with this site http://globalflyfisher.com/ it is without a doubt one of the most informative sites for FlyFisherman on the Internet and all the info is free. Go take a look I think you will be pleasantly surprised.
The Global FlyFisher - The Internet's Cutting Edge Fly Fishing Site
Site Developed by GFF Partners: Martin Joergensen, Steve Schweitzer, Bob Petti, Bob Skehan & Kasper Mühlbach
Sitting here and thinking about the funny weather we have had in our our area this year. I was reading where in the Southern Tier of NY they as we had rain in he Spring really heavy now they say the tribs are low.
I was reading a Flyfishing mag this afternoon and there was an article about the Battenkill River on the NY side, it gave a site to go to to get map of the River, here it is:
pfrbattenkil.pdf
I hope you enjoy this pdf, by the way the area around the Vermont side of the Battenkill is beautiful, and it has The American Museum of Flyfishing in Manchester, VT, just up the road and The Orvis Company too.
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Posted: 11 Nov 2011 08:45 AM PST
I was was nine years old when my brother Scott gave me some advice I've applied to all sorts of things since then. On that Saturday, we were playing catch after watching our beloved Red Sox on NBC’s Game of the Week when I made an imaginary relay throw pretending to be the Red Sox' shortstop, Rick Burleson. Scott, who was already a high school star, caught my near-perfect throw and proceeded to chew my butt for throwing side-armed. "But Burleson throws side armed," I objected. At this, Scott walked right up to me, pointed the finger of his ungloved hand at my nose and said, "He's not a pro because he can do it; he can do it because he's a pro." After giving me a few seconds to process this profundity, he spoke again—in a slightly less intense tone—and explained how throwing overhanded reduces the number of variables in calculating a release point: Overhand throws can miss high or low, but done properly the ball doesn't end up right or left. The importance of mastering the basics, as taught by my brother that day, has application in a lot of arenas, not the least of which is fly fishing. I’ve listed below six things that my fellow professionals in our fair sport, namely guides and instructors, do regularly that others might best avoid. 1. They twist their wrists while making a backcast. This is sometimes called “poor tracking." The effect is such that someone standing in front of the caster sees the side of the reel rather than the line housed in it. It’s something akin to throwing a baseball sidearmed. The problem here is that this little outward twist, magnified over 9 feet or so, does funky things to your rod tip, making it travel in several directions. And, as the truism says, wherever your rod tip goes, the line will follow. 2. They fish without a net. The fact is that a lot of guides fish on their own without a landing net, especially when walk/wading. There is actually a case to be made that landing a fish without a net can be less dangerous to the fish, but only in the case of very experienced hands. But this argument isn’t why guides do it. Usually it’s because they can, and it’s less trouble than carrying a net. For most folks, using a net greatly reduces the potential of injuring fish. It also increases the odds of getting a nice photo. 3. They grab their leaders while landing fish. Want to see a guide panic? Reach for your leader as he or she prepares to net your fish. Grabbing a leader removes virtually all of your tackle's shock-absorbing capacity, making a broken tippet very likely. Interestingly though, the pros will very often grab their own leaders, particularly if they aren't using a net (see #2). It can be done, but you have to properly manage a whole bunch of variables. For most people, it makes much more sense to just bring a fish to net by touching only your rod handle and the reel. 4. They carry their lines off the reel in loops while moving along a river. The frustration of trying to get your line free from brush, rocks, boots, and legs is one of the universal experiences of fly fishing. It is not, however, one of the more pleasurable ones. Given that rivers are furnished with all manner of line-grabbing objects (not to mention feet and legs that come with the angler), it’s usually a better use of time to reel in before moving very far. 5. They cast heavy nymph rigs overhead, even when using a series of split shot, weighted flies, and strike indicators. Timing the backcast is tough for lots of fly fishers. An early forward stroke creates snarls for which guides have a name, “do overs.” Nymph rigs, with their arsenal of two or three flies, multiple split shot, and a strike indicator, complicate things all the more. To avoid spending your day on a monofilament Rubik’s Cube, stick with simple flip casts made by letting the current pull the line downstream and then lifting the line in a high arc upstream in one simple motion. 6. They wade and fish at the same time. Wading is inherently dangerous, and doing it well is more of an acquired skill than it appears. Trying to manage line while wading is an unnecessary risk. Do one, then the other. Live to fish another day. There are easily more than six things the pros do that don’t bear imitation. In most cases, the pros will be the first to tell you what those are; in the end, that’s what their profession is all about. In this case, it’s almost always better to do as I say, not as I do.
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Drilling is likely to begin in the Delaware River Watershed - the source of drinking water for 15.6 million people - in a matter of weeks or months
What’s Happening:
On Monday, November 7, 2011, the Delaware River Basin Commission (DRBC), made up of representatives from New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Delaware and a representative for President Obama, issued revised Natural Gas Development Guidelines for the Delaware River Watershed that establish the basis on which fracking will take place in the Delaware River Watershed, the sole or major source of fresh drinking water for over 15 million people. On November 21, 2011, the DRBC will vote on whether to adopt them.
This vote will come just 14 days after the guidelines were issued, and the public will not be given a chance to comment on them. While an ongoing comprehensive analysis of the revised rules is being done by technical experts and legal staff, we've already seen glaring problems in the revised rules, some of them substantial changes from the original draft. These span the gamut from the weakening of water quality protections to the lack of any cumulative impact controls to public health. For example, DRBC regulations continue to allow very large open pits to hold toxic flowback and gas drilling wastewater over long periods of time that would create risks of surface and groundwater contamination and be a constant source of air pollution.
What Does It Mean?
This means that the commission could start issuing permits for fracking in the Delaware River Watershed in just weeks or months, and that the public will have no say about as many as 20,000 wells that are planned for the area. In the year since the commission first took testimony and comment, dramatic amounts of new scientific data have become available showing that fracking in this national treasure creates significant risk of damage to the area’s water and air, as well as substantial threat to the health of humans and animals living in the affected area.
What Can You Do?
This is a travesty that cannot go unchallenged!
Catskill Mountainkeeper along with many other organizations are organizing an extremely important demonstration in Trenton, NJ on Monday November 21st at the Patriots Theater at the War Memorial, 1 Memorial Drive, Trenton, NJ beginning at 8:00 AM. Our State and Federal lawmakers and leaders, the media and our fellow citizens must hear our protest and outrage.
If you live anywhere in the Marcellus Shale or in the affected area, your ecosystem, your health, the water you drink and the air you breathe is at high risk of being negatively affected. Put this date on your calendar. Be there.
Come to the Hearings on November 21!!!!
Please join us on our bus going from Liberty, NY. To find a bus in your area click here.
Public pressure makes a big difference. Call the Governors of the member states and President Obama today. Tell them “I am extremely opposed to drilling in the Delaware Watershed especially without proper due process and environmental impact studies”.
NY - Governor Cuomo (518) 474-8390
NJ - Governor Christie (609) 292-6000
PA - Governor Corbett (717) 787-2500
DE - Governor Markell (302) 577-3210
President Obama (202) 456-1111
How You Can Help:
We are up against the richest and most influential industry in the world. Catskill Mountainkeeper and our allies have surprised many critics by being so effective to date. But it continues to be a long, hard fight and we need your financial assistance to continue. Please give as generously as you can.
Posted: 04 Nov 2011 05:26 PM PDT
[Demonstrators in front of the White House protesting a proposed pipeline that would bring tar sands oil through the U.S. from Canada. Photo: Chip Somodevilla, Getty Images]
From mid-August to early September this year, concerned citizens gathered at the White House to protest the Keystone XL Tar Sands Pipeline. Over 1200 people were arrested during this peaceful protest, and their act of civil disobedience, along with similar events and petitions nationwide, sent President Obama a simple message: Stop the Keystone XL Pipeline.
The Keystone XL Tar Sands Pipeline would originate in Alberta, Canada and pass through the West and Midwest of the United States ending up in Houston where most of the oil will be shipped overseas. Six companies have contracted for three-quarters of the oil. Five are foreign.The New York Times in an editorial opposes the pipeline.
Nebraska Cornhusker football fans booed when a Keystone ad showed up on the Jumbotron at a recent game. The next day the university ended their sponsorship deal with Trans-Canada Pipeline.
Tribal leaders from both sides of the border and private land owners from South Dakota and Nebraska signed a ‘Mother Earth Accord’ opposing Keystone XL. The Dalai Lama and Archbishop Tutu along with seven other Nobel Peace Prize winners oppose the pipeline.
Ranchers and farmers are fighting the pipeline. Ben Gotschall grew up in Nebraska's Sand Hills. His family has been ranching there for four generations. He opposes the pipeline even though the Tar Sands XL is being sold as oil from a “friendly” neighbor.
"Where I'm sitting, having an oil pipeline in my backyard, in my drinking water, that's not a very friendly neighbor," Gotschall told NPR. "That's not what neighbors do, at least where I was raised."
Corruption and accusations of a too-cozy relationship with the State Department plague the pipeline.
On Sunday November 6th, the movement returns to Washington. Exactly one year before the next presidential election, thousands of protesters will encircle the White House, to remind the president, our government and the nation that the Keystone XL Pipeline has no place in a national vision of clean energy.
We know it’s hard to get to Washington, but if you can, this is the moment.
1) If you live in the USA, go to TarSandsAction.org for ideas on getting involved. The action begins at 2 pm in Lafayette Park.
2) Call the White House
3) Sign the petition at 350.org demanding President Obama to reject the pipeline.
3) You can stand in solidarity with everyone taking action in DC by sending a message and photo to the protesters in DC.
4) If you're on social networks, please share the petition to President Obama with just a couple of clicks on Facebook and Twitter.
5) Be a “ human microphone” for Tim DeChristopher, a protester who is serving time in prison for his peaceful protest against oil and gas leasing on federal lands. Tim can’t be at the protest on November 6 but you can be his microphone.
Background information on the Keystone XL Tar Sands Pipeline
§ New York Times: "Tar Sands and the Carbon Numbers"
§ NPR: "An Oil Pipeline From Canada? Some Say 'No Way'"
§ Grist: "Keystone XL pipeline would screw over farmers, threaten aquifer"
§ Huffington Post: "Keystone XL Oil Pipeline Arrests Mount As Climate Activists Push Obama"
§ Peaceful Uprising: "New video about the Tar Sand Action by Josh Fox (creator of Gasland)"
Please share this action alert and any of these links with your social networks. Thank you for raising your voice.
In our last issue, we missed reminding you of several recreational sporting seasons that started on November 1. These November 1 openers are listed below:
Saltwater Fishing
Black sea bass fishing re-opened and will continue through December 31. The minimum length limit is 13 inches per fish and the daily catch limit is 10 fish.
Hunting
The following hunting seasons opened for Long Island.
(Click on the links to view the season map)
- Bobwhite Quail(http://www.dec.ny.gov/outdoor/29447.html)
- Cottontail Rabbit(http://www.dec.ny.gov/outdoor/29449.html)
- Pheasant(http://www.dec.ny.gov/outdoor/29453.html)
- Squirrel(http://www.dec.ny.gov/outdoor/29460.html)
- Weasel, opossum, raccoon, skunk, and fox(http://www.dec.ny.gov/outdoor/29455.html)
Trapping
(Click on the links to view the season map)
- Beaver(http://www.dec.ny.gov/outdoor/29044.html) and River Otter(http://www.dec.ny.gov/outdoor/30513.html) trapping opened for northern areas of New York.
- Weasel, opossum, raccoon, skunk, and fox (http://www.dec.ny.gov/outdoor/30507.html)trapping opened for Long Island.
The recreational season reminders listed below include season dates that extend over the next two weeks. For all season dates and to view more information about hunting and fishing in New York, visit DEC's Outdoor Activities(http://www.dec.ny.gov/62.html) webpage.
For Waterfowl (Duck, Coot, Merganser, Canada Goose, and Brant):
(view the big game hunting map(http://www.dec.ny.gov/outdoor/28605.html) to identify hunting zones)
(view the turkey hunting map(http://www.dec.ny.gov/outdoor/29461.html) to identify hunting zones)
For Snipe, Gallinule, and Rail:
For Woodcock:
Report Your Harvest
Don't forget to report your harvest of turkey, deer, or bear within seven days 
(view the following maps to identify waterfowl hunting zones (http://www.dec.ny.gov/outdoor/28497.html) and Canada goose hunting areas(http://www.dec.ny.gov/outdoor/28496.html) that are described below)
For Duck, Coot, Merganser:
For Canada Goose:
For Brant:
I'm writing to you today because as concerned residents of the Catskills, we cannot stand by and watch as our water, our air and our health are threatened. We cannot afford to take a backseat and watch as our vibrant lands and communities are turned into an industrialized fracking site. The price that each of us will pay is too great. We have only to look as far as our neighbors in Pennsylvania to see what a fracked future will look like for us.
Like many of you, I have been to Albany. I have stood outside the Capitol with hundreds of you who have been tirelessly fighting to protect our great state of New York from the dangers of fracking. I have met with our elected officials and articulated my opposition to the destruction and pollution it would bring to our state. And I have heard the stories of devastation from around the country – some from neighboring communities just over the border in Pennsylvania.
Parents who have watched their children sickened by contaminated air
Farmers dealing with the loss of livestock from polluted waters
Homeowners reeling from ravaged property values as a result of their proximities to drilling operations
Whole communities losing their drinking water due to "accidents"
We cannot stand idly by and allow these stories to become our legacy. I cannot and will not stand back and watch as these irreversibly damaging practices come into my community – destroying the lands that I love and endangering the health and livelihoods of my family, friends and neighbors.
I’m writing to urge you to take action TODAY.
In this fight, every voice matters. Stand up, speak out to say we won’t let fracking go forward in New York State.
Join the movement and ACT NOW!
What you can do:
There are a number of very important public hearings coming in November. It’s critical that we get a huge turnout at each one because these are the hearings that will determine whether we STOP FRACKING in New York State and the Delaware River Basin. PLEASE COME TO AT LEAST ONE OF THESE HEARINGS - WE NEED YOU NOW.
November 16 – Public Hearing on the dSGEIS - Dansville, NY
November 17 – Public Hearing on the dSGEIS - Binghamton, NY
November 21 – DRBC Hearing - Trenton, NJ
November 29 - Public Hearing on the dSGEIS – Loch Sheldrake, NY
November 30 – Public Hearing on the dSGEIS – New York City
Click here for the dates and times of the dSGEIS hearings. If you cannot attend a hearing you can submit your comments to the DEC online here. Use the Catskill Mountainkeeper website as a resource. For more information on the DRBC hearing click here.
Call Catskill Mountainkeeper at (845)482-5400 if you need more information regarding the hearings and the public comment process.
Forward this message to your friends, family and neighbors and ask them to forward it on. Get educated, especially about the health issues and threats.
Please make your voice heard and please support Catskill Mountainkeeper.
Thank you.
-Michelle
