On the water: fishing organization works to preserve sport, streams

TGF has a 50-year tradition of service

By Jack Dusenbury-Dalto | Manor Ink

Livingston Manor, NY – “One of the things they don’t tell you about fly fishing when you start is that it takes you to some of the most beautiful places on the planet,” reflected Bruce Pollock, the current president of the Theodore Gordon Flyfishers.

A 50-year-old organization, the TGF supports conservation, education, activism and catch-and-release practices to protect native fish found in the region’s rivers and streams. It is volunteer and membership based, with a 15-person board of directors. The TGF was named after Theodore Gordon who is known as the father of American dry fly fishing.

“The TGF has been and continues to be a small but mighty voice in the Catskill conservation community,” said board member Kelly Buchta. “We are dedicated to conservation and education, and welcome all who are interested to join us. We enjoy our time on and off the water, as well as being supporters of preserving the waters of the Catskills and beyond.”

“We raise money and we put it to good use. That’s really what we do,” Pollock said. “One of our members coined the phrase, ‘We are the venture capitalists of conservation.’ So we take your money, we bundle it, redirect it, and put it to use.”

Pollock explained that the TGF has three funds: Conservation, Education and Legal Defense.

The group often partners with other organizations, including Trout Unlimited and the Natural Resources Defense Council. “When Trout Unlimited has a project to plant vegetation for stream bank protection, we help them buy the plants, buy machinery or pay for engineering work that needs to be done.”

The TGF is a Catskill-based organization that typically holds its meetings in New York City at members’ clubs. Since COVID-19, however, they’ve become mostly virtual. They support projects around the northeast, including in Vermont, New Jersey, Pennsylvania and New York.

Pollock is working to digitize all of the information from the TGF’s history. He wants to make sure that its records can be searched online, including its accomplishments, finances and investments in education, conservation and legal defense.

As part of its education mission, the TGF sponsors attendance at Camp DeBruce in Livingston Manor for children from the local community. Interested families should visit the DEC website for remaining availability at dec.ny.gov/education/2013.html and then contact Bruce Pollock at 201-273-4246 to request sponsorship.

Because it is a volunteer organization, the TGF depends on the ongoing support of fly fishers and persons interested in the preservation of America’s wildlife and pristine natural resources.

“We’re always looking for new members,” Pollock said. He noted that a single annual membership is $45, or $55 for families. The group holds an annual gathering that features fishing in the Willowemoc and Beaverkill creeks as well outings in local shops and restaurants. This year’s event took place over the weekend of Apr. 29.

The Catskills is famous for its fly fishing, and numerous organizations support anglers and conservation-related causes. Other nonprofit organizations include the Catskill Fly Fishing Center and Museum, and the Catskill Mountainkeeper. Both Livingston Manor and Roscoe are home to several renowned fly shops, and multiple independent guide services also support the sport.

Replenishing rivers

The NYS Department of Environmental Conservation released close to 2,000 brown trout into the Beaverkill on Apr. 12, ranging in size from nine to fifteen inches. This was an important day for the 2022 stocking season that extends from April through the first week of June. For the first time since the COVID-19 pandemic, volunteers joined DEC staff to assist the effort.

It was a crisp, sunny morning and the DEC stocking truck, carrying brown trout in oxygenated water tanks, headed out for 12 stops along the Beaverkill. The volunteer brigade carried buckets full of trout from the truck over land to the shore of the river where the volunteer closest to the river’s edge released the fish. This relay system worked efficiently to carry from four to six buckets-full at each location, some with yearlings and some with two-year old trout.

In the last two years, most stocking took place by emptying nets from the stocking truck off bridges spanning the Beaverkill and other trout streams. Volunteers were not allowed to participate. This practice was in place to protect DEC staff and volunteers from possible COVID infection.

For several hours, eight volunteers followed the Catskill Hatchery truck to assist the DEC staff with stocking. Don Borelli, Mark Gancasz, Joe Rift, Terry Shultz and Manny Zanger have been assisting in the stocking for many years, including more than two decades for some. Darrell Hartman and David Forshay were helping out for the first time. As the de facto lead volunteer, Zanger led the caravan to spot the designated locations for DEC truck driver Luke Renne.

State Environmental Conservation officers Jarad Woodin and Dustin Osborn ensured the safety of everyone as they stopped on the side of the road at each release location. They also assisted as part of the bucket brigade as needed.

Together, the DEC’s 12 hatcheries annually produce close to 1,000,000 pounds of fish, resulting in the stocking of several million fish. Over the course of the season, Sullivan County waters will receive approximately 50,000 brown trout, of which close to 5,000 are 12 to 15 inches. A schedule of planned stocking in the 15 different rivers and creeks in Sullivan County can be found on the DEC website at dec.ny.gov/outdoor/23285.html.

Amy Hines