TGF Bulletin
The Monthly Voice of Theodore Gordon Flyfishers February 2005
SOMERSET FLYFISHING SHOW SPECIAL EDITION
TGF Board Member Bert Darrow publishes
Flyfishing with Bert Darrow
Bert Darrow has conducted fly fishing classes every year since 1978, teaching hundreds of students from ages 8 to 80, many of whom have gone on to become fly fishing instructors and licensed guides. He has also worked with the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation's "Becoming An Outdoors-Woman" workshop in their flyfishing program.
His introduction to flyfishing was on the fabled Esopus Creek in the Catskills, fishing for its wild rainbow and brown trout. His other prized Catskill streams are the Beaverkill, Willowemoc, Schoharie, and the East Branch of the Delaware. He has sampled the treasures of Vermont's Battenkill, Mad River, White River, and the New Haven. Maine's Rangeley region acquainted him with landlocked salmon, while its coast initiated him to the challenge of catching large stripers on the fly. He has also enjoyed fly fishing Rhode Island, Massachusetts, Connecticut, and Pennsylvania. The Yellowstone region has brought Bert back almost every year since the early 1980s. Montana's Yellowstone, Madison, and Gallatin Rivers are favorites of his along with the Henry's Fork in Idaho. He rarely misses a chance to angle Wyoming's Gibbon, Fire Hole, and Slough Creek. Since retiring as a manager with 29 years of service at NYNEX in 1995, he has expanded the number of classes he teaches. Bert's fly fishing instruction has been featured in publications such as Hudson Valley Magazine, New York Sportsman, Healthy Living, the Middletown (NY) Times Herald-Record, and Chronogram.
Bert is a Federation of Fly Fishers Certified Casting Instructor. He serves on the executive board of the Catskill Fly Fishing Center and Museum. Bert has been the president of the Catskill Mountains Chapter of Trout Unlimited which is the oldest in the State, formed in 1964, and also the Regional Vice President of the State Council of Trout Unlimited in Region 3. Bert has also been a guest on the ESPN2 show "In Search Of Fly Water", and has appeared on ABC's "Good Morning America", and "Good Day New York" on the FOX network.
Bert was also at the TGF evening event on January 25 at the Union League Club to sign copies of his book, and at the Somerset Flyfishing Show on all three days of the show, January 28-30. You can catch him there if this newsletter catches up with you in time!
Readers’ Inquiries
At the suggestion of one of our readers, we’re including a new section of the Bulletin that will provide a place for readers to ask questions and get or share information with other TGF members.
If there’s a place you want to fish, an outfitter you’d like to check out, a technique or technical issue to investigate, you can have it posted here and see what reactions we get. Of course, there will be a bit of delay, but we’ll publish any information we get in response (probably best if you copy me and the person who asked, by the way.)
Just send your inquiries to me, , and I’ll put them in the next issue. I got some good information from my inquiry about Mongolia last month, so I have another one:
Fly Fishing in northwestern Spain, the Basque Country?
I’m starting to plan this trip probably flying into Santander…anyone fished this area? David Miller, .
Flyfishing stories?
As editor of the TGF Bulletin and the Quill, I can use material for both. If you’ve fished an interesting place, let me know, write it up, and we’ll publish it in one or the other! David Miller
TGF At the Danbury Show
Jim A., Charlie F., Peter S., David K., and John H.
Peter S., John H., and Misako I.
Peter S. and John H. Jim A. and David B.
Photos courtesy of Misako Ishimura
Feb. 1 Luncheon Topic: “A Steelhead Odyssey”
For twenty years Jerry Kustich has worked for the Winston Rod Company. The past eleven have been spent building bamboo rods with Winston's eminent craftsman Glenn Brackett. As an avid conservationist serving on the state board of directors for Montana Trout Unlimited, Jerry is always active on resource issues around the Big Sky State. In addition to writing and illustrating a weekly nature column for a major Montana newspaper, he has published several articles as well as co-authored Fly Fishing For Great Lakes Steelhead: An Advanced Look At An Emerging Fishery, with his brother Rick. His recent release At the River's Edge chronicles many lessons learned on the life long journey of a devoted fly angler.
A Steelhead Odyssey is based upon the research for the Kustich brothers' book Fly Fishing For Great Lakes Steelhead. The slide presentation explores the thread that connects the enduring spirit of steelhead from the rivers of the West Coast and Kamchatka to the tributaries of the Great Lakes basin.
Dress code for the club is jacket and shirt with collar, no tie required.
Feb. 15 Luncheon Topic: “Delaware River Flows”
You’ve been kept up to date on these issues in Terry McCartney’s Conservation Committee Reports but now we’re going to have a speaker from Friends of the Upper Delaware at our February 15 luncheon, the well known Lee Hartman and possibly others involved in these issues to tell us more about the current situation and answer your questions.
This is a vital conservation topic that will be of great interest and long-term importance to all of us in the area, so put this luncheon on your schedule now!
Dress code for the club is jacket and shirt with collar, no tie required.
Annual Day Dinner
March 12, 2005
The Theodore Gordon Flyfishers Annual Day Dinner is a long tradition. While it was one of the early flyfishing days with manufacturers and demonstrations, the big shows have overtaken this part of the tradition.
But TGF’s Annual Day remains an important gathering of notables in flyfishing and conservation history, a chance to talk to folks who are out there helping our sport and witness awards for their work.
This year it will be at the Yale Club on March 12 per current plans, but more details will be coming later from the planning committee. Put this on your calendar now!
TGF Membership
In Memoriam
Walter Kaufmann
TGF is always pleased to accept new members. Joining is not expensive as a typical membership costs $40 per year, or about $3.25 per month. Members receive the newsletter and other information to keep them informed about upcoming TGF events such as luncheon speakers, evening presentation, group outings such as the Shinnecock saltwater flyfishing outing or those on the Housatonic and Connetquot
rivers, and critical information about conservation issues in the area. Member dues help support TGF’s conservation activity aimed at ensuring that everyone will be able to enjoy our favorite sport in the years to come.
To learn more about the benefits of membership see also the article in the October issue of Gordon’s Quill, and the forthcoming February, 2005 edition of Gordon’s Quill as well.
The special Somerset Flyfishing Show edition of this Bulletin includes the membership form.
If you or someone you know would like to become a member, please contact:
James C. Aker, Jr., TGF Membership Chair
499 Lyndale Street, Phillipsburg, NJ 8065-3943
On-line you can send your request by e-mail to
or download a membership form at
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Theodore Gordon Flyfishers • New York NY •