Waterways and watercolors:

How many times has an angler come upon the perfect pool, with expectations of hoodwinking a big trout, only to have those hopes dashed?  Such a place like this exists on the upper West Branch of the Neversink.  It’s known as Heartbreak Hole, where more than one large, wily brown trout has kept the fisher’s fly, parting his tippet never to be encountered again.  Can you sense a trophy brown hanging under those tangled tree toots, a piscatorial heartbreak in the making.

Heartbreak Hole:

Have you ever been diagnosed with A.B.S., therapeutically referred to as “around the bend syndrome?”  No matter how far one travels, it seems it’s always the footbridge beyond that beckons the journey continue.  Below is a watercolor that has been enhanced with pastels.

Footbridge beyond:

There’s a river in western Maine, near the historic Rangeley Region, where large native brook trout reside.  The Magalloway downstream of US 16/Wilsons Mills Road, and the Aziscohos Dam, is a cold, thunderest, wild tailwater, home to big brookies and landlocked salmon.  The upper portion of this river is a technical class V flow with vertical drops up to eighteen feet, offering the most physically fit flyfisher a challenging wade.

Magalloway: