Adirondack Program Focuses on Fly Fishing

Series looks at natural history, culture of fly fishing
5/4/2011

The SUNY College of Environmental Science and Forestry's (ESF) Adirondack Interpretive Center here will host an educational series called The Nature of Fly Fishing beginning May 14 and continuing with monthly events through October.

The series will combine fishing-related natural history and cultural content with fly-fishing excursions at the Interpretive Center and on the Huntington Wildlife Forest, a 15,000-acre private research and educational property where the Interpretive Center is located.

The series is designed to increase participants' understanding and appreciation of Adirondack natural history, especially as it relates to fly fishing; fly-fishing knowledge and skills; understanding and appreciation of fly-fishing in Adirondack culture; and appreciation for the outdoors in general and the Adirondacks in particular.

The series will be held the second Saturday of each month through October. Sessions run from 9 a.m. to late afternoon. The schedule is:

May 14: Introduction to Fly Fishing with Adirondack fly-fishing guide Rick Kovacks

June 11: Everything You Ever Wanted to Know about Fish! with Dr. Neil Ringler, a fisheries biologist at ESF

July 9: Fishing for Insights about Weather with Central New York meteorologist Dave Eichorn

Aug. 13: Eye to Eye with Fish: The Naturalist's Perspective on Angling with Andy Saunders, who is retired from the ESF faculty

Sept. 10: Future Adirondack Fly Fishing? You Bet Your Bass! with Adirondack fly-fishing guide Joe Hackett

Oct. 8: Fishing the Venice of North America: Fly-fishing from the iconic Adirondack guide boat with Hackett

Advanced registration is mandatory and participation will be on a first-paid, first-reserved basis. There is a fee of $25 per person for each session; members of the Adirondack Park Institute may register for $15. A limited number of fly-fishing gear packages are available for participants to rent the day of a program. Gear rental is $15.

The fly-fishing series is being held under the auspices of ESF's Northern Forest Institute for Conservation Education and Leadership Training (NFI) and sponsored by the Adirondack Park Institute, a not-for-profit organization that supports the Interpretive Centers in Newcomb and Paul Smiths.

Those wishing to register or obtain additional information should contact Paul B. Hai (pbhai@esf.edu) at 518-582-4551, ext. 104.