Tuscarora: Angler's Circle Trip 2016

In a year’s time The Angler’s Circle has grown in numbers and activities to engage and educate those interested in the museum and its mission. The Anglers’ Circle (AC) is a group of individuals ranging in age from twenty-five to forty with the common desire to raise awareness for the American Museum of Fly Fishing and the traditions of the sport it houses. Established in 2012, this group has expanded the Museum’s reach both geographically and in size. The goal of the AC is to provide interested young people with social interaction, education and networking opportunities, and, possibly most importantly, the opportunity to fish in parts of the country that may not otherwise be available.

To honor this last charter, at the hospitality of the Corbin family, the AC descended upon the Tuscarora Club for 3 days of fishing, regalement, and sharing of stories. By invitation of Peter Corbin, Museum contributor and sporting artist, the AC were guests at the club for two full days of fishing the waters of the club for trout. AC members Parker Corbin, Jason Scott, and Albert Nichols were joined by guests Josh McBeain, Adam Trisk, and Adam Hirschberg.

Some attendees were lucky enough to sneak way from their respective work commitments and float portions of the Delaware river before meeting at the Club. On Friday evening, the group assembled one by one, sitting in the rocking chairs on the porch welcoming each new arrival. With an early morning ahead, we turned in.

The morning began with a hearty breakfast and a healthy amount of anticipation for which beats we would fish. After our meals, beats were drawn and each pair was assigned a length of water privately owned and maintained by the club on the Mill Brook. While its humble name may suggest a seemingly unimpressive trickle of water, it gloriously surprises the angler with two sizable 25ft waterfalls leading to deep pools, a covered bridge, abundant pocket water, riffles, and plunge pools. We head out to our beats and enjoyed the morning fishing the variety of water offered by the river and seeing great action both on the surface and below.

Lunch, usually an enjoyable respite from the sun and a break from the water, seemed to rather serve as an interruption to the great morning each of us shared with our beat pairs. After regrouping, we drew beats for the afternoon and were quickly on our way to explore the rest of of the Mill Brook.

With the stories of beautiful fish that the other anglers caught fresh in our heads, we set out to replicate the morning we had. The afternoon and evening would be headlined by converging at the covered bridge, which overlooks one of the best pools on the river, for dinner, drinks, and fishing of the evening hatch.

The afternoon eased by as trout came and went, beats were covered, and pairs traded fly ideas and encouraging the other to try their latest creation — leading to the ever so satisfying experience of catching a trout on a fly you tied earlier that year. As the sun sank low, we reeled up, hiked out, and gathering our supplies for the evening’s activities.

The covered bridge at The Tuscarora Club presents a spectacular platform to observe the art of angling. With an angler fishing the pool, a healthy stock of food and bourbon behind, and an encouraging group, a spectator has everything they need to lodge wit, criticism, and praise to the angler below. Everyone took a turn in the gauntlet, relishing the jolt of hooking a trout in the pool leading to praise from the “gods above”. As the last of the dying day lit the covered bridge, we commented on the beauty of the river. The evening wore on as the grill turned out great food and bourbon dusted off old fishing stories to be told. Stories and advice flowed without interruption well into the evening back at the Club until, with resounding agreement, we agreed our morning’s fishing would be best enjoyed with a sound night’s sleep.

The sun awaked our group, calling us to breakfast and to draw our beats for what would be our final day on the river. The morning’s beats matched our high expectations set by the day on the water the day before. After reconvening at the club and saying our farewells, we went our way; each reflecting and wondering how we could do this more often and share the experience with others.

A special thanks to Peter and Parker Corbin and members of the Anglers’ Circle in attendance for curating a weekend to be remembered. We are already looking forward to to our next trip in Manchester, VT right near the Museum itself.