Above: Three-year-old Brody Day savors the victory of having reeled in the first trout of the "first cast" ceremony at Roscoe's Junction Pool, held on April 14 this year because of the holidays. Photo by Jason Dole.
On Saturday, Roscoe reminded everyone that it’s never too late for your first cast, and you’re never too young for your first fish.
Trout season always starts on April 1, but The Roscoe-Rockland Chamber of Commerce had to move things around this year because of the holidays. So the ceremonial “first cast” at Roscoe’s famed Junction Pool was moved to the morning of April 14. The traditional Two-Headed Trout Dinner followed later that evening at the Rockland House.
“Today we’re celebrating fishing season,” said the Chamber’s Miriam Stone at the Junction Pool. “That’s why I call it ‘the second first cast’.”
Stone and others said it’s been a very good fishing season so far. The warm weather has been perfect for flies and the trout they attract, which then attract anglers. It’s also the first opening day since Roscoe claimed the title “Ultimate Fishing Town, USA,” in the World Fishing Network contest last year. Stone says this has brought some new faces to Roscoe’s streams, and she expects that trend to continue into the summer months.
Joe Perrone, Jr. had the honor of throwing the ceremonial second first cast. “It was an out-of-body- experience for me,” said Perrone, author of the Matt Davis murder mysteries, which are set in part in Roscoe. “This is such hallowed ground for fly fishermen. To be just a tiny part of this is overwhelming for me. It’s an honor.”
Perrone had the first cast, but he didn’t catch the first fish of the morning. Soon after the ceremony, Roscoe resident Phil Eggleton reeled one in. But the most spectacular catch of the morning went to Brody Day, 3, and his father, Darin Day.
“My daddy caught it,” exclaimed Brody, walking along the shore with trout in tow. He was greeted with applause from the small crowd upstream.
“Well, his father hooked it,” explained Brody’s proud grandmother, Lillian Constant, “but Brody reeled it in.”
Below: Perrone (in the foreground) makes the first cast. Photo by Jason Dole.
