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The annual Hendrickson Hatch Fly Fishing Tournament has been set for Saturday and Sunday, June 1-2 in Malone.
Tournament registration will run from 8 to 9:45 am at North Country Community College in Malone. Fishing will begin at 10 am on Saturday, and ends at 1 pm on Sunday.
Registration fee is $70 online or at the door for adults and $25 for children 16 and under. Proceeds from the tournament are going to the Malone Revitalization Foundation for continued enhancement of the Salmon River. Registration includes an invitation to Saturday evening’s reception at the American Legion and a pulled pork, hamburger and hotdog barbecue on Sunday afternoon. Family members are invited to the BBQ for $10; kids 12 and under eat free.
Plaques will be awarded to the top three winning anglers based on the total number of inches accumulated. A plaque will also be awarded to the angler with the largest trout landed and released.
Every participant will be entered in a drawing for the chance to win miscellaneous door prizes. Over 35 local businesses have donated prizes for tournament entrants. Organizers offer thanks to Brookfield Power for a cash donation used to stock fish in the Salmon River, North Country Community College for its fine venue and all sponsors, and Runnings home and garden department store for money toward prizes.
The Hendrickson Hatch Fly Fishing Tournament is a catch-and-release tournament.
For more information, click here.
Photo of Hendrickson Hatch Fly Fishing Tournament participants provided.
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Hi, Thanks for sharing this updated news. Malone is the best location for fly fishing and I will Definitely Join this tournament. Keep sharing fishing related news and updates. Also, I added this site in my favourite list.
The proceeds from the tournament are to go to the Malone Revitalization Foundation for “enhancements” to the river. When people think up these tournaments do they think about the consequences to the stream bed itself that they are trying to preserve or enhance?
Hendricksons are but one species of aquatic insect (mayfly) that develops in the stream bed. Just prior to “hatching” (shucking their nymphal skin and becoming a terrestrial adult) these and other insects are in the nymphal stage which are still totally aquatic and live in rocky, gravel, sandy, or muddy areas depending on species. The type of stream bed that each species requires is very specific. When anglers or anything disrupts them at this stage, they are dislodged and float downstream where they may end up in an environment they weren’t designed to live and breed in, or are eaten by fish and other organisms as they are defenseless. This doesn’t sound so bad, but in fact every insect nymph that is dislodged is much less likely to become a breeding adult that lays eggs for the next generation. This includes mayflies, caddis flies, hellgramites (dobsonflies), stonefly nymphs, etc., etc..
Unfortunately, anglers unwittingly dislodge many of these nymphs when they wade in a stream. The sheer numbers of nymphs emerging into adults (a “hatch) would seem that their numbers are limitless, but obviously, there is no such thing. Concentrating more anglers into an area intensifies the amount of wading and thus the amount of aquatic insect mortality or failure to breed successfully. So one must ask, is intense, inadvertent damage to the stream bed from such tournaments ultimately beneficial or detrimental to the health of the stream life?
Funny, because the mayflies hatch every spring just the same as always. Pretty sure these dislodged nymphs aren’t impacting their numbers all that much. I live right on that river. It is loaded with stoneflies and mayflies every single year.
Matt,
I am sure it seems that way, but mortality is mortality – it all adds up. Factor in warmer water, siltation, increasing numbers of people wading, pollution, etc., and insect numbers start to drop along with the overall health of the stream. No one thought it conceivable that passenger pigeons could ever go extinct until – they did.
Talk to people who have fished the W. Branch of the Ausable for the last 30-50 years and most will agree the hatches and even the individual insects are smaller. I certainly have noticed it over the last 30 years. All of the factors listed above contributed to this to some extent. The insect life and stream health are the major factors in the capacity to hold trout. As these cold water streams warm over time, the aquatic ecosystem will also change. Why put undue pressure on it?
Is an annual 2-day fishing tournament going to wipe out the stream? Of course not – but it doesn’t help. I would rather see the people raise money in another way while still rolling it into stream improvements. Attracting more anglers to a small river will eventually have its downside.
I live on the West Branch of the Ausable. Loaded with hatches and loaded with fisherman, and purposefully stocked with rainbow, browns and some brookies. Many rivers and lakes in the Adirondacks are stocked every year and I can only imagine how that act circumvents the helpless insect populations. (Sport fish stocking has been going on since the mid-late 1800’s). Few years back the government came in and sprayed feeder streams to kill off mosquitoes and/or black flies on my property – wonder what collateral damage those chemicals did. Not really sure how a 2 day fishing tournament is a good choice to argue against, considering the impacts of man over decades of trampling. Kinda like throwing a deck chair off the Titanic.
You are right, NYS’s history of protecting our waters is not great. But people need to realize it is easier and cheaper to protect a healthy stream than to try to make a sick stream healthy again. The West branch is one of the few streams in NYS that enjoys relatively cold water throughout the year without relying on a dam to release cold water. Smaller streams like the Salmon River are very vulnerable – and will likely be even more vulnerable in the future if warming continues. I certainly think the organizers have the best intentions to help maintain the fishery, but I don’t believe they should ignore consequences to the stream bed and aquatic life.
FWIW, ever hear of the San Juan Shuffle? If not, Google it. This was a pretty big issue when I lived out west. Some dam-fed streams can support this activity, but many dam-free waters don’t do well with it.
There is no evidence that organizers of the hendrickson hatch fly fishing tournament are ignoring anything nor are the 35+ local businesses that support the event.
They are either ignoring or unaware of the damage they are causing. Which do you feel is the case?