Catskills lose another great........ Dennis Skarka

krayfish2

krayfish2

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The first time I walked into Catskill Flies in Roscoe NY, I remember it like it happened yesterday. I went up to fish the Beaverkill and noticed that a new shop had opened in town so I walked down the block to check it out. As I went up the steps and into the old storefront, I looked to my left where a guy was sitting at a fly tying bench. With a nod, I said "How are ya doing?". The guy looked over his reading glasses, paused and said "Good. How the f**k you doing?". While many would have turned and walked out, I thought it was great and proceeded to browse the store.

EVERY SINGLE TIME I was up fishing the WB or EB, I'd make the out of the way / 30 minute drive to Roscoe. I'd grab some flies and have a short chat with the guy. He wasn't for everyone but if you 'got him'..... you 'got him'.

The one day I rolled in just as he opened the store and came out to the stairs to hand roll one of his cigarettes. He noticed my dog Kramer hanging out the window as we pulled in. Dennis love bird hunting and bird dogs. "Bring that little guy in with you" he told me. Anyone that had met Kramer would know that his energy level was off the charts and he suffered from some severe sort of K-9 ADHD. LoL. Dennis started petting and playing with the dog which only added to the energy level. The dog got fired up and took off....while on a retractable leash. Kramer managed to wipeout a full display of Sage z-axis and TCX rods. The leash was wrapped around the display twice, the rod rack fell against the wall and I thought... there goes a couple of grand onto my credit card. I tackled the dog to eliminate further damage while Dennis carefully removed the severely bent rods from the rack. I apologized profusely. Dennis chuckled and said, "No problem. I told you to bring him in but you probably should leave that sum bitch in the car from now on".

Over the years, I'd seen him have words with several guys or kick people out of the shop with a "Go back to Manhattan you poser".

I can tell you that Dennis was quite possibly one of the best fly tiers I'd ever seen. The DS emerger that he came up with has taken fish almost everywhere I've fished and during just about every hatch imaginable. Not only could Dennis tie flies, he could flat out fish. I've seen him clean out riffs on the Beaverkill and Lower East on more than one occasion.

A great fly tier, a good guy and one of the true characters of the Catskill fly fishing community is gone....and will be greatly missed.

RIP Dennis.

 
Agreed , Dennis was a classic ...He will be missed .
 
He hated selling licenses because it was time consuming and held up everything else in the shop. I remember him telling people either go across the street or dont get one because you won't get checked. He was always good with one liners helpful as well.

One morning probably the first year I fished the system I was fishing muddler minnows at the cairns pool very early and did pretty well until the sun came up. I came into the shop and he asked where I was fishing, i told him and he said yea i thought i saw you sloppy fing casting. He could tell I was green and gave me some advice.

He was a great fly tier, probably the best I've seen and was always open with information and honest to a fault. Last time I was in there last summer I casted a rod I had no intention of buying in the field across the street. I told him ahead of time I wasn't going to buy it. He watched me cast told me nice stroke and took the rod back with no pressure to buy it. Him saying nice stroke made my head a little big, considering how honest he was when I couldnt cast at all.
 
Hated selling licenses is an understatement. LMAO. He always told me to go to the little store which was right beside him. How about when Ellen was in helping and the credit card machine wouldn't work. He'd get so pissed. "You got any cash on ya? If not, ATM is down the street"
 
One more thing...

There was a scathing review/article on catskill flies that I think was titled "the worst fly shop in the country" (or something similar) about 10 or so years ago. Dennis had the article printed out and taped to the front door of the shop!!
 
I forgot about that....and yes he did. Dude was one of a kind, that's for sure.
 
Was saddened to hear this today. I thought he was a great guy and I appreciated his frank attitude. Love his flies, and I think I’m gonna shadow box one. Maybe with a b&w photo of the sign/ store front.
RIP Dennis.
 
I will really miss Dennis! Once you got to know him, and earn his trust, you became privy to some expert advice on ties, flys, and locations. No one tied a finer “loop winged emerges”. He taught me an early principle that less is definitely more when tying. Honest, forthright, very opinionated, but sincere in all regards.

RIP Dennis
 
I will really miss Dennis! Once you got to know him, and earn his trust, you became privy to some expert advice on ties, flys, and locations. No one tied a finer “loop winged emerges”. He taught me an early principle that less is definitely more when tying. Honest, forthright, very opinionated, but sincere in all regards.

RIP Dennis
 
I thought I was tapped into the ffishing print stuff - never saw the 'worst shop' article. Where was it?

 
your to young to know roscoe, general store gone, it was called little store. dettes, darbees, the list goes on and on.

another goes. so will I and you.


here is the best thing you can do right now.



catskill fly tyers guild. check it out.

support, I think 10.00 year


don't let roscoe loose anything more
 
The little store is where I'd always get my license.
 
will try and find out a little more. friend is calling judy darbee for a few more details. I think judy's husband might have worked there.
 
DS Emerger tying video. If you don't have any....you should.

 
It's a little ironic that in Trout Town you can't buy a fishing license anymore.
 
I got to meet Dennis once, after stopping in his shop around 6-7 years ago.
Certainly one of those people that you never forget.

After making a purchase, we started chatting it up a bit.
When he found out I was yinzer, I was surprised when he started talking about a fracking issue going on at a stream south of the burgh. Some apparent pollution from a well going into ten mile creek. He knew more about than I did.

From there, it morphed into a political discussion.
And I ended up spending a good hour or more in his shop that day.

He was one of a kind for sure
 
Can't you still buy a license at the general store?
 
Too bad, that was a great store.
 
I think Catskill Flies will still be open this season , check the website
 
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