William A. Chandler

William A. Chandler a close friend of Theodore Gordon and Roy Steenrod, is best known among anglers today for his refinement of the Light Cahill.  It was his role as a conservationist and fisheries advocate where he made fundamental, enduring contributions to sport fishing.  Along with Steenrod, William founded the Federation of Sportsmen’s Clubs of Sullivan County and made it into a powerful lobbying force on behalf of public fishing, and improved stocking practices.  Through his efforts, the State of New York acquired the “Catskill Mountain Hatchery” on a tributary of Willowemoc Creek in DeBruce.  As a member of the State Assembly in 1937, he was instrumental in passage of a law that allowed for public fishing on all waters impounded by dams.  The angler who fishes public water or a reservoir or a tail water in New York has to be grateful to William Chandler and should reflect on the irony of his personal fate.  William and his wife, Martha, lost the “River of Our Dreams” and their hotel when their property was taken and inundated so that the Neversink Reservoir could serve a “thirsty horde in a far off city.”