I recently got back from a visit to Westchester County in southern NY where I grew up. Socializing was #1 on the agenda, but I had to pack along some fishing gear- just in case. As one does. I went with the KISS approach and brought a 3.6m Nissin Tenkara rod, spool of 6x, and a tiny fly box.
A huge chunk of Westchester and Putnam counties to the north falls within the Croton River watershed which holds a dozen reservoirs and supplies about a tenth of NYC's fresh water. Croton Watershed In addition to all the lakes and beautiful native stone dams, the water authority keeps large tracts of land as buffer zones; mixed hardwood forest laced with revolutionary-era stone walls, protected from development. Access is limited to fishing by permit, though back in the lawless 80's we'd skinny dip in one reservoir or another all the time and never got caught. Now it's a $30k fine and they're serious about enforcement.
I stayed with my old buddy Paul on the Croton Falls Reservoir, and we went out in his boat one morning.
He's totally unserious about fishing, but did have a few dusty decrepit spinning rods in the garage so we tried..... Not surprisingly, we caught nothing, but in this case, that was hardly the point.
Later that week I had an afternoon to dedicate to pursuit of the wily trout and chose the East Branch Croton River which is managed as a quality fishery in that one is limited to only two fish under 12". Apparently catch and refrigerate is still the dominant mode out that way. I worked my way down from the access point, carefully avoiding the copious streamside poison ivy, nymphing productive looking spots and coming up empty. Approaching the big bend pool I was able to sneak surprisingly close to Mr. GBH before he relocated to a snag across the way where he sat, keeping a close eye on me.
I then got to watch a Kingfisher arrive with a freshly caught crawdad and spend five minutes hucking it about into the correct beak orientation for the swallowing maneuver. I was about to move on but then noticed fish! Out in the froggy water, sides flashing as they'd lazily take a nymph. Gotta give this a go.
'Couldn't tell what they were on, but when in doubt a GRHE is my go-to starting fly. They weren't showing much enthusiasm, but eventually- bingo; a nice brown of about 13". As I'm playing the fish, my new best friend the Heron swooped in hoping to beat me to the capture. Fortunately, the fish survived but now the bird settled in 10' from my side; keeping a determined eye on my efforts.
I lost another trout which seemed a bit bigger and landed a Bluegill which was lucky to slip away before I could offer it up to big bird. Meanwhile, my fish radar had picked up on something good sized rise in the run above an overhanging limb at the head of the pool, and an occasional large pale dun in flight. Hmmm, Gray Parachute Wulff in my box is at least a good match for size. Give that a shot and then head home for dinner; there's a plan. Third drift along a sunken log and TORPEDO! Now it gets nuts; this is a nice fish which is really pushing the limits of my Tenkara rig, I'm trying to steer it around, keep it from ducking back into the logjam or wrap on the tree limb and there's a kamakazie heron sqwaking and diving after it. Somehow I actually landed the thing and headed home happy- carefully avoiding the poison ivy.
The next day we headed north to another friend's place in Petersburg NY, near the NY/VT/MA border. They run a big CSA and have a 110+ acre organic farm with the whole shebang; cows, chickens, marauding deer, a full maple syrup operation, a half dozen buildings in various states of incompletion and Praise Be! Two strong young sons to take up the reins and make stuff happen.
....And a bass pond.
... And a bass boat!
And Bass!
Rumor has it that there are some Billy-Sized fish in here; 4-5 pounders. I didn't see any or actually spend much time trying. Not like I'd have managed to land Big Mama anyhoo, and breakfast was a callin'.
Great trip, great friends, good times!
A huge chunk of Westchester and Putnam counties to the north falls within the Croton River watershed which holds a dozen reservoirs and supplies about a tenth of NYC's fresh water. Croton Watershed In addition to all the lakes and beautiful native stone dams, the water authority keeps large tracts of land as buffer zones; mixed hardwood forest laced with revolutionary-era stone walls, protected from development. Access is limited to fishing by permit, though back in the lawless 80's we'd skinny dip in one reservoir or another all the time and never got caught. Now it's a $30k fine and they're serious about enforcement.
I stayed with my old buddy Paul on the Croton Falls Reservoir, and we went out in his boat one morning.
He's totally unserious about fishing, but did have a few dusty decrepit spinning rods in the garage so we tried..... Not surprisingly, we caught nothing, but in this case, that was hardly the point.
Later that week I had an afternoon to dedicate to pursuit of the wily trout and chose the East Branch Croton River which is managed as a quality fishery in that one is limited to only two fish under 12". Apparently catch and refrigerate is still the dominant mode out that way. I worked my way down from the access point, carefully avoiding the copious streamside poison ivy, nymphing productive looking spots and coming up empty. Approaching the big bend pool I was able to sneak surprisingly close to Mr. GBH before he relocated to a snag across the way where he sat, keeping a close eye on me.
I then got to watch a Kingfisher arrive with a freshly caught crawdad and spend five minutes hucking it about into the correct beak orientation for the swallowing maneuver. I was about to move on but then noticed fish! Out in the froggy water, sides flashing as they'd lazily take a nymph. Gotta give this a go.
'Couldn't tell what they were on, but when in doubt a GRHE is my go-to starting fly. They weren't showing much enthusiasm, but eventually- bingo; a nice brown of about 13". As I'm playing the fish, my new best friend the Heron swooped in hoping to beat me to the capture. Fortunately, the fish survived but now the bird settled in 10' from my side; keeping a determined eye on my efforts.
I lost another trout which seemed a bit bigger and landed a Bluegill which was lucky to slip away before I could offer it up to big bird. Meanwhile, my fish radar had picked up on something good sized rise in the run above an overhanging limb at the head of the pool, and an occasional large pale dun in flight. Hmmm, Gray Parachute Wulff in my box is at least a good match for size. Give that a shot and then head home for dinner; there's a plan. Third drift along a sunken log and TORPEDO! Now it gets nuts; this is a nice fish which is really pushing the limits of my Tenkara rig, I'm trying to steer it around, keep it from ducking back into the logjam or wrap on the tree limb and there's a kamakazie heron sqwaking and diving after it. Somehow I actually landed the thing and headed home happy- carefully avoiding the poison ivy.
The next day we headed north to another friend's place in Petersburg NY, near the NY/VT/MA border. They run a big CSA and have a 110+ acre organic farm with the whole shebang; cows, chickens, marauding deer, a full maple syrup operation, a half dozen buildings in various states of incompletion and Praise Be! Two strong young sons to take up the reins and make stuff happen.
....And a bass pond.
... And a bass boat!
And Bass!
Rumor has it that there are some Billy-Sized fish in here; 4-5 pounders. I didn't see any or actually spend much time trying. Not like I'd have managed to land Big Mama anyhoo, and breakfast was a callin'.
Great trip, great friends, good times!
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