Butternut Creek Report

Bolstered by our previous outing and overly confident of our fishing prowess, JBP and I opted to try some uncharted territory near Morris, NY.

The Butternut Creek was low but stained from recent rains but looked like a nice pocket water opportunity to improve my skills. I admit, I had a rough time of it and started out snagging every tree and shrub within 20 feet.

Finally getting my rhythm, and a 2" chub, I went classic Catskill style and tied on a #14 BiVisible. It seemed appropriate for the setting and as luck would have it, saved my evening by netting a beautiful little Brookie. One of my goals for this season was to catch a native brookie and here was my second. They are beautiful fish and it's a thrill to catch a wild native fish in a small, mountain stream.

Charlotte Creek Report

I was in the neighborhood so I decided to check out a few spots on the Charlotte Creek between Davenport and Stamford. It was a cool and rainy afternoon but the creek wasn't in bad shape. Cool weather and frequent rain have kept the water temps down making the trout season last late this summer. 

As far as I've seen, the Charlotte isn't known for its insect hatches and most fly fishers I know stick to subsurface stuff there. I hear a sparse black wooly bugger or a copper john dead drifted are killer. No idea if that's true since I didn't listen. This evening I went with a comparadun ISO pattern that has been serving me well of late and did a bit of prospecting. I caught the beautiful brook trout pictured above in some fast water holding behind a rock with the iso as well as a small chub in the middle of a run below a riffle before the storms drove me off. 

I got a good soaking, but it was worth it. That little beauty was my first native brook trout!

Upper West Branch

We've seen a fair amount of rain this week and the reports seemed to indicate water flow would be a bit high on my usual streams so I ventured upstream on the West Branch to Hobart, NY. One of my goals is to net a wild brook trout and I figured now was the time to do it.  The farther upstream you go, the faster the flood waters tend to recede, and the DEC says there's a good population of wild brookies up that way so off I went.

I'd be lying if I said I was good at fishing pocket water and prospecting for trout when none are rising, but I gave it a go. The water looked fishy to me, but I didn't see a thing.  I went with a wooly worm, a small caddis imitation, and a royal wulff but to no avail.  I did finally use the old "face the trees, forward cast through the gaps, and fish your back-cast" trick. Works like a charm. 

Back in town, I fished in the park where they have the stream dammed off. There were a few fish rising on the still water so I figured I'd give it a go and at the very least, work on my casting.  The results speak for themselves: