Catskill Creek

JBP and I played hooky from work and went adventuring in Schoharie County. Without much to go on other than DEC maps, we picked up the Catskill Creek near Preston Hollow and fished it up through Oak Hill. Near Preston Hollow, the creek was tiny and the fishing was mostly pocket water but by Oak Hill it had grown quite a bit and there were more deep runs to explore. The photo above doesn't do justice to a beautiful waterfall that gently cascaded into a long clear run. It was easy to imagine Art Flick pulling brookies from the crystal clear water.

While the water was beautiful and certainly looked "fishy" to me, we didn't have a whole lot of luck on the day. I'm going to blame mid-day sun and my lack of pocket-water experience. I only managed one small mouth on a bucktail streamer on the day. Beautiful country. I'm sure those in the know have lots of luck in their secret holes.

For reference, USGS reported the flow rate down at Catskill, NY at ~285 CFS and the weather was sunny and in the low 80s.

Light Hendrickson Dry

My attempt at a classic from Art Flick's Streamside Guide:

Pattern:

Hook: Dry Fly (12 or 14)

Thread: Brown

Wing: Wood Duck Flank (Mallard subbed above)

Tail: Natural Dun Hackle Fibers
Body: Hendrickson Pink Super Fine Dubbing
Hackle: Natural Dun

Instructions:

• Start thread behind eye leaving 2-3 eye lengths bare per Catskill style, wrap back halfway, then forward half-way.
• Size wing to be one shank length and tie in using 2 pinch wraps, then 2-3 tight wraps in front of wing around hook.(Helps me prevent spinning of wing).
• Trim wing butts at an angle to help taper body.
• Using cross-wraps split wing evenly and position wings. (Use flat of fingernail along hook shank to fan out wing and help divide evenly.)  I leave near side wing a little flatter at this point since tying in the hackle always causes it to push upward later.
• Wrap thread back and tie in tail using thread to form nice even taper.
• Form tight dubbing noodle and dub thorax (less is more!) stopping with a little space behind wing.
• Tie in hackle on near side and be careful about it skewing your wing.
• Wrap hackle 3x tight behind wing, then 2x tight in front.
• Tie off hackle and trim.  Can use a half hitch to push back any hackle fibers at this point.
• Whip finish and cement. (Watch that you leave space behind the eye and don't make your head too long!)

When to fish:

Late April to first 3/4 of May.