Creek Addict

I promised an update this week, so I guess I better deliver.

Nick and I went to a new stream in the Catskills a few weeks ago. We had read stuff here and there about the stream, but it’s one of those places that no one really talks about. We had talked about going to this place for about a year but never made the time. I love fishing new places. I don’t know why we hadn’t hit this place sooner. To most, this place is nothing more than a tiny tendril of blue, meandering through the reaches of green that cover the Catskill portion of the NY topographical maps. To fisherman, it’s a paradise. I want so badly to just tell everyone the name of this place. The gem waiting out in the NY woods is too good to spoil though. There was no other fishing pressure. There were tons of wild fish, wildlife and wild scenery. Considering the access to this stream, it’s mind boggling to think about how little pressure it gets. Just minutes away are some of New York’s most popular rivers. Rivers that are hoarded with thousands upon thousands of anglers each year. Little do these anglers know that right under their nose is one of the most pristine cold water fisheries in the Catskills. Obviously, I’m glad it doesn’t get pressure. I just don’t understand why.

Due to drought conditions, the river was very low. When conditions are like that, you always know two things. You know where the fish are going to be, and you know the fish are going to be spooky. Walking the banks of the river was like reading a treasure map. You know, one of those X-marks-the-spot-type maps. Every deep hole, over hanging/submerged log, and fast, decently moving run held fish. I couldn’t believe how many fish some of these holes held. Wild fish of all shapes and flavors. One of the holes we fished was maybe 3 feet deep with a log submerged half way in it. Nick and I pulled out maybe 10 or 15 fish from this hole alone. We also both lost some big fish out of that hole due to the tree, but we won’t talk about that. All the fish from this particular river on that day were taken on either dry flies or tiny nymphs. We’ve been using a new (to us) technique with those tiny weighted nymphs, and we plan on releasing a video explaining how exactly it’s done in the near future. Keep your eyes peeled for that one, it’ll be a good one.

Some pictures from the Catskill stream.

On the way home we decided to hit one of the warm water fisheries in the area in hopes of getting into a few smallies. I basically followed Nick around as he did all the catching. I did all the cursing. It was clear, low, slow moving water. It was easy to target them. I just couldn’t manage to get any in the net. I hooked a few. I got to watch them smash some of my flies, but that was about all the fun I had there. Nick had a blast though. That’s what friends and assholes do. While you’re going through a bout of bad luck, losing fish, breaking tippets on rocks, generally getting pissed off, friends and assholes catch fish in your face. Then they smile about it. They smile about it, and ask to have their pictures taken. Here are some of those pictures. I’m done with this story. Bite me, Nick.

Yeah - so what? I went to the Pequest again, Sue me. You really can't blame a guy for wanting to catch some fish. This weekend was the fly fishing show in Somerset, NJ. Nick and I figured if there were any time that the Pequest would be empty, it would be today. We hit the nail right on the head, when we arrived in the morning there was one or two other guys fishing, but by noon, the river was all ours. The fly of the day was a little bead head red midge that I had tied up the night before. I caught a few on an improved hares ear that I learned about on TroutPredator.com as well. I was fishing two flies under an indicator with the hares ear as my anchor and the midge as my dropper. Nick caught a fish on the midge almost instantly after he tied one on. The Pequest was awesome with no one else on the river. It was nice to be able to fish any stretch of water you wanted, and not have another guy literally breathing down the back of your neck. Nick and I figured out why the guys just sit down by the sluiceway in the winter. The water was a good 20 degrees warmer, and man did it ever feel great on your frozen feet. I went up to the sluiceway a couple of times just to thaw my frozen toes. After all was said and done I did a few things I'm not too proud to admit. I stood by the sluiceway for more than just a little while, I accidently snagged a fish (Nick threatened to tell everyone I was a fish snagger) and I felt good driving home knowing that I just whacked the hell out of some stockers. In my defense, I only snagged the fish (which I didn't take a picture of, and released as fast as I possibly could have) because the indicator went under and I set the hook. It was a total accident, and don't know if I could have avoided it if it were to happen again. When the indicator goes under, or stops or does anything I'm not expecting, I set the hook. With the fish lined up in there like they are, I guess it can just accidentally happen sometimes. In the end though, it was a great day on the water that you won't hear me complaining about. The fish were plentiful, the water was open, and the sun was shining. It's always great when you can get out there with friends and just fish.



















Look at the ugly nub on this guy!

Nice colors, this one took the hares ear.

I barely had time to fish today after work. It’s starting to feel like fall is upon us finally. Sept. 30th is quickly approaching, hopefully this cooler weather helps me take a few more trout before the season in NY is over.

Tonight I caught one little smallmouth on a white clouser with sinktip line. I was fishing Sloats pond, the main stem of the ramapo flows into and out of this pond. It’s where bill took his walleye in august, i’ve been fishing it in search of walleye ever since.

Wish the sun would have stayed out a little longer, getting only twenty minutes to fish just isn’t enough. Maybe I should bring a lantern next time, and just fish all night.

Just got back from fishing the river in my backyard. Pretty cool morning. Woke up at 6.15 grabbed my gear then headed out the back door to one of the smallmouth pools I frequent. Had a curios deer watch me fish for about 5 minutes, then enter the river further down and munch on some leaves while I was catching fish. Lotsa critters out this morning. Took 6 smallmouth, on my goto fly, the woolly bugger.

Just another day on the Ramapo. Tore the hackle off a woolly bugger to imitate a bait fish, worked like a charm. Used an 8 weight set up with floating line.

The Ramapo river literally runs through my backyard. The river is stocked with trout in the beginning of the season, but the good fishing in this river is for smallmouth. I’ve never hooked into anything huge, but they’re out there. I normally go for these guys underwater with big streamers and sinking line. Don’t be surprised if you pull out a big yellow perch using this technique as well. You’ll hear a lot of debate about which fish fights harder, the small mouth bass or the trout. I can’t really give my vote to either side, but I can tell you the for an all out aerial display, these ramapo smallmouth sure do put on a good show.