Creek Addict

My good friend Jamie Philpott has started a new blog, Striper Junkie. I presume this blog will have something to do with fishing for stripers, but hey, what do I know. Jamie has just started his foray into striper fishing. Follow his blog. Hopefully he’ll spill the beans on the money spot when he finds it.

Another one of my good buddies, Bill Henry, has also started his own blog. The Great Lakes of NYC looks like it will cover all the hidden fishing treasures found in NYC, and hopefully some others that are accessible by NYC public transit. Bill’s knowledge of the fishing that can be reached from public transit is unmatched. If you live in the city, or somewhere close, definitely follow his blog.

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.

Expect a how to video on this bad boy very soon! This is, hands down, the best Isonychia pattern I’ve ever fished.

Obviously, it’s been a while since I’ve put an update here. Life has become extremely busy as of late. I still have time to fish here and there, just not as much time to talk about it here. I’ve got some pictures uploaded and will be posting them in the near future. Carp, smallies, and trout have been on the menu in the past couple of weeks. Nick finally went fly fishing for smallies and we now have a new mission for the remainder of the dog days of summer. I’m also working on a video. I’m not sure how long it’s gonna take me, but hopefully we’ll have something real nice for you guys in the future. We’ve also been talking about a new direction for CreekAddict.com. That too will be announced at some point in the future. Also, if time permits, we’ll be putting up a new fly tying video in the next couple of weeks.