Trout Streams

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New York

> The Beaverkill River

Oops.

I let my little light cahill spinner dangle in the air a bit too long while looking for rises. There were at least 30 bats flying around the pool, and this one hooked itself on my fly. I just let it fly around my rod tip and, while trying to figure out what to do, I took some pictures. (When in doubt...) Eventually it managed to unhook itself and fly away.

A great blue heron flaunts his contraband spey hackle.

Two storied Catskill rivers become one at this pool.

I missed one strike in this pool after taking the picture. It was a good fish that first showed itself with a telltale bulge and eddies below my fly, the sign of a nice trout refusing without quite breaking the surface. Five or ten drifts later it took convincingly, but I missed the hookset. That was the story that day -- missed hooksets. I didn't stay to fish this pool very long, because I tried to cross to fish it from the side that's on the right in the picture, obviously the best angle, and I found that what looked like an easy crossing near the tail was a swift, bouldery flat of very deceptive depth in the clear water. I found myself half-way across, past what had originally looked like the deepest water, only to find that the water that looked easiest was even swifter and deeper. I thought surely I was in for a swim, but somehow I made it back to the near bank dry and jumped in the car to head for less treacherous wading.

This is a really deep hole on a famous Catskill river.

This mighty trout stream was reduced to a trickle during the terrible drought this August. It ran crystal-clear and even though I could sight-fish to the trout they were beyond my skill to catch. I did well to briefly hook just one nice fish.

Here's the most famous pool in the world. I was shocked that the fishing was so good--I had expected such a legendary place to be overfished. While it certainly sees a lot of pressure, it's still possible to have the whole 300-yard pool to yourself once in a while, and in the fall it doesn't get anywhere close to the combat fishing it sees during the major hatch seasons. It supports a terrific population of the most picky free-rising trout I've ever seen.

A beautiful deep current tongue runs along a manmade wall on a famous Catskill river.