Friday, April 22, 2016

Spring in the Croton Watershed

The day after my last post, and also similar to that particular day, the weather was forecast to be terrible. It had rained overnight, and a bit into the morning. Adam R and I delayed our plans to fish after noon in the hopes that the weather would clear up. I'm glad we decided to do that...


Conditions were perfect on the stream, even though this particular river runs low all the time these days. Releases from the dam don't pump enough water into this stream to make it the "success" that it really could be. But that's a discussion for another time.


 We were both into fish right away, and coincidentally both lost our first fish. But I quickly figured out where they were hiding, and using the magical powers of polarization, drifted the fly to enough fish to have a "many" day.


 Soon the sun made an unexpected appearance, chasing the clouds and the last of the misty rain away for good. This made the fishing more difficult, but luckily there were plenty of opportunities to cross the stream as needed to avoid casting a shadow.


It appeared that most of the fish I caught were small wild browns. I do not believe they stock fish in this section of the river. If they do, they aren't this size. This was one of those days where you really get to appreciate the beauty not only of the surroundings, but each fish's unique markings, as well.


Mosses and Lichens were showing their love for the weather, and it was hard to pay attention as I was drawn from one aspect of my surroundings to another.




A surprisingly large crayfish lurked in a muddy side-pool, and I made sure to snap a photo.


But then my attention returned to fish as small rises started in the riffles and then the larger pools as well.


Sight-fishing to a few rises and throwing different kebari for fun all day made the point that in a place like this, the fly truly doesn't matter.


Fishing with the Oni rods is really suited to fishing soft hackle flies. I enjoyed the opportunity to cast the rod openly along most of the stream. The fish seemed interested in almost everything as long as I didn't let them know of my presence.


As our time ran out, we reached a good spot to turn around. There's plenty more to explore on the next trip, but it may be a while until I can return. 


Its almost time to start this year's trips into the mountains, but first, a little more local fishing to check in on some important streams soon...

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