Trip Report - 4-27-14

Last Sunday I fished three streams and caught three fish - each of a different species and all on a Black Killer Bugger.

Of the three, I think the first was the most interesting. Some readers may find that surprising, as the first fish was a creek chub and the last two were trout. The chub was wild - and native. The trout, one brown and one rainbow, were both stocked and neither one is native to New York.

Although I do enjoy fishing for wild native fish - whether trout or not, the most interesting aspect of the creek chub catch was that it was from a stream that is hidden in plain sight. It's on public land. It runs along a four lane highway. Thousands of people drive along it every day. I myself have driven alongside it dozens of times, and I have never, ever seen anyone fish it. I know that people have fished it in the past - although perhaps in a different stretch of the stream. The state used to stock trout in it and I have seen a few forum posts about fishing it - although the posts were from years ago.

I suspect there are two reasons why no one fishes there. The main one, I am sure, is that it isn't a trout stream. If there were trout it it, people would find a way to fish it.

People are funny. There are many, many fly fishermen who revere native trout, and will go to great lengths to catch 5" wild brookies. Well, I have to tell you, a 9" creek chub is just as wild, just as native and definitely outfights a 5" brookie!

The second reason is there is no convenient place to park. You can't just pull over to the side of the road. The closest spot is perhaps a quarter mile away - and across a four lane highway (there is a stop light, but no crosswalk). Still, a quarter mile is nothing compared to the distance people will walk for wild trout.

The second stream was a disappointment. It runs on NYC water supply land, and for as long as I have been fishing it there was a sign preventing access close to the dam. Last Sunday there were Posted signs well below the dam - and below what I consider to be the best part of the stream. (What's worse, one of my micro fishing spots, on a tiny, tiny feeder stream, is just beyond the Posted sign.) I'm not sure I'll ever go back. (I'll definitely go back to the first stream!)

The third stream is pretty reliable, at least early in the season. There is some natural reproduction, but by far most of the fish there are stocked.

I managed to catch a couple fish (on a Black Killer Bugger). The brown was hooked as I was picking up for a new cast. The 'bow took the bugger early in the drift.

The stream, running between two NYC reservoirs, is pretty short and after catching the second fish I saw another angler just a little ways upstream from me. I didn't want to fish water he had already fished, and there wasn't all that much of the stream left above him so I called it a day.

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