# Fishing 2020



## JimG. (Mar 23, 2020)

So since ski season 19-20 got shut down I decided to do some wading and fishing on 3/21. After passing the main parking area which was packed and seeing fly fishermen fishing shoulder to shoulder near the spillway of the East Branch in the bathtub I drove to my more secluded spot at Brady's bend. Nobody there. Parked and wadered up. Had to bushwack downstream to my favorite pool there has been no trimming of pathways yet so it was more like bramble busting and getting to the water required planning.

Once I got in to the pool I had targeted it had of course changed over the winter with many snags and logs moved around. My favorite cast was very difficult to line up with a fallen tree guarding the shoreline area I was aiming at. So of course I lost a spinner snagging it on the tree. There are few spots to wade out to the best casts; most of this pool is very deep. 

This is downstream from the pool. I casted and casted a variety of spinners and Rapalas and didn't get a bite. Nothing has been stocked yet but I was glad for that because if I had gotten a bite it would probably have been a nice fish. Anyway after 3 hours I worked my way back to my pool. And of course I had to push it lining that cast up. I kept walking out towards the center of the pool on a spit of hard bottom...and my next step was into mud quicksand and I was in up to my knees in a flash. So without hesitation I became a swimmer and was lucky that enough of my torso was above water still and my buoyancy popped my legs out from the mud and I swam to shore.
My neoprene waders are tight so very little water got in and my legs, upper torso and in fact my waders were still dry. But my arms and shoulders got soaked and man that water was COLD. Thusly my fishing day ended.

Always an adventure and I had a great time.


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## 180 (Mar 24, 2020)

Brought my gear upstate, waiting for 4/1


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## CastlerockMRV (Apr 1, 2020)

Sunday looks like it will be a great day! I'm interested to see what places like Roscoe look like this weekend. I'm assuming it may actually be an even bigger opening weekend than normal. Likely won't head up there for a week or 2.

I officially hung up the skis and made the switch to fishing last weekend and got my first day out on South Branch of the Raritan River in NJ. Hopefully these social distancing and travel guidelines don't get too much stricter as I'm certainly hoping to get a few day trips to the Catskills in to keep my sanity. What better example of outdoor recreation that embraces social distancing can you think of than the grumpy flyfisherman standing alone in a river?!


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## Smellytele (Apr 1, 2020)

CastlerockMRV said:


> Sunday looks like it will be a great day! I'm interested to see what places like Roscoe look like this weekend. I'm assuming it may actually be an even bigger opening weekend than normal. Likely won't head up there for a week or 2.
> 
> I officially hung up the skis and made the switch to fishing last weekend and got my first day out on South Branch of the Raritan River in NJ. Hopefully these social distancing and travel guidelines don't get too much stricter as I'm certainly hoping to get a few day trips to the Catskills in to keep my sanity. What better example of outdoor recreation that embraces social distancing can you think of than the grumpy flyfisherman standing alone in a river?!



Matters how far you have to drive and how many stops along the way.


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## CastlerockMRV (Apr 1, 2020)

Smellytele said:


> Matters how far you have to drive and how many stops along the way.
> 
> 
> Sent from my iPhone using AlpineZone



Home -> Car -> River -> Car -> Home. 

Blows my mind that anyone would do anything else right now! 


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## JimG. (Apr 1, 2020)

CastlerockMRV said:


> Home -> Car -> River -> Car -> Home.
> 
> Blows my mind that anyone would do anything else right now!
> 
> ...



I'm lucky. My routine for a pandemic is home-river-home. But usually home to car to river and back.

Fishkill Creek runs through my property; just stocked last Monday today on my stretch should be good heading out in about an hour.

As for the Beaverkill or Esopus Creek I'm sure those areas will be overrun with fishermen I'll give those places 2-3 weeks.


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## JimG. (Apr 1, 2020)

4/1/20: Opening day on Fishkill creek in my backyard. Hiked downstream to where Dutchess county route 7 crosses over and worked upstream. Water was knee to waist deep in spots and crystal clear. Fished from 7 upstream past my house and east to about 1/2 mile from where the stocking truck was on Monday. Looking west towards route 7:

Looking east upstream:

My house

Looking upstream and east to the pool where I caught my first fish today, a gorgeous 15" holdover brown trout:


continued...


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## JimG. (Apr 1, 2020)

4/1/20 continued. Moved east and finally started catching stocked fish.

This pool with a deep undercut bank produced 3 stockies, the biggest was 12".

 Spent 3 hours out and landed a total of 5 trout. All released unharmed.


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## JimG. (Apr 4, 2020)

4/4/20-Another day on Fishkill Creek. More good results in pretty much the same places as a few days ago. Caught 9 trout today.

Ready to go



Heading out



Caught 1 holdover brown trout; well fed (plump yellow and white belly) with defined and colorful brown and red spots



and 8 stocked browns all painfully skinny and pale with poorly defined dark spots



the ones that survive the initial fishing frenzy will fatten up and become more colorful as they feed in the creek.


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## CastlerockMRV (Apr 8, 2020)

Welp...can’t say I’m surprised or strongly disagree but this is a bummer. 


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## JimG. (Apr 8, 2020)

I am not surprised either. My buddy Carmine is devastated. Like when skiing shut down in March.

I've lived here for 17 years and took the creek on my property for granted for the most part. I have to admit being here and being able to fish as well is pretty special. I feel as if I'm intruding if I go even 25 minutes from home. Here I can just relax.


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## CastlerockMRV (Apr 9, 2020)

Between this, skiing ending early, and most Mtn bike / hiking trails being closed for the same reason, I’m running out of ways to recreate. Might do a push-up later. Idk. 


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## JimG. (Apr 9, 2020)

CastlerockMRV said:


> Between this, skiing ending early, and most Mtn bike / hiking trails being closed for the same reason, I’m running out of ways to recreate. Might do a push-up later. Idk.
> 
> 
> Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk



Where do you live? There are places to fish near me that are accessible and uncrowded so much easier to maintain physical distances. The west branch of the Delaware, Beaverkill/Willowemoc creeks and Esopus creeks are fisherperson magnets and too crowded to fish now.


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## CastlerockMRV (Apr 9, 2020)

I’m just outside of NYC in Hoboken. Have been able to hit the South Branch of the Raritan River a few times but that’s the nearest Trout water I’m aware of. (Apart from a few lakes but I’m a fly guy so those are a bit less interesting to me.)

Silver lining is that the Stripers will arrive soon and I’ll be able to shift my efforts East! Although I’m still very committed to upping my Trout game this year as I’ve only recently made the jump from salt to fresh water. 


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## JimG. (Apr 9, 2020)

CastlerockMRV said:


> I’m just outside of NYC in Hoboken. Have been able to hit the South Branch of the Raritan River a few times but that’s the nearest Trout water I’m aware of. (Apart from a few lakes but I’m a fly guy so those are a bit less interesting to me.)
> 
> Silver lining is that the Stripers will arrive soon and I’ll be able to shift my efforts East! Although I’m still very committed to upping my Trout game this year as I’ve only recently made the jump from salt to fresh water.
> 
> ...



Got it. I'm not well versed in that area. 

My buddies and I have a few rowboats on the NYC reservoirs but right now that has to be a solo mission as well.

Salt water fishing is also an issue in the sense that your boat will have to be big enough to physically distance or you will be solo. Unless you are a beach/shoreline guy. Those areas will be seeing high traffic too.

You would enjoy the East branch of the Croton river between Sodom reservoir and Diverting reservoir. That's one of my local stomping grounds and perfect for fly fishing. Daily creel limit 1 fish 14" or bigger. Artificial baits only, no live bait. A special regulation area.


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## JimG. (Apr 12, 2020)

Went to the East Branch today. Brady's bend was filled with trout. Caught about a dozen 8-10" stocked trout in these pools:


That undercut bank produced 6 stockies and the fallen trees in the second shot produced another half dozen trout. Before heading out I threw another cast into that nice backwash on the right in the second shot and landed my nicest trout of the season so far:

Moved down to the pools near the Borden bridge in Brewster and caught another half dozen stocked fish before heading home.


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## JimG. (Apr 25, 2020)

Wanted to get another day at the East Branch but the great weather lead to crowds so I audibled to Fishkill creek today. I caught 3 6-8" stocked fish and this very fine brown trout that put up a spirited fight even when landed:



This may be my fish of a lifetime in this creek. I never expected to land something this nice in my backyard. A conservative estimate is 18-20" and 3.5 to 4 lbs.



After snapping that second shot I got the hook out of this fish and quickly got it back in the water. After 30 seconds of being cradled in the current it recovered and swam away in a big swirl.

Fishkill creek continues to produce this season.


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## 180 (Apr 27, 2020)

Great fish. I guess the efforts to clean it up are working. Nice to see.


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## JimG. (Apr 28, 2020)

180 said:


> Great fish. I guess the efforts to clean it up are working. Nice to see.



The clean up efforts have been remarkable. In addition to the crystal clear water there is no longer any refuse (old lawn chairs, car parts and rims, etc.) left in the creek.


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## JimG. (May 3, 2020)

Fished the East Branch yesterday. It was a real day of fishing. Water was high at least 18" higher than my last trip. I realized immediately this was not going to be a small fish day, they were hiding from the current. This was going to be a you get a few chances at fish don't blow it day. The key would be getting my spinner down to the laminar flow in deep pools so I grabbed some slightly bigger than usual #1 and #2 Vibrax.
Scored after about a half-hour of casting with a 13-14" brown at my regular spot. Fished the bend and moved downstream. I got to the area I usually move back upstream and fished carefully in the deep swirling pool. Bang, another nice brown bigger than the one I landed! And then I lost the fish. Time check and we are at 2.5 hours of fishing time. That seemed like my best last chance at a big fish. Pretty discouraging. Big dummy looking at the fish jump instead of setting the hook right away.
Kept moving downstream past Brady's bend to about halfway to the 84 overpass. I have not fished down there for decades. But it looked great with the high water. It looked very fishy too:

I scoped out a backwash guarded by a big brush pile right next to the main channel with deep fast moving water just downstream from that wire. When I threw the cast I knew it would land me a fish:

The East Branch also has rainbow trout in it, maybe 10% of the trout population. This is the time of year to catch them and usually they are small, like 8-10". So I didn't expect a nice 18" specimen like this one. Nicest rainbow I've ever caught southeast of the Catskills. Fished for another hour or so and headed back to my car.
2020 has been an excellent trout fishing year so far. Funny how it works, if there was skiing I wouldn't even be fishing!


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## deadheadskier (May 4, 2020)

New (to me) boat as of today.  Have a few things to do before getting her in the water, but my access just greatly improved.

Don't see a ton of fishing this summer with a 17 month old daughter.  Mainly just cruising.  But, hopefully snag a few days with the five year old checking out some lakes we've never been on.  New to boating, so sticking to the freshwater first season.  Perhaps next year we get it out in the salt for some stripers.  

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## JimG. (May 5, 2020)

Nice boat.

Looks like you could do some waterskiing if the fish aren't biting.


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## deadheadskier (May 5, 2020)

Thanks.  It does have a ski pylon I can put in.  The 135HP engine gets it out of the hole pretty quick.  

I was going to wait a couple more years before buying one, but with lots of normal activities in question for this summer and a desire to avoid crowds, I said screw it and went for it.  We will social distance on the water.  No shortage of large lakes within an hour to explore. 

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## JimG. (May 5, 2020)

deadheadskier said:


> Thanks.  It does have a ski pylon I can put in.  The 135HP engine gets it out of the hole pretty quick.
> 
> I was going to wait a couple more years before buying one, but with lots of normal activities in question for this summer and a desire to avoid crowds, I said screw it and went for it.  We will social distance on the water.  No shortage of large lakes within an hour to explore.
> 
> Sent from my XT1635-01 using AlpineZone mobile app



A rowboat is far less luxurious but useful for the same reason. Just bought a new pair of waders to replace my suddenly very leaky neoprene pair. But I'm really angling to buy a pedal kayak for bass and laker fishing in Sylvan lake about 5 min from my house:


It was on my list last year but other expenses intervened. I think it's gonna happen this year.


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## 180 (May 5, 2020)

Sylvan Lake, used be a great party spot in high school. Big quarry next to it also.


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## JimG. (May 5, 2020)

180 said:


> Sylvan Lake, used be a great party spot in high school. Big quarry next to it also.



Ha still is a big HS party spot!


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## ALLSKIING (May 7, 2020)

deadheadskier said:


> New (to me) boat as of today.  Have a few things to do before getting her in the water, but my access just greatly improved.
> 
> Don't see a ton of fishing this summer with a 17 month old daughter.  Mainly just cruising.  But, hopefully snag a few days with the five year old checking out some lakes we've never been on.  New to boating, so sticking to the freshwater first season.  Perhaps next year we get it out in the salt for some stripers.  View attachment 26828
> 
> Sent from my XT1635-01 using AlpineZone mobile app


Nice looking boat Ryan...watch out for floating logs on the lake! When your ready for salt water bring it down to LI and we'll have some fun great beaches to bring it to ad well.


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## deadheadskier (May 8, 2020)

Thanks Dave!

I'll definitely want to get a Bimini like you have there.  That was the one thing I wanted that was missing from the package, but not enough for me to pass on it.  Will be awhile unfortunately.  Key West dealer says they're so far behind because of the virus that they aren't fulfilling accessory orders right now.  The one local place I checked with that builds them custom is backed up until August.  

So, I spent a small fortune on sunscreen at Amazon instead. lol 

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## CastlerockMRV (May 8, 2020)

JimG. said:


> A rowboat is far less luxurious but useful for the same reason. Just bought a new pair of waders to replace my suddenly very leaky neoprene pair. But I'm really angling to buy a pedal kayak for bass and laker fishing in Sylvan lake about 5 min from my house:
> 
> View attachment 26829
> It was on my list last year but other expenses intervened. I think it's gonna happen this year.



I received guidance from work that we'll wither be working from home thru the end of the year or rotating in and out of the office so that only 10-15% of the workforce is in on a given day. Means that I'll be relocating to my families places on the Maine coast for the foreseeable future. Just picked up one of these to chase Stripers in the skinny water once they arrive...



Looking forward to getting the real boat in the water soon as well to chase all over the 7 Rivers region as soon they get here. The 20-inchers have arrived in force on Cape Cod so it's only a matter of time!


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## ALLSKIING (May 8, 2020)

deadheadskier said:


> Thanks Dave!
> 
> I'll definitely want to get a Bimini like you have there.  That was the one thing I wanted that was missing from the package, but not enough for me to pass on it.  Will be awhile unfortunately.  Key West dealer says they're so far behind because of the virus that they aren't fulfilling accessory orders right now.  The one local place I checked with that builds them custom is backed up until August.
> 
> ...


Actually we really dont use it all that much but my wife is a sun freak. Nice to have though especially if it's very hot out and your not moving. 

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## deadheadskier (May 8, 2020)

well....I don't think you have quite the same Northern Irish skin as I do that requires SPF 90000000. haha



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## JimG. (May 8, 2020)

Got in another day of trout fishing at the East branch on Thursday. Water levels had dropped a bit and the stocked fish were out in force. After fishing deep water the first 2 hours and catching a few small browns I realized the big boys were asleep. So I switched to size 0 spinners and waded the shallower and faster moving riffles down near the Borden bridge. Wound up landing 10 or so stocked fish. 

No pics, no big boys but a great day and fun as always.


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## deadheadskier (May 9, 2020)

Picked up the boat from the marina today.  Found her covered in snow!



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## JimG. (May 9, 2020)

Woke up to a dusting of snow here as well.

Figures, K could probably have stayed open into July at this pace.


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## ALLSKIING (May 9, 2020)

JimG. said:


> Woke up to a dusting of snow here as well.
> 
> Figures, K could probably have stayed open into July at this pace.


The picture I saw of the mountain today made it look like the entire place is skiable. So hard to miss a good spring of skiing. 

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## deadheadskier (May 10, 2020)

The spring season would've been long for sure this year, but I'm not sure how good it would've been.  Certainly would have been better than not skiing, but we've had so many cold and rainy days.  The amount of great, sunny, bump skiing days would've been few and far between.

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## JimG. (May 10, 2020)

deadheadskier said:


> The spring season would've been long for sure this year, but I'm not sure how good it would've been.  Certainly would have been better than not skiing, but we've had so many cold and rainy days.  The amount of great, sunny, bump skiing days would've been few and far between.
> 
> Sent from my XT1635-01 using AlpineZone mobile app



Yeah I would have to agree.


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## JimG. (May 17, 2020)

Went up to Binghamton yesterday and hiked at Aqua Terra which used to be called Innsbruck USA; a NELSAP ski area. Really cool place.

Anyway I traveled 17 up and back. The Susquehanna river was flowing very high and muddy. The East Branch of the Delaware was also full but the water was running clear. I saw no less than 30 anglers all of them in kayaks. Not a single wader. Conditions in the Roscoe area were perfect for wading and the Beaverkill/Little Beaverkill/Willowemoc creek looked great. Stopped at Lew Beach but didn't fish. Lots of fishermen everywhere. Just scoping things out incidental to my trip up there may very well return this week to fish. Might go to the Esopus creek instead.


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## JimG. (May 22, 2020)

Got out on Fishkill creek yesterday for probably my last day of trout fishing until Fall. The time flew by but it has been 2 months since I wet my first line this season on 3/21. And it has been a good trout season. Some good fish and always much fun. In the past 15 years or so I have gotten in 2-3 days of trout fishing each year but my 8 days this spring (all because of the virus shutdown of skiing) and several nice trout landed got me re-dedicated to trout and I will do more stream fishing in the years to come.

For now, the trout have become more picky and I'm sure many of the stocked fish were caught once already. In 3 hours out I landed a total of 2 small browns. But I am always reminded that it's not all about the fish but also about being in nature. I'm grateful to live in such a beautiful location:





Heading out on the reservoirs Saturday for a day in the boat. Let the bass fishing begin.


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## chuckstah (May 22, 2020)

I left NH for the first time in over 2 months today to open up my summer cottage on Cape Cod. Strolled to the end of the street to a schoolies striper fest. 12-24 inch fish were hitting anything on the surface. To bad it wasn't me, as I didn't have equipment ready. Tomorrow. 

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## JimG. (May 23, 2020)

chuckstah said:


> I left NH for the first time in over 2 months today to open up my summer cottage on Cape Cod. Strolled to the end of the street to a schoolies striper fest. 12-24 inch fish were hitting anything on the surface. To bad it wasn't me, as I didn't have equipment ready. Tomorrow.



Same in LI sound my buddy Rich's boat went in yesterday and of course it's raining today. 

Going to the NYC reservoirs tomorrow looking for black bass and walleye.


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## JimG. (May 26, 2020)

Went out in the rowboat on Sodom reservoir on 5/24. Got out at 1pm and fished areas close to the boat spot the first 2.5 hours. Landed 2 good sized smallmouths. Rowed back for Mike at 3:30 and we fished extensively until about 8pm. Mike landed a couple of smallmouths and about a dozen yellow perch. I landed 3 more 15" or so smallmouths but lost a big smallmouth at the small island late in the day. Fish went berserk on me and jumped and tail walked all over before getting off. That was one pissed off fish.


I enjoy fishing for smallmouths more than most other fish. It's a fish with real attitude and great fight. That was a good first day of bass fishing for the year, better than most.


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## JimG. (Jun 9, 2020)

Back out on 6/8 fishing for bass on the reservoir. Largemouths were active and biting at a variety of plastic worms and crankbaits.



Smallmouths were another matter. Starting the bass season with a typically picky attitude. Fished the mounds in the eastern cove and hooked 2 smallies both of which barely took the lure and then got off. Then that deep water pattern shut down and the smallmouths stopped biting. As the sun started to lose intensity at about 6:30 I spotted the surface action picking up. At the small island the smallmouth surface action got almost ridiculous as they were rising everywhere. But I couldn't hook the fish, they weren't really biting at the lure just kind of attacking it without biting. Exciting and very frustrating. Twice I threw casts that landed on the water followed closely by smallmouths launching out of the water without even moving towards the lure. Never did land one.

That behavior will stop as the weather warms up more.


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## JimG. (Jun 13, 2020)

6/12 first day out this season on Rye Lake. Steve and I caught some perfect weather and good bass fishing. Smallmouths were aggressive with the warmer weather, so aggressive you had to hook them as soon as they took the worm or they would swallow the hook. Caught a few nice largemouths as well. Nothing really big, so no pics. But it was a fun day with constant fish action and good overall numbers. The two of us together must have boated 35-40 bass.

Heading out in the morning tomorrow with Mike on the EB.


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## JimG. (Jun 14, 2020)

6/14 on the EB with Mike. A very similar day to Friday but at least 10 degrees cooler. And that did not help the bass fishing. But the white and yellow perch were biting so we did have some action. I also managed to boat the only bass of the day, a very nice 4 lbs. smallmouth:



We fished the 6:30am to noon slot and I would not be surprised if the afternoon fishing was better as it got warmer. Summer is upon us.


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## JimG. (Jun 20, 2020)

6/19 EB solo. Sunny and warm. Constant and gusty S-SE wind. Caught 1 13" largemouth and an almost impossibly small 3" sunny. S-SE wind just no good for fishing the EB efficiently. A lot of good rowing work. Only good thing about that wind is that it blew me directly back to the boat spot at the end of my day at 8.

I made a large positive deposit into the good fishing karma bank yesterday that will pay off at some future date.


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## JimG. (Jul 15, 2020)

6/26-RL with Steve. A duplicate of our trip 2 weeks ago, good action and about 35 fish boated between the two of us.



The troll home


7/5-EB solo. A carbon copy of my trip 2 weeks ago. Unfortunately. 1 small largemouth and 1 sunny boated. Hot, sunny, and still. I think there is a measure of organic pollution affecting the EB this time of the year. There are housing subdivisions upstream of the mouth of the East Branch entering the reservoir. Those folks love their green lawns and chemical fertilizers. All of which runs off into the river/res. The water in the EB is green in color and full of muck on the surface. Bad for fishing. We need a lot more rain to help dilute that problem.


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## 180 (Jul 16, 2020)

actually rain exasperates the runoff from the homes.  We find on our lake the the less rain the better the water as everything settles


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## JimG. (Jul 16, 2020)

180 said:


> actually rain exasperates the runoff from the homes.  We find on our lake the the less rain the better the water as everything settles



I see what you're saying. There are two other small creeks that feed the reservoir where there is no development. The real problem is that the East Branch is a NYC reservoir and not one of the bigger ones so its' level fluctuates often. It has been dropping rapidly in the last month. Without rain it drops even faster exacerbating the problem. And while heavy rain probably does increase the runoff from the main river those other creeks make up for that and more with fertilizer free runoff.


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## JimG. (Jul 19, 2020)

7/17-RL with Steve.

Weird day. Cloudy and cool all morning and early afternoon. Cloudy the whole ride down to Rye Lake. Blazing sun and heat the second we put the boat in the water. Blazing sun and heat the whole time we fish up until about 8:00. I make the comment that since the clouds screwed us by disappearing while we fished we should head back in because those clouds will come back to rain on us. We get back to the boat spot and the drizzle begins. I closed my trunk and got into my car just as the downpour was unleashed followed by lightening and thunder. Always an adventure.

We did OK and caught some bass so it was a good trip. Tough to sit in the sun and heat. Time to spend some early morning time fishing.


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## 180 (Jul 20, 2020)

caught off my dock 2 weeks ago


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## JimG. (Jul 20, 2020)

Nice largemouth.

I know there are nice ones in Kirk lake, good deep water near your property too.


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## JimG. (Jul 25, 2020)

7/24-RL with Steve and Mike. 10 degrees cooler and much more comfortable.

We each caught at least a half dozen bass. Mostly 12" and smaller. Biggest of the day was about 16". Fishing was a lot like my last 2 trips to Rye lake. The brutally hot July weather has really warmed the water up, driving bigger fish deep. Now you have to get your lure through the smaller fish down there too. The next 3 day blowtorch isn't going to help.

Targeting midweek for a 5:00am trip. See if that helps activate the big boys.


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## fullsend7 (Aug 2, 2020)

JimG. said:


> So since ski season 19-20 got shut down I decided to do some wading and fishing on 3/21. After passing the main parking area which was packed and seeing fly fishermen fishing shoulder to shoulder near the spillway of the East Branch in the bathtub I drove to my more secluded spot at Brady's bend. Nobody there. Parked and wadered up. Had to bushwack downstream to my favorite pool there has been no trimming of pathways yet so it was more like bramble busting and getting to the water required planning.
> View attachment 26622
> Once I got in to the pool I had targeted it had of course changed over the winter with many snags and logs moved around. My favorite cast was very difficult to line up with a fallen tree guarding the shoreline area I was aiming at. So of course I lost a spinner snagging it on the tree. There are few spots to wade out to the best casts; most of this pool is very deep.
> View attachment 26624
> ...



Nice spot!  I've always found the best fishing holes are the hardest ones to get to.  I also kind of like it when I have to do some hiking and bushwacking just to get to my spot.  Makes it more of an adventure that way.  And yeah, if you're gonna attempt to fish in March, you can pretty much be guaranteed that the water is gonna be cold.  Looks like a fun day!


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## JimG. (Aug 16, 2020)

8/15-EB with Karl. Took a few weeks off to get away from the heat wave. Today was very pleasant and a great day to be out on the lake.

But the fishing was exactly the same as my last few trips to the EB or RL. We each caught a few fish and we each caught a few bass among those fish but nothing of good size. Biggest bass was about 14". So I'm glad I took the break (we were busy getting my youngest son ready to go off to college anyway) from fishing because I didn't miss anything.

Glad to get out again and hoping the fishing picks up as we head towards Fall.


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## 180 (Aug 17, 2020)

fishing has been crap lately.....


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## JimG. (Aug 17, 2020)

180 said:


> fishing has been crap lately.....



Hot and dry...not a good combo for fishing.

The fish are there but down deep; makes it tough to zero in on bigger fish.

My plan to get a pedal kayak and make hay on Sylvan Lake went by the wayside this year because of the pandemic. People have been crowding into Sylvan Lake every day; parking lot more crowded than I've ever seen and the lake is filthy with rowboats, kayaks, and paddleboards. People are even showing up early am to snag a spot. The pedal kayak was going to get me away from crowds. Guess not, at least not this summer.


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## JimG. (Aug 20, 2020)

8/19-RL with Steve. 

Beautiful Wednesday to be out fishing. Sunny with some clouds and high 70's. The res is full. Weedbeds in full bloom. Went straight to the buoy at the first weedbed maze. I caught 2 smallmouths in the first 15 minutes both surface hits on the Big-O. Steve hooked a largemouth on the worm. Good start.

We spent the afternoon and evening rowing from one weedbed to the next. There were a few bass at every one mostly on the deep water side. Nothing huge all 12-16". After the 2 quick surface hits the Big-O stopped working so I switched to the worm. We caught and hooked a lot of fish. The best part of the trip was at sunset. We went back to the first weedbeds we fished and the action was stellar until dark. Bass were really moving in from the depths to hunt the weeds. Caught fish right back to the boat spot. First good after dark action of the season.

Hope the good fishing continues now looking forward to September.


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## Richard Lineback (Aug 24, 2020)

Hi there!
Hope in a month or so to head off to Spain. Last year I had a great time in Benidorm. I really hope that this year despite all these circumstances my friends and will be able to visit the Costa Blanca area. They say that fishing there is second to none. Moreover great renting conditions (I am talking about awesome value for money offers https://virtoproperty.com/info/renting-property-in-spain) are one more advantage to head off to Benidorm. Will gladly check it


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## JimG. (Aug 29, 2020)

8/28-RL with Steve.

As a change of pace we got on to the water and the weather was clear and sunny but it clouded up about 45 minutes after we pushed off. As soon as the clouds appeared the fishing went nuts. In the next 3 hours I caught a bass every fifth cast or so. Nothing bigger than 16" but amazing sustained action. Then at about 7:00 the clouds thickened foreshadowing the approaching storms from the SW. At that point the fishing turned off like a spigot. The pressure gradient that was developing messes up the fish and they stop biting.

So we headed back to the boat spot and performed another miraculous escape from downpours. We were on the road at 8:00 in the midst of sheets of rain. We're getting pretty good at that.


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## JimG. (Sep 4, 2020)

9/3-RL with Steve.

Another fishing day that started sunny and quickly clouded up. Tough day, fish were not biting like last week. Worm was useless. The only action was on the surface and the hits were light and hard to see. Small dimples on the water when the lure landed. I had many of these light surface hits and only managed to hook and land 1 fish, a 16" smallmouth that put up a great fight. Steve landed one smallmouth as well. Of course the pressure gradient due to the changing weather had a negative effect.

As I finished my last on water cocktail at 7:30 the ugly looking clouds arrived. As usual it seems lately we just got back to our cars as the rain started.


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## JimG. (Sep 12, 2020)

9/11-RL with Steve.

Gorgeous day. Breezy and cool. Decent fishing caught a bunch of fish nothing exceptional. Some surface action, a few fish hit on the retrieve. Floating/diving plugs the ticket, worms might be on the shelf until next year.

As I was finishing my last cocktail I realized bass fishing season is drawing to a close in about a month. May extend the season by doing some trout fishing until skiing starts (mid-November earliest it seems).

As we got off the lake I'm so used to running around putting the boat away to avoid getting drenched by impending downpours Steve actually had to tell me to slow down.


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## JimG. (Sep 18, 2020)

9/17-Pepacton reservoir with Steve.

Until today it has been a disappointing bass season. Lot's of small fish but few good sized specimens. A lot of hot dry weather, warm water conditions and much difficulty locating and then hooking big fish. As the season draws to an end Steve and I always make a pilgrimage to Pepacton reservoir in the Catskills. This is a huge reservoir and we have found several good areas to fish with waders. But my last time here was not a good day. So I didn't expect much.

We got to a favorite spot in Arena and the water was low as we expected. But Mill Creek was still running all the way into the reservoir proper. The mouth of the creek enters a bay filled with old roadbeds and foundations (the town of Arena was here before the reservoir). It is possible to follow the road beds and walk out into the water a good distance. So we waded out and started casting into the bay. Within an hour we had landed over a dozen nice bass most of them bigger than any bass we had caught earlier this season. The Big-O (I used silver, Steve the crawdad color) was killing it. So we figured we would check out other spots in this area. And we caught nothing. So we went back to the bay with the creek and caught another 5 or so nice bass. Clearly the fresh moving water and the great structure in that area were the difference. 

Then we decided to go to Cat Hollow to another good spot. But we both agreed that if the fishing there didn't immediately produce we would go back to Arena. After 30 minutes we were back on the road to Arena. It's a 20 minute drive but giving the fish a rest seemed like a good idea. We hiked back out to the bay and back out to our fishing spot. But the Big-O was no longer interesting to the fish. Steve decided to switch to a Rapala and in the next 5 casts he landed 4 nice fish. So I followed suit and switched to a Rapala jointed shad rap. It was the best fishing of the season, even better than the morning. At one point I landed 5 nice bass in 5 casts. And they were getting bigger as we approached sundown. First day this year I had to be dragged off the water.

All the difficult fishing and the effort we exerted all season with little reward was paid back in one day. When karma smiles on you the fishing is almost as much fun as skiing. Every fish we caught yesterday came from the same spot and there were plenty to keep 2 fishermen happy. Those days are rare. We hiked/waded about 5 miles total yesterday and it was fairly tiring but we were stoked the whole ride home. Got home at about 9:30 and I was passed out by 10. Didn't even bother to eat dinner. 

Great day. A few pics:






That was fishing magic. Considering a return trip next week even though there is little chance we will get a bonanza like yesterday.


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## JimG. (Sep 25, 2020)

9/24-Pepacton with Steve.

After last week's great fishing we did not have unrealistic expectations for a repeat performance. But it turns out we should have started fishing at Pepacton earlier than we did this year. 

We repeated last week's effort. My first cast at Arena produced a massive hit by a big smallmouth. I played the fish into shallow water and then lost it. Turns out I grabbed my trout rod instead of my bass rod. The trout rod is very limber with little backbone. Great for trout, not so much for playing bass. But it was too far to go back to the car so I spent a few hours hooking but losing bass because I just couldn't set the hook properly with that noodle rod. No matter, the fish were biting even at some areas they were not last week. Still exciting and fun.

We went back to the car, ate lunch, and drove to Cat Hollow where we caught nothing again. We got back to our fishing spot at Arena by 5pm and this time I made sure I had the correct rod. My first cast again produced a nice smallmouth and away the fishing action went. We would catch 2-3 bass, wait for a few more bass to move into our spot, and then land another 2 or 3 nice bass. This continued until the sun set. The water was a foot or so lower than last week so we had to follow the roadbeds further out into the water to get the correct water depth but once we did it was catching time. We even caught a few largemouths this time, a fat yellow perch, and a fairly big chain pickerel that looked to weigh about 3 pounds. Another great day!

A few pics. Jim with a nice smallie:

 

The smallmouth smiled for the camera, not sure what the fisherman was doing with that squint and goofy smile! Steve's pickerel:



We got back to the car just before dark. Another awesome day. Hoping for some rain before next Thursday, if we get some rain we will be back at Pepacton next week. We have officially salvaged what was a poor bass fishing season.


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## JimG. (Oct 2, 2020)

10/1-Pepacton with Steve.

It looked like a carbon copy of the past 2 Thursdays sunny and pleasant but windy. The fishing would not play out that way though. At Arena two things were clear...the creek was up and running strong after the rain Wednesday and the reservoir was about a foot lower than last week. We got out to our fishing spot out on the roadbeds and hooked nothing. Out to the pan fishing spot and we landed a bunch of yellow perch. No bass. So we headed back to the car to eat lunch. We stopped and fished the creek a bit. Lo and behold I land a decent 12" brown trout and Steve landed a pretty nice brown: 

So the creek has the fish that are biting. Anyway we ate and headed to Cat Hollow...where we got skunked again.
Back to Arena for the last fishing session this season most likely. We decided to go to the mouth of the creek and fish in that area instead of following the roadbeds. Turns out we might have walked right by the fish in the early session. Steve goes on a tear and lands 3 nice smallmouths in 15 minutes:

These were big smallmouths. Turns out the creek water is 10 degrees cooler than the reservoir in general so the water in that area was cooler than the relatively warm reservoir and this specific temperature gradient was attracting the fish. Now I'm wondering where my fish are. I threw my next cast to the middle of the mouth of the creek and got a huge hit followed by 3 drag pulling runs. This was a nice fish. I got it to shore and realized it was a big trout but its' markings puzzled me:

Steve saw the battle and came over to see. He identified it as a tiger trout but he says he's never seen one this big. It's a hybrid trout the result of a cross between a brown and a brook trout. This one was 4.5 to 5 lbs. And then my fishing day went nuts. Within another 5 casts I land another tiger trout not as big. Then Steve lands a rainbow trout. We have about 45 minutes left and still no bass for me. From that point until we stopped fishing at sunset I landed 5 smallmouths just like the ones Steve, who was also landing smallmouths, had landed earlier.

We had to work for those fish we hiked a total of 7 miles for the day, but that last 2 hours was totally worth it. A trip to the EB next week and bass fishing mostly done for me.


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## JimG. (Oct 13, 2020)

10/8-EB with Steve.

Went out for a last day on the East Branch. Sunny and pleasant but very windy. Water pretty low too.

Fished from 1:30 to sunset and neither of us caught anything. We did enjoy several cocktails and I got a great workout rowing against the wind most of the day.

An obvious period marking the end of bass fishing season. Switching over to trout fishing until skiing starts, whenever that is.


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## 180 (Oct 13, 2020)

love the updates JIM


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## JimG. (Oct 28, 2020)

10/25-solo at EB.

Went to the controlled river section below the dam. All parking areas packed with cars and people. Even Brady's bend was a disaster. Watched from the riverbank as 2 fly fishermen shouted at each other over who was at a particular beat first. Never even put my waders on. Not sure what possessed me to try to fish on a weekend. 

Went to the reservoir which was very low. But no other fishermen. So I put my waders on and walked out to the first island and fished around the entire shoreline. Caught nothing. 

Been trying to get a decent day to go out this week but it just isn't happening. Now snow is on the way. I'll keep looking out for a weekday to hit the river again but if that doesn't happen soon Fishing 2020 is over.


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## JimG. (Nov 3, 2020)

Looks like some trout fishing weather coming up later this week.

Thursday will probably be my last day of fishing in 2020.


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## hiking346 (Nov 4, 2020)

JimG. said:


> So since ski season 19-20 got shut down I decided to do some wading and fishing on 3/21. After passing the main parking area which was packed and seeing fly fishermen fishing shoulder to shoulder near the spillway of the East Branch in the bathtub I drove to my more secluded spot at Brady's bend. Nobody there. Parked and wadered up. Had to bushwack downstream to my favorite pool there has been no trimming of pathways yet so it was more like bramble busting and getting to the water required planning.
> View attachment 26622
> Once I got in to the pool I had targeted it had of course changed over the winter with many snags and logs moved around. My favorite cast was very difficult to line up with a fallen tree guarding the shoreline area I was aiming at. So of course I lost a spinner snagging it on the tree. There are few spots to wade out to the best casts; most of this pool is very deep.
> View attachment 26624
> ...



great


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## JimG. (Nov 8, 2020)

11/8-EB solo

Can't remember the last time I fished this late into November usually I'm skiing around now. But the great weather demanded I get out and do some wading. I had no expectations and after bushwacking into my favorite deep pools I was actually starting to sweat. After an hour of casting various lures into the deepest water I could find I decided the fish were not in deep water.
So I moved upstream from Brady's Bend and fished the faster moving riffles and eddies up to the Phoebe Hole. The first fast water run I cast into got me my first fish of the day, a brown trout. After landing another brown I got to a great stretch of water lined with downed trees. I cast upstream right into a fast running chute and soon landed my fish of the day, a fine 15" brown:

My next cast landed another brown almost as nice, about an inch smaller. My last two trout, a brown and a brook trout were caught in the riffle just downstream of the Phoebe Hole:

At that point it was heading towards dark so I hiked back to the car. It was good to end fishing 2020 with a 6 fish day and some nice trout.


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## Nick (Nov 11, 2020)

I've been debating signing up for a boat club here in FL. The fishing near me is obviously amazing, but in the 3 yrs I've been here i've only boated like 3 times. Need more friends w boats !

Pic from Key West -


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## Rob Forster (Jan 13, 2021)

I am a fan of fishing too  hope to get to Iceland some time soon with my friends. We have already had a short trip to the North Pole and I must say that travelling in subzero temperatures is incredible! You like challenge yourself to measure the boundaries beyond which your body can go. So if you want to see what kind of dough you are made of I strongly recommend you poseidon expeditions.


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## bigbog (Feb 17, 2021)

Nice fish pictured JimG!  Nice TRs as well....  Certainly agree with you that, aside from last spring producing some constant fish(trout) action the summer was a rough one. The times I did get out with the flyrod to streams & bogs I know of that are spring-fed, either by brook or springhole....I did so very early and late, so early and late that I most often didn't have enough light for pics at all.  The hot summer did make for some nice canoeing & freshwater swimming.  The Fall fish activity really picked up...but I was still really too busy with house & yahd work to plan anything specific.


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## bigbog (Feb 17, 2021)

Nice pic Nick....nothing like those seashore temps for the youngsters to enjoy themselves out in!  Boating is so great....


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