Adirondack Trout Streams

[ozark trout fisher]

I know that most people traveling to New York to catch trout head to the Catskills, but there is another option. The Adirondack trout streams are absolutely beautiful, and extremely fun to fish.

The first stream we spent some time on was the West Branch of the Ausable, a world famous trout stream, featured in TU's 100 best streams book. It sure is tough to fish. The main problem for me, is that I spent my time spin fishing. I spent almost all of my time fishing below a small hydro dam. I should be noted that this section is essentially put and take. We fished in August, and it hadn't been stocked since May. The first day there, I walked from one bankside boulder to another until I found some appealing pocket water. This section was right in town, so I didn't expect any trout to still be around. That notion was quickly thrown down when I caught (and released) a stocking size 8" brown trout on my first cast with a 00 Mepps spinner, my personal favorite trout lure. I few boulders and a few casts later, I hooked about a 20' rainbow, but he quickly ran downstream into some whitewater and got loose. I had to leave for the day a little later on, but I had about two more weeks to fish, and was happy the stream still had some big trout in it, despite the best efforts of many catch and keep fisherman. The next trip I caught another stocker brown in the same spot I hooked the 20" bow, but couldn't buy another bite for several hours. At this point, we decided to head to nearby Black Brook, a public tributary stream, that was said to be stocked with several hundred brownies each year. Four pound brown trout were said to be present, along with native brook trout. Fishing the whole evening shift, I only managed one small, yet colorful brook trout, and a smallmouth in this beautiful stream. No browns. A few days later I headed to the West Branch of the Ausable again. After checking twice to make sure it was indeed legal, I bought two containers of nightcrawlers, some size six hooks, and split shot. I began fishing the plunge pool (it reminds me of the pool just below the dam at Montauk) just below the dam, and this immediately produced. I caught and released five pretty brown trout between 8" and 10". All were released unharmed. After this, we headed back to Black Brook. I put my 00 Mepps back on, and in several hours of fishing caught one 7" brown trout, as well as several Yellow Perch in the stagnant pools. Apparently August isn't the time to fish in this stream, due to the fact that regulations are so non-restrictive, and water temperatures probably creep up pretty high. The next stream we headed to was the near the headwaters of the North Boquet River. I found mostly waterfalls and other non-fishable areas until we made it a ways upstream Then I saw, without question, the prettiest pool I have ever seen on a trout stream. I tied on my Panther Martin, and it took me less than two minutes to catch and release two brookies before I gave the pole to my brother, who caught an 11" jewel on his first cast. On my way back through I caught another of these pretty trout. All were released. The pool was about seven feet deep, and completely out of place in this creek like section of the Boquet. Even compared to the streams I've fished in Colorado and Montana, this is the most beautiful little stream I have ever fished. There were plenty of wild Brookies to cap it off. The Adirondacks are a great place to fish, and have some of the most beautiful streams in the world.