MOHAWK - Discovering the Valley of the Crystals Copyright 2002
Chapter 12 - Tributaries
Ninemile Creek Part 8 - Hoffman Road to Canal Feeder
Discovery: The Last Mile
June 30, 2003, Sunny, 75 degrees
There is so little water above the outflow of the Barge Canal Feeder, so many downed trees, and so much posted land, that I told Denny this would be our last mile on the Ninemile. I also told him it would be a short trip and not to expect any fish or surprises. Wrong again.
A topo map indicated we could get to this one-mile
stretch from the canal feeder road where it intersects Powell Road. From
there it was a short walk south to Ninemile Creek where we could explore
downstream to Hoffman Road Bridge and upstream until we ran out of water
to fish.
We parked near the feeder road gate at
10:30 a.m. The walk in was easy, the discovery fascinating. At the end
of the canal feeder was a concrete slide that angled some 50 feet to the
base of a steep hill. A sheet of white water several feet wide was running
down the slide into a pool. Much of this dam and the footbridge that crossed
the canal were old, perhaps dating back to when it was first built in 1915,
but the concrete aprons on each side of the canal at the top of the slide
were new. Apparently the New York State Thruway Authority, the new "owners"
of the canal system, considered this feeder vital to the operation of the
New Erie Canal.
We
followed a trail down the hill, holding on to trees and branches whenever
possible. While Denny fished the pool at the bottom of the slide, I followed
the outflow to Ninemile Creek and headed downstream towards the bridge.
As I crossed a horse pasture near a farm, a man on a tractor drove towards
me. There were no posted signs, but I expected some harsh words about trespassing.
When I realized he had a hay rake on the back of the tractor, I waved.
He waved back and continued around the field. Nice guy.
Until I stood where the feeder canal enters the creek, I didn't
realize the Ninemile fishery was supported by West Canada Creek
water.
I caught two brown trout from the pool under the
bridge, and two more trout and a smallmouth bass from pools and runs when
I fished back upstream. A couple of fish had followed Denny's gold lure,
but they didn't want metal. Lots of real food coming down that slide.
As expected there was very little water upstream
from the canal feeder outflow. Until I actually stood at the spot where
the feeder canal entered the Ninemile, I didn't realize West Canada Creek
supported the Ninemile Creek fishery. Without it, Ninemile Creek
would be practically devoid of water and fish for most of the year. It's
also interesting to note that prior to the last glacial period, some 10,000
years ago, West Canada Creek actually flowed west from Prospect into Ninemile
Creek on its way to the Mohawk River. The glacier dumped huge deposits
of gravel at Prospect and changed the course of West Canada Creek south
towards Herkimer.
We walked upstream as planned. I had every intention
of turning back after a half-mile or so, but couldn't resist going around
the next bend and the one after that. Although there was very little water
in the stream I did catch a small bass. When I looked around for Denny,
he was a hundred yards back sitting on rock in the middle of the stream.
I walked back and said, "Does this mean you've had enough?" He shook his
head in the affirmative and we headed back to the falls.
Denny made a few more casts in the pool below the falls before climbing up the trail we had come down. I climbed up the opposite side and was surprised I had to stop twice to catch my breath. When we met at the top at 12:30, I told Denny I must be getting old because I had to rest on the way up. He said, taking a deep breath, "That hill was so steep I had to stop three times."
It seems there were a couple of nice guys on the last mile of the Ninemile that morning.
Follow the path of this discovery trip by clicking on Mohawk Valley Maps: by Maptech.
Type Holland Patent, select New York, press GO! Click on margin arrows to follow Ninemile Creek.
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