Chapter 11- The River
Oriskany To Whitesboro
Discovery: There Are Always Surprises
June 19, 2000 Cloudy, 60 degrees
Ron Gugnacki and I met at Fat Mike's Diner on Route
49 in Marcy for breakfast and to look over the topo maps that cover the
river from Oriskany Creek to Mohawk Street near Whitesboro. According to
the map, there were more horseshoe bends, oxbows and old river channels
than we had discovered thus far. To travel three miles we had to paddle
five. 
It took awhile to find a reasonably safe place to
land the canoe and a convenient place to park the takeout vehicle near
the Mohawk Street Bridge. The riverbanks are so high and muddy in this
area, we decided we would takeout on the south side of the river, just
downstream from the bridge where stone riprap would provide stable footing.
We would have to carry the canoe up the steep bank and through high grass
to the takeout vehicle we parked beside an access road. There were mosquitoes
aplenty in that high grass.
We launched the canoe at the mouth of Oriskany
Creek at 9:35 a.m. Just upstream from the creek on the other side of the
river was a water-filled ditch. Stream, ditch, and culvert outlets are
prime fishing spots on the Mohawk River, so I paddled over to the mouth
of the ditch so Ron could make a few casts. He didn't catch a fish, but
we did discover the deep tracks of a deer that had jumped from one muddy
bank to the other, a distance of some 50 feet. Amazing!
For the first mile or so the river was fairly straight.
It was also high and muddy due to recent rains. With a canopy of green
leaves reflected in brown water it looked like a southern bayou stream.
Along one stretch there appeared to be piles of cut brush laying against
the riverbank. Closer examination revealed masses of tree roots exposed
by eroded soil. Boxelder, soft maple, a few oak and lots of ferns
dominated the streamside vegetation in this area. 
The only wildlife we saw were a few songbirds, and
a woodchuck running along the bank. An hour after we launched the canoe
Ron caught his first fish, a 3 1/2-inch smallmouth, followed soon after
by a 13-inch fallfish. Both were caught on a fluorescent orange Mepps.
We also saw a big carp swimming in shallow water.
one of the oldest bridges in the area?
Ron always sees much more than I do on
these discovery trips, and he delights in pointing out unusual things to
me. For instance along this section he pointed out a log sticking straight
out a hole in the muddy bank, a giant ball of fungus, a volley ball,
a potty chair impaled on a log and a piece of 2X4 balanced on a tree laying
in the water. Everything but the fungus was placed there by the river. 
Around 11 o'clock we discovered a stream outlet
on the north side of the river. The riverbank was not steep, so we beached
the canoe and walked up the stream. It came from a crossover dam
on the canal and was in fact the extension of Crane Creek. This 1000-foot
stretch of willow-shaded water and the pool below the dam were loaded with
little smallmouth and largemouth bass, crappie and rockbass. They ate like
they had never seen a lure before. When we had our fill of catching little
fish, we headed back for the canoe by cutting crosslots, and were surprised
to see deer and turkeys feeding in a field. Ron and I wondered if this
landing---low riverbank and fresh water---was once the location of another
bateaux camp.
When we returned to the river an hour later
we had company. A big drake mallard preceded the canoe down the river.
He didn't seem to mind our company because he swam in front of the canoe
until we came to Route 291, and then jumped off the water and flew back
upstream.
The river runs right next to Route 291 for a good
1000 feet, so we could see the traffic going by. It was just beyond this
stretch that we discovered a huge pile of brush and grass high up in a
tree, compliments of the spring runoff.
Downstream from the Route 291 Bridge was a small
island with riffles on each side. Years ago we had caught trout near this
island and I had had a big brook trout follow my lure right to the canoe.
No such luck this time.
We passed a huge stone bridge abutment. According
to Benjamin Wright's 1803 Survery Map
this was the the location of one of the first bridges across the Mohawk
in this area of the valley.
It always amazes me what attracts fish and wildlife.
Case in point is the NYS Thruway Bridge at Whitesboro. We arrived there
at 1:10 p.m.---middle of the day, traffic overhead---and saw a great blue
heron, a green heron and a young goose. When Ron cast his Mepps into the
mouth of a water-filled ditch downstream from the bridge he caught a 6-pound
northern pike. After he landed that toothy critter, I poked the canoe into
the ditch and Ron caught a 2-pound largemouth bass.
It was less than a half-mile from the Thruway Bridge
to the Mohawk Street Bridge, and although we paddled slow and easy, we
reached the takeout at 2 o'clock. The mosquitoes were waiting for us.
Follow the path of this discovery trip by clicking on Mohawk Valley Maps: by Maptech.
Type Oriskany, select New York, press GO!
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