Chapter 12 - Tributaries
West Canada Creek - Part One - Trenton Falls Bridge to Putnam Road
Discovery: Royal Water
July 15, 2003, 80 degrees, Sunny
We left Denny's car at the pulloff on Route 28 at
the end of Putnam Road and drove up to Trenton Falls Bridge. Local landowners
have attempted to restrict access to this area in recent years, but there
were no restrictions on the downstream side of the bridge. This, incidentally,
is the beginning of the 2.5-mile No Kill section. From the bridge to the
mouth of Cincinnati Creek only artificial lures are permitted and all trout
must be returned to the river.
Most of this part of the river is well away from the road, requiring a hike to get to the best water. Although it's not Public Fishing Rights water, DEC, through a Fish & Wildlife Management Act (FWMA) program, has made special arrangements with landowners to allow access. This section is stocked with brown trout, including some 15-inch fish. Stocked fish and holdovers from previous years grow quite rapidly on the abundant insect life in the river. Consequently, fly fishermen from all over the northeast consider this stretch Royal Water. They have given some of the best riffs, runs and pools such names as Banock's Riff, Poor Man's Pool, Stedson's Pool, Barking Dog Run, Paradise, Door Knocker, Blue Barn Bend, High Banks, Mal's Rock and Power's Bend.
What
most people don't know is that this is Royal Water in more ways than one.
Fact is, West Canada Creek got its name because it was the western boundary
of a 90,000-acre Royal Grant Sir William Johnson's
received from the King of England in the 1760s. The Royal Grant line
still appears on local deeds.
We unloaded the canoe on the east end of the bridge
and lifted it and our gear over the guardrail where a trail leads down
the bank and through the woods to a launch site a couple hundred yards
below the bridge. I parked the Jeep on the other side of the bridge and
walked back, noting the new spillway on the Canal Feeder Dam. Above this
dam West Canada water is diverted to a feeder canal that runs some six
miles to Ninemile Creek and on to the Barge (Erie) Canal.
When we were partway down the trail, I motioned to Denny to set the canoe
down. A great blue heron was standing on a rock at the end of the trail.
When I got too close with my camera, the heron's great-grey wings lifted
its long-legged body and slowly pumped downstream. Always a spectacular
sight.
As we sat the canoe in the river, a fly fisherman
climbed down the opposite bank and waded into the water below the bridge.
We launched at 9 a.m. For many years this was the
time to catch the outflow from the Trenton Falls Power Station, but this
year there seems to be no rhyme or reason to water fluctuations. Because
the river was down, we had to paddle to the other side to find water deep
enough to float the canoe through the first rapids. Once through the "chute"
that ran down the west bank, we entered the roughest water on this section
of the river. Fortunately, this seemingly violent water is more bluster
than bite---waves and spray but no boulders.
We beached the canoe and fished the run below the rapids.
Once through the rapids, I dropped Denny off at the
upper end of a long run and I took the canoe to the lower end. After
taking several photographs, I cast a gold Phoebe to the middle of the river
and immediately hooked a 10-inch brown trout. Not a good sign. A first-cast
fish can put a hex on the rest of the day. As I released the trout, a fly
fisherman crossed below Stedson's Pool.
Our
plan was to take plenty of time, stopping and fishing the best runs and
pools, but, as they say, best-laid plans go awry. Two or three
fly fishermen occupied practically every good run. In most cases we had
to float the canoe right through the run because there wasn't enough water
behind the fishermen. As we went by I explained and apologized, but got
grumbles and stares in response. If manners could maim . . .
One "feather dipper" reluctantly admitted they had
done well that morning, taking some 18-inch browns.
At 10:45 we stopped at Barking Dog Run. There were
no fishermen there, but right on cue a beagle named "Princess" came down
to the water to greet us. I don't know if she was cheering or jeering.
In any case, a young lady coaxed her back up the bank.
When we didn't even see a fish in this oft-productive run, I told Denny to get ready for Blue Barn Bend. This section of deep flatwater is usually difficult to fish from shore or by wading. I had hooked dozens of trout here over the years from a canoe, so I was confident we would at least see fish.
The No Kill section is Royal Water to fly fishermen.
As I angled the canoe towards the outside bend, I told Denny to cast
tight to the shoreline. His floating Rapala dropped within a hair's breath
of a shoreline rock, left a dimple on the water and disappeared. Denny
held the spinning rod high, the fish dove for the bottom and the spinning
reel gave up line. This was no 10-inch trout.
Denny
was excited. "Feels like a bass!" And it was. A 14-inch smallmouth
to be exact. Photographed and released, the bass finned in shallow water
for a couple minutes before slowly swimming toward the bottom of the pool.
There were three fly fishermen at the run near Mal's
Rock. The first two weren't too friendly. The third was standing waste
deep in the middle of the river, so I told him if he promised not to hook
us on the backcast we would pass behind him. He responded with a smile
and good humor. He had just released a good fish.
We landed the canoe near the mouth of Cincinnati Creek.
A cobble bar that appeared to cross the river marked the mouth of Cincinnati Creek. A couple dozen Canada Geese, including goslings were on the bar, and as we rounded Powers Bend, a family of mergansers proceeded us through the rapids to the takeout. It was 11:35.
Follow the path of this discovery trip by clicking on Mohawk Valley Maps: by Maptech.
Type Trenton Falls, select New York, press GO! Use margin arrows to follow the West Canada Creek downstream.
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