MOHAWK - Discovering the Valley of the Crystals Copyright 2002
Chapter 12 - Tributaries
The West Branch - a Very Good
Trout Stream
Some maps refer to this tributary as the West Branch
- Mohawk River. Considering it's only three miles long and the main branch
of the Mohawk is some 12 miles long to this point, it doesn't seem to deserve
that status. However, if you compare the number of fish in this rather
short stream to those in the first 12 miles of the main branch, it deserves
considerable status.
The West Branch begins at the junction of Egger
and Lyman Brooks in a State Reforestation Area, just north of Belcher Road
and west of the village of West Branch. It flows some two miles through
fields, beaver meadows and alders before crossing under Route 26 and passing
the village. From there it flows east for another mile over rock and cobble
before entering the Mohawk River.
We explored this stream in two discovery trips:
one from its mouth to Route 26, and the other from the village to the Fishermen's
Parking area on Belcher Road.
Discovery: Mouth to West Branch Village
August 8, 2000. 70 degrees, Clear blue sky
At the village of West Branch we turned east and
drove 3/4 of a mile to the end of River Road, and then walked another quarter
mile through a logging operation to the Mohawk River. It was 8:45 a.m.
when we started up the West Branch. There were no pools or runs worth fishing
until we came to the deep hole next to the abutment of an abandoned bridge.
There were fish and snags in that hole. We caught snags.
The pool under this abandoned bridge held fish but we couldn't catch
them with lures.
Upstream, loggers using heavy equipment were dragging logs to a staging
area and piling them. Denny fished a pool beside the log pile. Above
that pool the creek ran shallow over cobblestones and around boulders.
Maple and birch lined the right side of the creek, hemlock and ironwood
the left. Asters grew in open areas, adding a touch of blue to the green
foliage.
We didn't connect with fish until 9:30 when I caught
a 6-inch brookie and lost another small fish. Fifteen minutes later Denny
landed and released a 10-inch brown, and I caught a couple more brookies
from a pool near the mouth of a small tributary. More like it!
Quarried-stone riprap at a horseshoe bend just downstream from the village created a deep run that gave up a brookie. We continued upstream, noting a limestone outcrop and passing between a glacial boulder and a stand of spruce. Closer to the village the stream changed from rock and cobble to long runs of flatwater between short rapids. We hooked a half dozen brookies in the flatwater.
At 11 a.m. we fished the hole under the bridge at Houser Road, noting the Public Fishing sign on the left side of the stream. We didn't catch any fish from the bridge hole but upstream pools produced more brookies.
Denny releases the only brown trout we caught that morning.
Where the stream runs beside Route 26 a downed willow
backed up a pile of logs and other debris creating a deep pool. Our lures
failed to produce fish so we skirted the edge of a hayfield on the left
side of the stream and continued upstream to the Route 26 Bridge. A long
deep pool above the bridge held some small trout that hit but didn't connect.
We left the stream at noon, having caught and released
16 brookies and one brown. A very good morning, including the 20-minute
walk back to the Jeep.
West Branch Village to Fishermen's Parking Area.
Never Again Trout Water 
4/20/03
July 8, 2000, 70 degrees, Cloudy
After leaving Denny's car at the Fishermen's Parking Area on Belcher Road,
we drove down almost to Route 26 and started fishing upstream at a snowmobile
bridge. It was 9 a.m. Just above the bridge a long, shaded pool with
a tributary coming into the upper end produced a brookie for Denny and
a chub for me.
Willows, cherry, maple, a few dead elm, and alders
lined most of this section, although in open areas there were a variety
of wildflowers, including touch-me-nots, blue asters, wild sunflowers and
Joe-Pye weed. Beaver cuttings and slides seemed to be everywhere. Gravel
bars were perforated with deer tracks.
Where trees and alders grew tight to the water, it was almost impossible to cast without getting snagged in branches. I lost one lure in the branches that shaded a pool next to a large boulder. Persistence paid off when I dropped a Phoebe tight to the bank of a stretch of stillwater and caught an 11-inch brown trout.
At 10:25 I discovered a patch of red Cardinal flowers, the first I had ever seen. There were several log-pools along this stretch that gave up brookies and chubs.
The
streambed varied from mud to gravel. The muddy sections sucked at our feet
making it tough to wade, but the shaded pools were deep and cold. Ideal
trout habitat. The streamside vegetation---alders and Joe-Pye weed---was
so thick I waded up the middle of the creek until I came to a section where
alders formed a canopy two feet above the water. Safe haven for trout.
Fortunately when I had to climb out of this impassable section, I discovered a large beaver meadow where I could walk parallel to the stream until I found open areas to fish. At 10:45 a pool in one of the open areas gave up a 14-inch brown trout. A beautiful fish.
After passing a plank bridge and a tributary on my left, I discovered a beaver dam next to a dead elm and a field of thistles. As I circumvented this dam---feeling the wrath of thistles---I discovered another beaver dam on a side stream. A great blue heron that was fishing along the edge of the beaver pond took flight. Before leaving the area it bombarded the pond with a stream of white "soup." Missed me.
sunflowers and Joe-Pye weed in the background.
Upstream from the beaver ponds the West Branch
meanders through meadows. In this section it's easier to get to the stream,
but there are fewer shaded runs and pools. A deep pool at a sharp bend
gave up two brook trout from beneath a submerged log.
At noon I could see Denny's car, so I sat on the
streambank and waited for him to catch up. A few minutes later he dropped
down beside me, exhausted from busting through alders and Joe-Pye weed.
Although he had caught fish, he pledged, "Never again!"
Follow the path of this discovery trip by clicking on Mohawk
Valley Maps: by Maptech.
Type West Branch, select New York, press GO!
Click on margin arrows to follow the path of
the Mohawk River.
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