Classic Trout Fly Fishing: Adirondack Waters

The Au Sable River in the state of New York runs from the Adirondack Mountains and flows past the town of Lake Placid, to empty into Lake Champlain a few miles east of Keeseville, New York. The river forms a partial boundary between Clinton County and Essex County. The Au Sable River is known for its spectacular gorge, Ausable Chasm, and its trout fishing. The legendary West Branch of the Au Sable River, located in the Adirondack's majestic High Peaks, tumbles and flows, twists and turns through one of the most pristine and scenic regions in the East. With miles of pocket water, vast stretches of slow moving water, deep pools and long channels, the West Branch provides opportunities for anglers unequaled anywhere.Unique to the East, the famed West Branch of the Au Sable River remains legendary for its abundant hatches of Caddis, Mayflies and Stoneflies.6 and 1/2 miles of the West Branch Au Sable River are dedicated as year-round catch-n-release artificial lures-only water.

ADIRONDACK FOREST PRESERVE

With 2,800 lakes and ponds and 30,000 miles of rivers and streams, the Adirondacks' aquatic resources are also extraordinary.
The four major drainages found here are the St. Lawrence, Hudson, and Mohawk Rivers, and Lake Champlain. The many lakes and ponds, rivers and streams of the Forest Preserve support thriving communities of game fish. In many remote ponds, DEC is working to restore and maintain the native brook trout. Suitable waters are managed for other "salmonids" such as lake trout, brown trout, rainbow trout, and kokanee salmon. Anglers can also find an abundance of feisty "warm water" fish, like smallmouth and largemouth bass, northern pike, yellow perch and bullheads.

WEST CANADA CREEK

West Canada Creek,is 75 mi long, and rises out of the lakes of the Adirondacks in central Hamilton Co. It flows generally SW to Prospect, then SE, past Middleville, to Mohawk R. at Herkimer Dam, 2 mi E of Prospect. It impounds at the Hinckley Reservoir. At Trenton Falls North of Utica there is a scenic gorge, with several falls supplying power to Utica.There aren't many wild trout in West Canada Creek, mainly because there are so few tributaries suited to spawning. Before the Hinckley Reservoir, there were barely any trout in the lower river at all. Once cool water began flowing from the bottom of the reservoir, the lower river became much better trout habitat and the state began stocking it in 1924. Still, if the West Canada is a put-and-take river, it's a good one. The trout you catch here are on average bigger and more deeply colored than in most New York streams.

BLACK RIVER

The Black River is a river that empties into the eastern end of Lake Ontario on the shore of Jefferson County, New York. The origin of the name is not clear, but it may stem from the tannic acid that darkens the water in places. The river's source is in various locations, including Little Black Creek and North Lake, in the foothills of the Adirondack Mountains in northern New York. The river ends at Lake Ontario west of the City of Watertown. For the last few miles it forms the boundary between the Towns of Brownville and Hounsfield. The river is an excellent location for fishing. Abundant trout, salmon, bass, and pike are present in the stream.The Black River emerges from the Adirondack woods at Kayuta Lake, another reservoir built to hold water for the barge canal. Neither the Kayuta nor the other impoundments on the Black release stored water; they're run-of-the-river dams that usually allow whatever water comes in to spill into the river below. A heavy rain will swell it quickly to 1,000 cubic feet per second (cfs), but in the summer it will drop back down to a fishable 400 cfs in just a couple of days. The Black can get low and warm in midsummer. But the variety of habitat, from pocketwater to deep pools to dependable tributaries, provides refuge for fish at such times as well as during bitter winters. Therefore, as on the West Canada, the Black's trout grow large. And while its basin is similar to the West Canada's, the Black seems to clean the snowpack out of its watershed more efficiently. While the West Canada is roaring below a spilling reservoir in May, the Black is settling down, warming up, and hosting fine hatches of Quill Gordons, Hendricksons, Cahills, and other typical Eastern
hatches, including large Green Drakes.