Day 1: Undisclosed Pond - 'High Peaks' Area; Thursday October 12th, 2017
I was up early and headed out of Bloomsburg, PA, a little after 4 am. This was to be my final stillwater fishing trip of 2017 as the general trout season - in most northeast states - ends on October 15th. I was headed up to the Adirondack Park with the intention of spending 3-4 days fishing various ponds. This would be my 4th trip, there and all were new destinations. Hopefully, I'd stumble across some goodies which would turn into favorites.
My first destination was Undisclosed Pond in the 'High Peaks' area of the Adirondack park. Its supposed to have Windfall strain Heritage Brook Trout - one of several strains native to the park. Additionally, it's rumored to have some natural reproduction though it receives supplemental stocking most years. This would be my first time fishing this area, though I'd driven through it before. Its ruggedly beautiful, but does see quite a bit of folks, particularly on weekends.
I arrived at the trail head around 10:30 am, so, its 6-1/2 hours from Bloomsburg to there. I was surprised to see the parking area full on a weekday. There was one spot at the edge and this is where I parked. After gathering all of my items, I hoisted the backpack and float tube and started up the trail. The hike is approx 0.6 miles with a moderate climb. About halfway up, I met an older couple on the way out. They indicated no one was fishing, but, there was an extended family of Canadians at the pond. I had to be careful of my foot placement. My LL Bean Cresta Hikers are 10 years old and the Vibram soles are very worn from all my trips when I lived in Montana. I welcome rocks, but, in these parts, the exposed, weathered tree roots have caused my some slips and falls. After about 25 minutes I arrived at the pond......and ran right into the extended family who appeared to be hiking out. There were about 8 or 9 people and most were equipped with nice Nikon DSLRs. They insisted on taking pictures of and with me. It took approx 15 minutes to rotate them all through. Finally I made my way to the pond and this sight:
It took me awhile to get my waders on and rig up both fly rods. These lake Brookies are much harder to catch than Rainbows and Cutthroats and I've had considerable difficulties hooking them. They tend to go deep during daylight hours unless something brings them up. To this end, I've been researching different techniques - mostly out of the UK - to even the odds. One rod I rigged up a sink tip line with an AP Emerger as the top fly and an olive Peacock Callibaetis Nymph on the point. I rigged my other rod with my trademark type 2 full sinking line and 3 flies: an olive AP Emerger as the top dropper, a Denny's Callibaetis Nymph (standard tan) as the middle fly, and a micro-leech on the point.
By the time I eased out into the water it was likely around noon. The first think I noticed was the pond has very clear water, with visibility looking to be 10-14 feet. Also, unlike many northeast ponds; Undisclosed Pond has extensive, firm shallows around its deep bowl and looks like it could easily be wade fished around most of its perimeter. Secondly, in spite of the streaky abnormally warm weather, its water was quite cool.
As for the fishing; I didn't even see a trout for about the first 3 hours. I spend that time fishing along the east and south sides of the pond. Using the 3 fly rig, I alternated trolling with casting. Around 2 pm, in an effort to shake things up, I re-rigged the second rod with a floating flyline, a long leader, and 3 flies below a strike indicator. I fished off the shore in 15-20 feet of water, without success.
Just before 3 pm, I'd made my way close to the west end of the pond. This area has some shallows, some weedy areas, vegetation which grows to the shoreline, and a couple of large stick piles (which I have no idea how they got there). It was here I spied some rising trout. There were several fish working just off the shore line, around the weeds and stick piles. The correct thing to do was to switch over to an intermediate or sink tip line with small nymphs or emergers. I thought I'd be lazy and see if I could get them with the 3 fly rig. I made several casts and finally caught one......my first Windfall strain Heritage Brook Trout:
I continued fishing, but it was obvious the type 2 sinker was pulling the flies down below the fish. So, I re-rigged - again - with the sink tip and two flies; an olive AP Emerger as the top fly with a Denny's Callibaetis Nymph (standard tan) on the point. Over the next 2-1/2 hours, I fished this, catching 3 more. I lost another 4 or 5. All were mostly in the 11 inch range.
I'd been milking this for all it was worth, but, sometime after 5, the sun went behind the mountain, and I started losing daylight quicker than anticipated. Finally, I abandoned the fishing and kicked over to the put in area. By the time I loaded up, it was 6:15 and getting dark quick. I made the hike out in about 25 minutes, arriving at the trail head at 6:40 pm. Within minutes of starting down the highway, it was dark. This surprised me as I didn't expect dusk to be until around 7:30 pm. Note: All of the fish took the Denny's Callibaetis Nymph.......
Day 2: Vee Pond - Greater Saranac Lakes area; Friday October 13th, 2017
I was up at 5:30 am. By the time I'd had breakfast and headed out from Glen's Falls / Queensbury; it was 6:30 am. My destination was Vee Pond in the Greater Saranac Lakes area, accessed by trail from a campground. Its about two hours, from Glen's Falls / Queensbury to points just west or north Saranac Lake. I also made a wrong turn - actually I didn't make the turn I should have - and found myself headed to Tupper Lake on Hwy 3. That probably cost me a good 20+ minutes. The highways and roads coming out of Saranac Lake can be a bit confusing. Finally, I made my way to the campground. The attendant wasn't sure which trail I needed to be on for Vee, but, when I mentioned it goes by Quick Walk Pond, she directed me to a campground road opposite site C23. I found this one; its actually another stub providing access to other campsites. I saw two trucks parked and found an unnamed trail. It was approx 10 am once I started the hike.
There is no trail head and the trail - initially - is marked by occasional blue trail badges. In short order, I found myself at Quick Walk Pond, a Brook Trout Pond just a short walk from the campground.
I continued on, up over a little hill, dropping down to Big Irregular Pond. At this point, the unlabeled trail system becomes very confusing. First there is an intersection with up to 3 trails. One trail is marked with red badges; the other blue. I made a couple of wrong turns but quickly corrected my mistakes. Finally around 10:40 am, I hit the southern lobe of Vee Pond.
Finding and getting down to the pond, to be able to launch my float tube was a bit of an endeavor. The shoreline is generally steep with lots of deadfall around the lake. I finally found a less-than-ideal place to put in on the west side of the southern lobe. There were 4 people, in two canoes fishing. They'd caught a couple of fish and didn't sound like the action was great. As with the day before, I rigged up one of the fly rods with a type 2 full sinking line and 3 flies. Because forage fish are supposed to be present in the pond, I went with a sz10 Gray Ghost as the top dropper, a Denny's Callibaetis Nymph (standard tan) as the middle fly, and a micro-leech on the point.
By the time I put in, it was after 11 am, and the other folks were packing out. As I pulled away from shore, I started a troll and instantly had a grab which I missed. I made a quick figure 8 troll on the tip of the southern lobe, losing a fish and then catching this nice Rainbow after a total fishing time of approx 20 minutes.
This fish nosed at 14 inches and took the Denny's Callibaetis Nymph. I thought the action was going to be red-hot. I had a few more hits, but, the action came to a standstill for most of the afternoon. I fished around the south 'V' of the pond, alternating trolling with casting into cover. I found one very fishy-looking area composed of moderately shallow water off a small bay and vegetated point on the southeast side of the southern lobe. Around 2:20 pm, I crawled out for lunch and thought about tactics. Afterwards, I re-rigged the second rod with a floating line, two chironomid pupa, and a balanced, black micro-leech, all under a strike indicator. The water, off the shoreline was around 17-18 ft deep. I searched for a likely spot to fish and was about to kick over to the aforementioned shallow water area off the point and bay, but spotted a litter/foam line in an area off the southeast shore. This was a product of the morning and early afternoon breezes. I moved in and made a few casts into the edge of the litter/foam line. After my second or third cast, the indicator dipped under and I had a fish. I assumed it would be another Rainbow, but, was surprised when I netted a Brookie of about 11 inches.
Hanging flies under a strike indicator is my favorite tactic and has taken many Rainbows and Cutthroats over the last, few years. I even regularly used it with great success at Thompson Lake - a trophy trout fishery on Minnesota's North Shore near Grand Marais. However, I've never taken a Brook Trout with the method despite lots of time spent - until this day. That was to be it for the day, though. I spent a good hour working this area and some adjacent, open water, before taking out as the afternoon tended toward dusk.
Departing shot:
On the hike out, I made no wrong turns and completed the walk out around 6 pm. My DeLorme Earthmate GPS showed 1.28 miles for the trip out.
Day 3: Far Pond - Greater Saranac Lakes area; Saturday October 14th, 2017
I was up at 6 am, Saturday morning, and made the 2 hour drive up to the Lake Clear junction and turned north on Route 30. After a few miles, I spotted a dirt road, labeled as leading to a camp. I believed this to be the access road for the trail going to Near Pond and Far Ponds. After making my way up the road, I found a locked gate on the left fork, which I assume leads to the camp. On the right was an unlabeled parking area with another locked gate. At the gate, I found an unmarked road heading one way and an unmarked trail cutting west which I assumed headed to Near Pond.
I took the road and in short order, found myself near the southwest point of Near Pond. I made a quick detour, down to the pond, to take some photos:
I continued on to Far Pond and figured I'd save Near Pond for the afternoon if the fishing was slow at Far Pond. Both of these ponds are stocked with Brook Trout. This morning, I'd made no wrong turns on the highway or the trail and arrived at Far Pond after about 25 minutes. The road/trail has downed trees across it in four places, but, they're easy to negotiate. My DeLorme Earthmate GPS had the level walk at 0.82 miles.
Again I started with a type 2 full sinking line and 3 flies: an olive AP Emerger as the top dropper, a Denny's Callibaetis Nymph (standard tan) as the middle fly, and a micro-leech on the point. I eased into the water around 10:15. I spent the first 1-1/2 hours working the east and southeast side of the pond, with no success. The pond is fairly shallow here and I spent a lot of time pulling weeds off the flies. Just prior to noon, I'd been working an area not quite midpoint on the south side and decided I'd move towards the deeper, west end of the pond before taking out for lunch and making the trip over to Near Pond. As I kicked over, I did a fast troll and had a solid grab at 11:49 am. After a couple of minutes, I netted the nicest Brookie of the trip, nosing at just 13 inches. As with almost all of my previous fish; it took the tan, Denny's Callibaetis Nymph.
I continued on, alternating casting with trolling. I had another solid grab at the east end of the pond, which I missed. I also began to see a few intermittent rises off the shoreline. Around 1 pm, I took out, had a quick lunch and re-rigged with an intermediate line; an olive AP Emerger with the Denny's Callibaetis Nymph on the point. By the time I got back out on the water it was close to 2 pm. A group of 3 people came in for some quick sightseeing, then left. Otherwise I had the pond to myself. I also kept seeing sporadic rises off the southern shore and into the middle of the lake. I had several hits, but no takes. Eventually I re-rigged the same two flies on my sink-tip and instantly had a hard grab.....which I missed. I eventually hooked and lost another trout, but, all-in-all, it was a frustrating afternoon. The fish appeared to be sipping small midges. Normally, if something brings these fish up; I can normally catch them with the Callibaetis Nymph or AP Emerger, but, there was something they didn't like.
The rises pretty much stopped around 4:30 and I took out at 5 pm, loaded up, and made the quick walk out.
Observations, Conclusions, and Notes:
I was up early and headed out of Bloomsburg, PA, a little after 4 am. This was to be my final stillwater fishing trip of 2017 as the general trout season - in most northeast states - ends on October 15th. I was headed up to the Adirondack Park with the intention of spending 3-4 days fishing various ponds. This would be my 4th trip, there and all were new destinations. Hopefully, I'd stumble across some goodies which would turn into favorites.
My first destination was Undisclosed Pond in the 'High Peaks' area of the Adirondack park. Its supposed to have Windfall strain Heritage Brook Trout - one of several strains native to the park. Additionally, it's rumored to have some natural reproduction though it receives supplemental stocking most years. This would be my first time fishing this area, though I'd driven through it before. Its ruggedly beautiful, but does see quite a bit of folks, particularly on weekends.
I arrived at the trail head around 10:30 am, so, its 6-1/2 hours from Bloomsburg to there. I was surprised to see the parking area full on a weekday. There was one spot at the edge and this is where I parked. After gathering all of my items, I hoisted the backpack and float tube and started up the trail. The hike is approx 0.6 miles with a moderate climb. About halfway up, I met an older couple on the way out. They indicated no one was fishing, but, there was an extended family of Canadians at the pond. I had to be careful of my foot placement. My LL Bean Cresta Hikers are 10 years old and the Vibram soles are very worn from all my trips when I lived in Montana. I welcome rocks, but, in these parts, the exposed, weathered tree roots have caused my some slips and falls. After about 25 minutes I arrived at the pond......and ran right into the extended family who appeared to be hiking out. There were about 8 or 9 people and most were equipped with nice Nikon DSLRs. They insisted on taking pictures of and with me. It took approx 15 minutes to rotate them all through. Finally I made my way to the pond and this sight:
It took me awhile to get my waders on and rig up both fly rods. These lake Brookies are much harder to catch than Rainbows and Cutthroats and I've had considerable difficulties hooking them. They tend to go deep during daylight hours unless something brings them up. To this end, I've been researching different techniques - mostly out of the UK - to even the odds. One rod I rigged up a sink tip line with an AP Emerger as the top fly and an olive Peacock Callibaetis Nymph on the point. I rigged my other rod with my trademark type 2 full sinking line and 3 flies: an olive AP Emerger as the top dropper, a Denny's Callibaetis Nymph (standard tan) as the middle fly, and a micro-leech on the point.
By the time I eased out into the water it was likely around noon. The first think I noticed was the pond has very clear water, with visibility looking to be 10-14 feet. Also, unlike many northeast ponds; Undisclosed Pond has extensive, firm shallows around its deep bowl and looks like it could easily be wade fished around most of its perimeter. Secondly, in spite of the streaky abnormally warm weather, its water was quite cool.
As for the fishing; I didn't even see a trout for about the first 3 hours. I spend that time fishing along the east and south sides of the pond. Using the 3 fly rig, I alternated trolling with casting. Around 2 pm, in an effort to shake things up, I re-rigged the second rod with a floating flyline, a long leader, and 3 flies below a strike indicator. I fished off the shore in 15-20 feet of water, without success.
Just before 3 pm, I'd made my way close to the west end of the pond. This area has some shallows, some weedy areas, vegetation which grows to the shoreline, and a couple of large stick piles (which I have no idea how they got there). It was here I spied some rising trout. There were several fish working just off the shore line, around the weeds and stick piles. The correct thing to do was to switch over to an intermediate or sink tip line with small nymphs or emergers. I thought I'd be lazy and see if I could get them with the 3 fly rig. I made several casts and finally caught one......my first Windfall strain Heritage Brook Trout:
I continued fishing, but it was obvious the type 2 sinker was pulling the flies down below the fish. So, I re-rigged - again - with the sink tip and two flies; an olive AP Emerger as the top fly with a Denny's Callibaetis Nymph (standard tan) on the point. Over the next 2-1/2 hours, I fished this, catching 3 more. I lost another 4 or 5. All were mostly in the 11 inch range.
I'd been milking this for all it was worth, but, sometime after 5, the sun went behind the mountain, and I started losing daylight quicker than anticipated. Finally, I abandoned the fishing and kicked over to the put in area. By the time I loaded up, it was 6:15 and getting dark quick. I made the hike out in about 25 minutes, arriving at the trail head at 6:40 pm. Within minutes of starting down the highway, it was dark. This surprised me as I didn't expect dusk to be until around 7:30 pm. Note: All of the fish took the Denny's Callibaetis Nymph.......
Day 2: Vee Pond - Greater Saranac Lakes area; Friday October 13th, 2017
I was up at 5:30 am. By the time I'd had breakfast and headed out from Glen's Falls / Queensbury; it was 6:30 am. My destination was Vee Pond in the Greater Saranac Lakes area, accessed by trail from a campground. Its about two hours, from Glen's Falls / Queensbury to points just west or north Saranac Lake. I also made a wrong turn - actually I didn't make the turn I should have - and found myself headed to Tupper Lake on Hwy 3. That probably cost me a good 20+ minutes. The highways and roads coming out of Saranac Lake can be a bit confusing. Finally, I made my way to the campground. The attendant wasn't sure which trail I needed to be on for Vee, but, when I mentioned it goes by Quick Walk Pond, she directed me to a campground road opposite site C23. I found this one; its actually another stub providing access to other campsites. I saw two trucks parked and found an unnamed trail. It was approx 10 am once I started the hike.
There is no trail head and the trail - initially - is marked by occasional blue trail badges. In short order, I found myself at Quick Walk Pond, a Brook Trout Pond just a short walk from the campground.
I continued on, up over a little hill, dropping down to Big Irregular Pond. At this point, the unlabeled trail system becomes very confusing. First there is an intersection with up to 3 trails. One trail is marked with red badges; the other blue. I made a couple of wrong turns but quickly corrected my mistakes. Finally around 10:40 am, I hit the southern lobe of Vee Pond.
Finding and getting down to the pond, to be able to launch my float tube was a bit of an endeavor. The shoreline is generally steep with lots of deadfall around the lake. I finally found a less-than-ideal place to put in on the west side of the southern lobe. There were 4 people, in two canoes fishing. They'd caught a couple of fish and didn't sound like the action was great. As with the day before, I rigged up one of the fly rods with a type 2 full sinking line and 3 flies. Because forage fish are supposed to be present in the pond, I went with a sz10 Gray Ghost as the top dropper, a Denny's Callibaetis Nymph (standard tan) as the middle fly, and a micro-leech on the point.
By the time I put in, it was after 11 am, and the other folks were packing out. As I pulled away from shore, I started a troll and instantly had a grab which I missed. I made a quick figure 8 troll on the tip of the southern lobe, losing a fish and then catching this nice Rainbow after a total fishing time of approx 20 minutes.
This fish nosed at 14 inches and took the Denny's Callibaetis Nymph. I thought the action was going to be red-hot. I had a few more hits, but, the action came to a standstill for most of the afternoon. I fished around the south 'V' of the pond, alternating trolling with casting into cover. I found one very fishy-looking area composed of moderately shallow water off a small bay and vegetated point on the southeast side of the southern lobe. Around 2:20 pm, I crawled out for lunch and thought about tactics. Afterwards, I re-rigged the second rod with a floating line, two chironomid pupa, and a balanced, black micro-leech, all under a strike indicator. The water, off the shoreline was around 17-18 ft deep. I searched for a likely spot to fish and was about to kick over to the aforementioned shallow water area off the point and bay, but spotted a litter/foam line in an area off the southeast shore. This was a product of the morning and early afternoon breezes. I moved in and made a few casts into the edge of the litter/foam line. After my second or third cast, the indicator dipped under and I had a fish. I assumed it would be another Rainbow, but, was surprised when I netted a Brookie of about 11 inches.
Hanging flies under a strike indicator is my favorite tactic and has taken many Rainbows and Cutthroats over the last, few years. I even regularly used it with great success at Thompson Lake - a trophy trout fishery on Minnesota's North Shore near Grand Marais. However, I've never taken a Brook Trout with the method despite lots of time spent - until this day. That was to be it for the day, though. I spent a good hour working this area and some adjacent, open water, before taking out as the afternoon tended toward dusk.
Departing shot:
On the hike out, I made no wrong turns and completed the walk out around 6 pm. My DeLorme Earthmate GPS showed 1.28 miles for the trip out.
Day 3: Far Pond - Greater Saranac Lakes area; Saturday October 14th, 2017
I was up at 6 am, Saturday morning, and made the 2 hour drive up to the Lake Clear junction and turned north on Route 30. After a few miles, I spotted a dirt road, labeled as leading to a camp. I believed this to be the access road for the trail going to Near Pond and Far Ponds. After making my way up the road, I found a locked gate on the left fork, which I assume leads to the camp. On the right was an unlabeled parking area with another locked gate. At the gate, I found an unmarked road heading one way and an unmarked trail cutting west which I assumed headed to Near Pond.
I took the road and in short order, found myself near the southwest point of Near Pond. I made a quick detour, down to the pond, to take some photos:
I continued on to Far Pond and figured I'd save Near Pond for the afternoon if the fishing was slow at Far Pond. Both of these ponds are stocked with Brook Trout. This morning, I'd made no wrong turns on the highway or the trail and arrived at Far Pond after about 25 minutes. The road/trail has downed trees across it in four places, but, they're easy to negotiate. My DeLorme Earthmate GPS had the level walk at 0.82 miles.
Again I started with a type 2 full sinking line and 3 flies: an olive AP Emerger as the top dropper, a Denny's Callibaetis Nymph (standard tan) as the middle fly, and a micro-leech on the point. I eased into the water around 10:15. I spent the first 1-1/2 hours working the east and southeast side of the pond, with no success. The pond is fairly shallow here and I spent a lot of time pulling weeds off the flies. Just prior to noon, I'd been working an area not quite midpoint on the south side and decided I'd move towards the deeper, west end of the pond before taking out for lunch and making the trip over to Near Pond. As I kicked over, I did a fast troll and had a solid grab at 11:49 am. After a couple of minutes, I netted the nicest Brookie of the trip, nosing at just 13 inches. As with almost all of my previous fish; it took the tan, Denny's Callibaetis Nymph.
I continued on, alternating casting with trolling. I had another solid grab at the east end of the pond, which I missed. I also began to see a few intermittent rises off the shoreline. Around 1 pm, I took out, had a quick lunch and re-rigged with an intermediate line; an olive AP Emerger with the Denny's Callibaetis Nymph on the point. By the time I got back out on the water it was close to 2 pm. A group of 3 people came in for some quick sightseeing, then left. Otherwise I had the pond to myself. I also kept seeing sporadic rises off the southern shore and into the middle of the lake. I had several hits, but no takes. Eventually I re-rigged the same two flies on my sink-tip and instantly had a hard grab.....which I missed. I eventually hooked and lost another trout, but, all-in-all, it was a frustrating afternoon. The fish appeared to be sipping small midges. Normally, if something brings these fish up; I can normally catch them with the Callibaetis Nymph or AP Emerger, but, there was something they didn't like.
The rises pretty much stopped around 4:30 and I took out at 5 pm, loaded up, and made the quick walk out.
Observations, Conclusions, and Notes:
- I didn't catch near as many as I'd liked, but, I didn't get skunked on any of the three days.
- Its a reasonable, 1 hour drive from Glen's Falls/Queensbury, to the High Peaks area.
- Its too long of a drive from Glen's Falls/Queensbury, to the greater Saranac Lakes area. Camping at one of the major campgrounds is a much better option for the future.
- With the exception of one fish; in three different ponds, all took the standard, tan, Denny's Callibaetis Nymph. It didn't matter whether it was in the top, middle, or point positions.
- Trout feeding on midges is common in the fall....out west, in the north country, and in the northeast. For finicky fish, I should try a some sort of an emerging midge, such as Gary LaFontaine's Halo Midge Emerger (which I have several in my flybox).
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