Willo

[boom2it]

Heading up to the Willo this coming weekend to do some camping with the family and of course some fishing. Just wanted to get an idea of what will be working, caddis, small BWO, Terres., etc.?? Also will be staying at the Covered Bridge Campground, how is the fishing along that stretch? Will I be able to enter the stream there and venture the river from that point, or do I need to head down stream some, or drive? I have not yet fished the Willo, so I am excited to try some new water. Then again they are all new to me, being somewhat of a rookie, at least to this area. Will most likely hit the Beaverkill for a few hours also. And yes I know to renew my license while I am up there ....thanks

 

[wrangler]

hey boom,
i was on the willow most of the day yesterday, and the going was tough. very little, if any, bug activity. same goes for the fish. water was clear and cool but also high and fast. i saw 3 other fishermen, none of whom seemed to be having luck. i was throwing beaded nymphs, streamers, tried some dries. nothing. spent the last hour or so of the day on the beaverkill at ferndon's pool, with similar results. met a fisherman who said he'd had a few on a weighted white zonker. unfortuantely i only had my 3-wt with me, so throwing weighted, beaded flies was quite the challange and had me looking mildly retarded. water levels should be better by the time you get up there.

also, the covered bridge campsite is pretty nice. the stretch of steam there is small, and a short 3-wt should be more than enough. the wife and i stayed there one night last september, and the fishing was decent and fun. saw a local flyfishing teen slaying monster fish from places you'd never expect from such a small stream. of course, he'd been fishing it his whole life, so he knew the tricks.

fall colors and weather were beaufitul yesterday - i hope it holds out for you!

cheers,
bill

 

[boom2it]

Hey Bill,
thanks for the input, hopefully the water slows down a bit by next weekend. Is that your fishing buddy? How does your dog do while you are in the stream? That is something I would like to do someday, that is as soon as the wife OK's a dog.

 

[wrangler]

yeah, that's my old girl, chessie. we had to put her down back in june, but she lived a long full dog life. she was a great fishing buddy, once her puppyness chilled out a bit. i trained her to stay out of my way as much as possible, and she'd always get rewarded with a fun swim or two at some point in the day. for the most part, she'd just stay close behind me. sometimes she'd try to swim past me, but she'd get a little whack on the nose with the rod tip and turn right around. she'd also sniff up and down the shore line incessantly, never letting me out of her sight. i never had a complaint from any fellow anglers, they were always pleased to see a well-behaved dog on the steam. now of course, she spooked some fish and spoiled some pools from time to time, she is a water dog after all, but having her out there was worth much more than a few lost fish. also, i would never take her to an unfamiliar spot or stream; i'd always scope out the place first and bring her along next time if it seemed cool. patience with the training and respect for other anglers was key

good luck on getting the OK!

 

[wrangler]

hey boom, how'd the willow treat you?
the wife and i ended up cruising up and staying at russell brook campground saturday night. i fished the brook sat evening and sunday morning - caught a few 6-8" native brookies.

curious to hear how y'all did.

bill

 

[boom2it]

Not to good, only spent a couple hours fishing thw Willow at the covered bridge campground. Caught one but didn't bring him to hand. I was fishing right underneath the bridge in a strong run, hooked him in a nice little pocket with a bh nymph, as he came out in the current I tried to pull in some slack at that moment he shook his head and was gone. I was happy to hook him even for the 20 seconds I had him. I didn't see anyone else catching fish. Spent a couple hours on the Beaverkill Saturday just below junction pool. No luck, no bugs either. Thought I had one bite, but it could have been a leaf also. Great camping trip though, beautiful site right on the river. Stayed nice and warm in our popup. The facilities could use some upgrading and TLC, but the weather was perfect. How did you do on the river?

 

[wrangler]

didn't get a chance to fish beaverkill or willow, unfortunately. but you make these compromises when you're not alone. had a great time fishing russell brook though, surprisingly fun stream fishing with the short 3-wt

 

[FearTheHenry]

Russell Brook

Wrangler,
Is there any public access to this stream or do you have to stay at the campground to access it?

Also, how is that campground?
Nice place?

 

[wrangler]

you know, i think you do have to stay there to fish it. it was actually quite nice. quite a few trailer spots, but some pretty and quiet tent spaces at the north end. as far as campgrounds go, it was decent. here's their site: http://www.russellbrook.com/

 

[FearTheHenry]

Hey Wrangler,
Thanks for the info.