Canoe fishing floats my boat
By Fred LeBrun
There are two great untruths loose on the world
concerning canoe fishing in the Adirondacks in late spring. The
first is that casting a fly or flipping a spinner from a canoe,
as opposed to fishing from shore, ensures you will avoid black flies.
In your dreams, baby. Sometimes, it’s true, you can slip by
these dreaded flies always on the lookout for fresh blood. The bigger
ponds or wider rivers may offer respite. But my experience is that
more often than not, they find you anyway, the boogers.
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Illustration by Jerry
Russell |
Some anglers, especially if they’re coming
a fair distance, wait until after July Fourth to go canoe fishing.
If you can’t wait, you might want to call a guide or outfitter
for advice and assistance.
It’s well worth the few dollars. Because you can’t get
around the fact that you have to carry a canoe to reach many waters.
Even the shortest portage tends to work up a bit of a sweat, and
that’s when the agony begins. You can’t carry a canoe
and fishing equipment and swat flies at the same time.
The other great untruth is that canoe fishing is as easy and safe
as just plain canoeing. Not even close. Let me tell you of a little
incident that ingrained itself in my memory a decade ago.
A buddy and I set up camp near some ponds north of Ticonderoga,
and as dusk approached, we slipped his 16-foot Old Town into the
water to ply the shoreline for whatever was interested. In the middle
of the pond was another canoe with two gentlemen, probably new to
all this. The fellow in the stern was broad enough to slop over
the gunnels on both sides, which looked hazardous enough in its
own right.
What soon followed, framed against the setting sun, was an outdoor
video for the ages. The fellow in the bow seemed to be fishing live
bait or was just innocently staring at his line. But the guy in
back was casting some sort of plug or spinner and swearing a lot.
He would cast three-quarters forward and to the right, using his
entire body, lunging as he released the lure. The canoe shuttered
every time, but that was all.
The big guy couldn’t seem to get enough distance with his
full-body technique, so he got the bright idea to try it at a right
angle to the canoe. The poor sot up front never saw it coming. When
the guy in back heaved his line, the canoe dipped quickly in the
same direction, so his partner instinctively corrected with a weight
shift—at the same moment the man in back did the same. In
the next instant we saw four arms, four legs and two fishing rods
up in the air as the canoe rolled over. The cursing that ensued
would have driven a railroad man to stuttering in embarrassment.
We rescued the pair. They were none the worse for a good soaking,
but the pond claimed their gear, which included a full case of imported
beer. I do believe they immediately knocked down their tent, packed
up and went home. The moral of the story: Be careful. There’s
more to this canoe fishing than meets the eye.
PADDLE AND FISH, PADDLE AND FISH
Having delivered fair warning, I must say that there is no better
combination of soul-satisfying enjoyments in the Adirondacks than
fishing while canoeing. It’s a pastime as old as the hills.
Frank Morrison, 80, of Tupper Lake remembers carting a canoe a half-century
ago with his pal, Ivan Pelno, from Hoel Pond across the railroad
tracks into Turtle and Slush Ponds and then portaging the better
part of a mile to Clamshell, which offered the better fishing. They’d
go in on Friday after work and come out Sunday evening. They slept
in jungle hammocks and dined on fresh fish. During the days, they
would paddle and fish, paddle and fish.
Ah, heaven. The true joy of these memories is that in many places
in the Adirondack Park you can still do that. Opportunities for
canoe fishing are endless. If you’re after trout, you might
try a section of the famed Ausable River, just below the Lake Placid
Airport down to the bridge at Route 86. Or any number of brookie
ponds in the backcountry.
“Otherwise, most rivers and streams that are good canoeing
in the Adirondacks offer better opportunities for warm-water fishing
for bass, pike, pickerel, pan fish,” notes Pete Burns of Beaver
Brook Outfitters. The Saranac River and the rivers in the northwestern
Adirondacks fit the bill, as do most of the Park’s lakes.
Ponds are Pete’s specialty. But a favorite float trip for
bass, pike and related kin, along with the occasional trout, is
a meandering section of the lower Schroon River. Put in on the east
bank just below the bridge connecting East Schroon River Road and
River Road. This is a little upstream from the Warren County Home.
The fishing is excellent for about three miles. But be sure to pull
out before the Grist Mill Dam in Warrensburg. Otherwise, you’ll
have your own all-legs-in-the-air experience to relate.
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