Long Island trout fishing?
I'll be in NYC on April 14th and 15th. I then will have one extra day to go have fun. I've heard there are fly fishing opportunities on Long Island, but couldn't find any trout guide info for the area. I guess my question is this: If you had a free day in NYC and wanted to fish, where would you go?
Thanks!
bill
i just ordered a new edition of freshwater fishing on long island by calling 1 631 444-0280. if you like i would be glad to mail it to you, or you could call them direct. let me know what you prefer.
mike
There are several spring creeks out on Long Island. The Connetquot is probably the best known -- 45 minutes from NYC. It's a fun place -- although some people might not consider it "real fishing". It very much like private water fishing anywhere. There's a hatchery on the premises.
It once was a private club, and still shows that heritage. You reserve a session up to two weeks in advance, cost is $20, and a NY fishing license. Two 4-hour sessions per day per "beat". That is if you can reserve one in April -- I think that's a busy time.
From NYC, you can be in the catskills in 2-hours easy. Opening day in NY is April 1, so you'll miss the worst of that. Beaverkill, Willowemoc, West and East Branches of the Delaware. April 16th is a little before the first big hatches, I think. Also, it's a Saturday, so they're going to be shoulder to shoulder in Cairn's Pool.
I'm a Jersey guy, and you could be in the Ken Lockwood Gorge in 45 minutes. You won't believe it's New Jersey. Lots of company there as well.
Another 30 minutes beyond the Gorge and you could be fishing some great places in Eastern Pennsylvania.
That's my opinion. Maybe it's worth 2 cents.
Bill,
You mnight consider a 2 - 2.5 hour ride up to the Catskill mountains. There are great rivers there and some of the best flyfishing in the Northeast.
jed
There are basically three rivers on L.I. that have good trout fishing. The Connetquot River in Connetquot State Park, the Nissequogue River in Caleb Smith State Park, and the Carmans River in Southhaven County Park.
The first two are run on a reservation system where you reserve a beat of the river for a four hour session and pay a fee ($15-$20 last time I checked). You are likely to catch quality sized fish here as they are regularly stocked. The Connetquot is the more well known of the two and consequently they have a lot of rules to keep the "crowds" from jeopardizing the fishing. The Nissequoque is more low key and more pleasant to fish.
On the Connetquot River you phone in your reservation and if you get one you are guaranteed a spot on the river, but you won't know which one until you get there. The spots are assigned on a first-come first-serve basis. There are people that line up the night before to ensure getting there favorite beat. I think there are around 30 beats to choose from.
On the Nissequoque River, you also phone in your reservation but you reserve a specific beat so there is no waiting in line. You can just show up at the right time and that's it. They only have about 8 beats on the river so they fill up fast though. They also have some ponds but fishing on the ponds is somewhat unpredictable. If you get an early morning session on the ponds in the spring you will do OK. Once the sun comes out the fish go deep and are pretty much unreachable due to the weeds. The ponds have casting platforms so there is no boat involved.
The Carmans River is more typical of public water with smaller stocked fish and also wild brook trout. No reservation is required but there is a nominal fee ($2) and there are no time limits other than sunrise to sunset. You can fish pretty much anywhere on the river if you fly fish.
If you are interested in fishing with a guide, I believe Dean at the Orvis shop in Greenvale does some guiding on the Carmans.
They are all beautiful rivers. Enjoy!
[This message has been edited by gadabout (edited 09 February 2005).]
If you don't have access to a car to escape NYC:
There's a stocked river in Tuxedo, NY (on the west side of the Hudson). A commuter train from NJ (I think you can get on the line from NYC... or at least take the ferry to NJ) stops right on a DEC parking lot. You could probably wear your waders on the train.
I've also heard about taking the train north out of NYC on the east side of the Hudson and fishing the Croton watershed. But I don't know anything about those streams.
Its strange to see all the river I fish on mentioned here on the board. But yeah what gadabout said sums it all up. grumps, where did you get that book? I've heard its sold at local tackle shops, do you know which ones imparticular?
tim
i had that brochure in my fishing file and it was dated 1984 so i called the dec at
1 631 444-0280 and requested a current issue, they took my name and address and will mail me one. it is not a very big booklet, but it lists all the ponds, whether they are public or private and the types of fish that they contain
mike
Theres a book for sale around here by,Tom Schlichter about all the great spots to go on the island. Go to [url=http://www.outdoortom.com:c29bd]www.outdoortom.com[/url:c29bd] to check it out. Supposedly you can get it in tackle shops around the island but I havn't heard which ones. Lake Ronkoncoma(sp) tackle shop has it I believe, that was the book I was refering to. But yeah the dec one helps out alot as well, the have all the same info online.
I believe you can the Tom Schlicter book at the Camp-Site Sport Shop on route 110. There is also a nice stream guide to the Long Island rivers published by Long Island Trout Unlimited. I'm not sure where you can get it but you can probably find out from the following web site: [url=http://www.geocities.com/longislandtu/:da8ca]http://www.geocities.com/longislandtu/[/url:da8ca]
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