Fishing the Batten Kill
In the past, during Hendrickson or Sulphur time, you'd get to the river early, stake out a good pool, and then wait for the fish to rise. You'd always have some action, and if you chose properly, you might have 20 fish within casting distance.
Today, tactics are different. For instance, during the Hendricksons (May 1 to about May 20), get on the river no later than 2:30 P.M. and look for risers. If you begin to see lots of duns on the water but no rises, it's time to hoof it. You might have to hike a half mile or more before seeing a rising fish, but in the early season when the current is swift, the smaller fish have trouble surface feeding and there aren't many of them. So, when you find a fish feeding on the surface, chances are it will be a good one. During evening Hendrickson spinner falls, look for big browns in the tails of pools with deep water and good cover.
The same holds true for the river's other productive hatches, which include Paraleps in mid-May, Sulphurs in early June, and caddis most evenings from late May through mid-June. As long as the water isn't high, you're bound to see some kind of surface activity just before dark from late May through June. Don't expect catching the fish to be easy and you won't be disappointed. Even in its heyday, when trout rose all over the river, the fish were tough because the Batten Kill's swift but smooth currents make for spooky fish and tricky drag.
Another way of fooling the river's big browns is to fish nymphs in the morning--at the crack of dawn, not after breakfast. On warm spring mornings when the lilacs are in bloom, the trout are on the prowl for March Brown and caddis nymphs. The fishing can be good (at least by Batten Kill standards, which these days means a fish or two) at the heads of the faster riffles between Arlington and the New York State border. Try #10-12 Hare's-ear Nymphs or your favorite #12-16 beadhead caddis (#12-16).
TOM ROSENBAUER PHOTO
Although the Batten Kill has good water temperatures through the summer, the fishing can be spotty. You'll see some trout rising to tiny caddis and spinners in the evening, but you have to really work to find fish.
In August, once the Tricos begin, fishing can be very good. On most days the spinner fall does not get heavy until about 9 A.M. The river's big browns don't feed on Tricos, but you will find pods of rising brook trout, with a few small brown trout mixed in. The best water for Trico fishing is in the slower, deeper stretches between Arlington and Manchester. The lower river below Arlington has some Trico spinner falls, but it's not as concentrated and the fish don't seem to get on them as well.
If you like streamers, the Batten Kill in the spring is one of the best places in the Northeast to catch a brown trout over 20 inches long. Fish from dawn until the sun hits the water, and then again from 6 P.M. until dark. Cover a lot of river, paying special attention to places with deep water and heavy cover. A sinking-tip line helps, and the best patterns include #4-8 Moto's Minnows, Beadhead Lite Brite Zonkers, and Pearl Zonkers. It really doesn't matter where you fish, from the town of Manchester--where the East and West Branches join--to the New York State line and below. While the Vermont Battenkill contains all wild trout, the state of New York stocks some catchable brown trout in the lower, more marginal water below Shushan.
Tom Rosenbauer is the marketing director of Orvis Rod & Tackle in Sunderland, Vermont. He is the author of the newly updated Orvis Fly Fishing Guide (The Lyons press, 2007).
This article originally appeared in the July 2007 issue of Fly Fisherman.
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