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Battenkill River Video

The Battenkill is a storied river in American angling and it also happens to be one of the local rivers that I get to fly fish fairly regularly. The river has many moods and doesn’t give up its secrets very readily, but for the adventurous angler (one willing to walk) there are many nooks and crannies to explore. The video that accompanies this fish-tale encompasses three trips to the Battenkill River. The fly fishing took place from both the New York and the Vermont sides of the Battenkill river. The anglers were ChrisR, Shaq, msyelf and a new friend Doug. I have exclusively explored the NY side of the Battenkill river and have had many days of good fly fishing, but not with dry flies. Most of my fish had been caught with streamers and nymphs. Doug invited me to fly fish the Vermont side of the Battenkill river and to see the trico hatch. What a treat to see numerous little 6-8 inch wild Brookies steadily feeding on the size 24 spinners. Although I couldn’t get a good picture of them we really got into the Brook Trout. There were pods of fish rising steadily to the spent spinners. We were using #22 and #24 spinners on 7X and getting a long and drag free drift was crucial. I can’t even count how many trout I missed because of pulling the fly out of their mouths without a

hookset. I have never been a fan of fishing to fish from an upstream position for this very reason, as I have never gotten good at getting consistent hook sets from that angle. However, I had a blast. It had been a while since I fly during a good hatch (early June on the big D). The trips with ChrisR and Shaq took place in July and we fished a few spots on the NY side and had fun with the Brown Trout. None of our fish were big, but there are some nice fish in the river that show up from time to time. I have only been fly fishing the Battenkill river for two seasons and I am by no means a local expert, nor do I know all of its secrets and moods. But the Battenkill river continues to weave its magic on me. I find myself becoming fonder of this water with each trip and new discovery found hidden along the banks of this beautiful fly fishing river.