Last Saturday night was a phenomenon known as a Super Moon. This occurs when the Moon is closest to Earth in it’s orbit, and is full on the same night, causing the moon to appear about 12% larger and brighter than any other full moon.
This made for a great night in the woods (as many of you know). A few of my friends went hiking, some to high peaks, others to secluded ponds over the weekend to witness the spectacle. I packed my bag and took off for a fishing spot that I’ve been wanting to check out for weeks…
I didn’t start gathering all my things until about noon on Saturday, wasn’t really in a rush. After taking a nice drive up through Warrensburg, over to Wevertown, down to Johnsburg, and through Bakers Mills, I was at the trail head off of Route 8. I walked in on what looked like an old access road, there was no signage.
I hiked for about an hour, along the East Branch of the Sacandaga River before finding a campsite. I had heard about some Brook Trout that might be found in these waters, and wanted to try my luck.
There were somewhat primitive camp sites marked along the trail, and after passing two that were occupied, I settled on the third. It was located about 200 feet from the river, on the opposite side of the trail. I passed what looked like some nice deep pools on the way in, but this campsite was relatively close to a larger pool below a small waterfall. If there were any fish in this river, there would be some here.
I was camping by myself this time (my first solo trip) so I had to take care of all of the camp chores before going fishing so I wouldn’t be wandering around in the dark later. I pitched my tent, hung a clothesline, gathered some firewood, and set up a line to hang my food from after I ate.
Then I tied on a Pheasant Tail Nymph and headed over to the pool I was eyeballing earlier. It was about 6:00pm at this point. I stood at the bottom of the pool and cast upstream, waiting for my nymph to float down passed me, or better yet, to have it stop drifting and end up in the mouth of a hungry trout. No bites.
I switched to a smaller Prince Nymph and tried the same approach. No Bites. Then I got out of the water and walked up closer to the small waterfall so I could cast directly into it. My thinking was that if I cast my fly into the falls, and let it get swirled around for a while before drifting downstream it would look a little more natural. No Bites.
I began stripping line off to change my fly again when I felt a little bite. I wasn’t being very careful while pulling the nymph in, so I missed the fish. I tried the same cast again a couple times, letting the fly drift all the way downstream before retrieving. After two or three more casts I landed this little Brookie.
Soon after that I went back to the campsite and made some dinner. I brought a box of rice and beans, boiled and simmered and about 25 minutes later I was eating a hot meal.
The Super Moon was incredibly bright, it looked like someone turned a light on in the woods! I tried to take some photos of this but they don’t do the sight any justice so I won’t post them (camera phone). I did sit by the fire for a while admiring the moon and warming my feet before heading to bed around 10:00pm.
The next morning I woke up, abandoned my plans to go fishing and just kind of hung around camp and had a relaxing breakfast of coffee and oatmeal. I then packed my things and headed out of the woods, reaching my car at about 10:00am.
It was quite an experience to be in the woods by myself for the night, as I had never done that before. The chores: setting up, breaking down, cooking meals, gathering firewood, etc. were all my responsibility. I took care of them at my own pace. I ate dinner when I was hungry. I packed up and headed out when I wanted to. The woods were mine, all mine for a few hours, and it was great.
