Untamed Waters - Fly Fishing for Wild Trout in the Catskill Mtns (Part 1)

Made it over to the western Catskills for a day exploring one of my favorite little wild trout streams with the fly rod. Things started a bit slow but picked up as I caught a great mix of wild brook, brown and rainbow trout.
Fly Rod - 6 1/2' LL Bean 3 Weight
Camera Gear
DJI Mavic Air 2 Drone : amzn.to/3vM2KI2
Canon EOS 90d : amzn.to/3CiUalb
Canon EFS 15-85mm lens : amzn.to/35AlRKh
Gopro Hero 11 Black : amzn.to/41h9gD... Mount for GOPRO : amzn.to/3pJGlH8
Aoka Carbon Fiber Tripod : amzn.to/3rYj1GZ
Fishing Gear
FISHPOND Ridgeline Tech Pack : amzn.to/44zprN7
Net Magnet : amzn.to/3omI8Vl
TBMPOY Quickdry Pants : amzn.to/3x2kJbS
Nylon Mesh Net : amzn.to/3OtgRvc
Rubber Mesh Net : amzn.to/3BHP3vd
Wading Boots - Orvis Ultralight Wading Boots : www.orvis.com/....
Fly-Line : Piscifun "Sword" Weight Forwardd : #amzn.to/3MLIAWH 3
Platypus Water Bladder : amzn.to/3ruh485
Sunglasses - Suncloud Sentry Polarizzed : amzn.to/48oKMw5

[@michaelcapurso]

Beautiful brook and trout, thanks for sharing.

[@deaddriftoutdoors2940]

I agree its a lovely brook and you are more than welcome!

[@Your_Name_Here_]

Nice fish at the end. Love when the hard work pays off. It doesn’t always play out that way, but when it does the feeling is sweet.

[@deaddriftoutdoors2940]

Thanks so much, yeah I worked hard in that spot especially with trying to film it.

[@couponvillage]

Love the intro - the "boot views" and the close views of the water - at water level.

[@deaddriftoutdoors2940]

Thanks so much its fun doing those shots, thanks for noticing!

[@jimgollach6202]

I'm surprised that otter got that close to you, that was pretty cool. Enjoyed watching. 👍

[@deaddriftoutdoors2940]

Right? I was as suprised as he was haha, before I hit my gopro he was like 2-3 ft from my leg! Cool encounter for sure

[@billcatalano2683]

Thanks for keeping it rated G!

[@deaddriftoutdoors2940]

For sure, I have to bite my lip when Im excited haha!

[@pentafishing]

It's a nice creek! It makes me want to pick up my fly rod and go there.

[@deaddriftoutdoors2940]

Do it!!!

[@scottnock5241]

Very nice!! I knew you were going to pull a big brown out of that first pool.. Beautiful otter but they are hell on the fish but they have to eat too.. You said that rod was stiff, it looks stiff.. Ever think about trying a softer full flex rod?? I Brooke trout fish dry dropper myself my favorite set up is a 2wt - 9’ full flex it’s a dream to cast and catch on even in tight spots..

[@deaddriftoutdoors2940]

I cannot deal with longer rods on these tight creeks, I am pretty use to the stiff rod, I have a lighter/softer 6.5' rod that I use with dries only, I have thought of trying a slightly longer fiberglass rod maybe? But I appreciate the suggestion

[@PlugChuckers]

Niiiice, that's crazy how close that otter was. I was fishing a pond in central ny earlier this year and 2 otters were hanging out. They are some chitter-chattering critters. They had some sunfish with the tails bit off in piles of dead weed and debris blown in near shore, I'm guessing it was to take back to any young ones. Great video, thanks for sharing.

[@deaddriftoutdoors2940]

Yeah I have never had an encounter with an otter, pretty darn cool!

[@jimsheibley4125]

I read thru an extensive DEC report about Wiscoy creek that posted recently. The assessment of reduced wild trout population noted that more river otters, mergansers, and herons were large factors, along with habitat decrease as structures were decayed or washed out.

[@PlugChuckers]

@@jimsheibley4125 otters and trout been together for millions of years, human "progress" hasn't been around for that long. In my opinion we are the cause, if any, and capitalism made it worse by 1000 fold. Same with all the animals plants and insects that we've endangered, all so a few people can own the world.

[@jimsheibley4125]

@@PlugChuckers solid point, for sure. That leaves us with responsibility for being better stewards and building more habitat. Structure also helps trout avoid those same predators. And us often too 😉

[@PlugChuckers]

@@jimsheibley4125 Yea man, we can definitely all help out and likely be rewarded for our good deeds, with good sport. The trout fisherman seem to care/do the most. I, used to roll my eyes at fly fisherman, thinking they were all uppity and hoity toity fancy pants etc, yet they've probably done the most for the sport of fishing ie: conservation and habitat restoration, and also keep the spirit of the sport alive. All the electronics in bass fishing pushes me away, kills the romance. Thankfully they can't use that stuff up in the trout creeks(yet.)

[@user-qk5xw6zk8r]

Enticing setting. Beauty.

[@deaddriftoutdoors2940]

Thanks so much!

[@blueridgeflyguy9551]

Another great video John

[@deaddriftoutdoors2940]

Thanks so much I struggled to get this one done!

[@curtbaker6593]

Good stuff, Jon I’m headed up next week with a fresh box of dries. Fingers crossed

[@deaddriftoutdoors2940]

Nice!! Should be awesome, love this time of year!! I am so curious what streams you fish, hit me up on instagram sometime if you want!

[@smidak8]

Awesome video, keep up the amazing work !

[@deaddriftoutdoors2940]

Thanks so much!

[@beo77]

The otter was cool.

[@deaddriftoutdoors2940]

I agree it was memorable for sure!

[@MU-rf2bl]

Great video! Have you fished Mongaup before? I'm heading there this weekend for the first time.

[@deaddriftoutdoors2940]

Not yet!

[@stringtwister7654]

I have a favor to ask, please re fish this same section next year. Say next may and see if you see a reduction in the number of fish thst you catch? My best stream was completely wiped out, with what i believe was otters. I found a den hole in the creek bank, and the sand bar in front of it was silver with fish scales! You could smell it before getting to it. Now the fish are nearly all gone. Just curious how the otters will affect this stream? By the way im in North carolina. Love your videos keep em coming

[@deaddriftoutdoors2940]

I do fish it often so I will have to see. I can't imagine the otter would decimate the whole creek and if they did they would hopefully move on and the fish would recover but I have no direct experience with otters so I will have to see.

[@dennybowser5533]

Nice video thanks for sharing. How long is your dropper in that shallow water?

[@deaddriftoutdoors2940]

In shallow water maybe 12"

[@Boostedmafiainc]

I was planning on hitting the beaverkill next week

[@deaddriftoutdoors2940]

Should be good!

[@andrewwebster13]

Have you noticed a reduction in fish and bug hatches? I live in New York near an absolute gem piece of water. She’s in big trouble. Farming and pesticides.

[@deaddriftoutdoors2940]

I have not noticed any specific changes recently. You should contact DEC if you see specific changes thats worrisome

[@TheCreekBoys2001]

Nice video, I was wondering if you have any wild trout creeks in east pa that you could recommend Thank you

[@deaddriftoutdoors2940]

There are a ton! PA does a fantastic job of publishing their wild trout streams, if you haven't check out this resource pfbc.maps.arcgis.com/apps/webappviewer/index.html?id=65a89f6592234019bdc5f095eaf5c6ac. Hope that helps!

[@ithacaster]

@@deaddriftoutdoors2940 I fished Pine creek in PA today. You did a lot better than I did.

[@jaygold4467]

Otters eat the trout.

[@deaddriftoutdoors2940]

Yup they do from what I hear