When we arrived at Brewster yesterday afternoon, heavy thunderstorm started.
We parked in the lot at the junction of Route 22 and East Main Street and tried to wait the rain out.
The river quickly became muddy color, so we moved to upper stream near the dam where we expected less muddy water.
My wife caught a nice brown and a rainbow.
I got several small trouts.
Rain continued falling the whole afternoon, sometimes heavily.
We saw only one fisherman and this unexpected bad weather made all of us look like die-hard fishermen.
Last Saturday my wife and I fished in Cemetery Pool which is 2~300 yards downstream from the junction of Route 22 and East Main Street in Brewster. Then later we fished from the junction to Trestle Pool.
In the early evening fish was rising for midge in the Pool.
We enjoyed midge fishing.
This section of the East Branch never disappoints us.
When we started fly fishig in New York, we fished here quite often. At that time we didn't have a car and this section of the river can easily be reached by walking from Brewster Station. We used to start fishing from Cemetery Pool and walked upstream fishing along the river till Trestle Pool. This was our early day's way of fishing. When I was trout fishing in Japan, I also walked upstream and fished along the way.
Japanese native trouts live in mountain streams which flow at the bottom of deep mountain ravines.
When I fished in these kind of streams, I walked upstream fishing from one spot to the next until I reached the waterfall where fish couldn't go upstream. This is the way to fish Japanese native trouts no matter which method one uses: fly fishing, bait, lure or Tenkara.
Because of a lot of difficult walking and climbing, fishermen have to carry the bare minimum of tackles. I used to equip with the minimal fly fishing gear, only a few kind of flies, (In some years I used only one kind of dry fly for all seasons.), no chest wader or fishing vest.
Japanese native trouts are very sensitive. Have to stalk carefully.
" Happy Hours"
I have been fly fishing in New York for many years. My fishing vest's pockets have swollen with many stuff, e.g. I carry 6 fly boxes.
All these years I have acquired a lot of fishing gear and tying material. They now spill out of closets and drawers.
Recently Tenkara has become popular in America for its simplicity. When I was in Japan, I didn't pay much attention about Tenkara because it looked boring. It also was an old fashioned method used by mature fishermen.
Now it seems Tenkara's simplicity has given a new meaning to American fly fishermen, no reel, no fancy flies, and simple fishing lines.
I give Tenkara a fresh look. My wife and I are exploring it.
Last Saturday my wife broke her Tenkara rod when she tried to remove the tangled line caught in the bush.
The tip section of the rod is quite delicate. Handling requires extra caution because the rod is not as strong as a regular fly rod. Yet it is supposed to be adequate to land a medium size trout.
Since my wife's rod was under 60 days warranty, the seller will send us a free replacement tip section in 3 weeks. Until then, no Tenkara for her.
My wife and I fished the East Branch on Saturday.
I went to Phoebe Hole first and fished from 3 o'clock till 6.
It was a tough midge fishing, but I managed to catch 3 trouts and missed several.
My wife fished near the bridge. She broke her Tenkara rod when she was removing a tangled line caught in the bush, so she had to share my fly rod in the evening.
Both caught some good size trouts with a bead head pheasant tail nymph.
