Loving an Underdog
Trout Fishing on Willowemoc Creek in New York's Catskills
If rivers could emote, the Willowemoc would surely envy the Beaverkill. Where they join, the Willowemoc gives up its name to its nobler twin. Their current identities mask the fact that the Willowemoc was every mile as good a trout river before they settled. Above their celebrated junction pool, the Willowemoc is only four percent shorter than the Beaverkill. Its tributaries, almost equal in number, are more extensively developed and definitely superior as trout spawning grounds. Willowemoc's headwaters produce more wild brook trout than any other Catskill river. And, where they join, it continues flowing in the same direction, while the Beaverkill almost doubles back on itself to accommodate the "lesser" river. And, based on calculations by regional expert Ed Van Put, the Willowemoc puts more water into junction pool: its drainage area measures approximately 130 square miles while the upper Beaverkill drains 100 square miles.
From its source to its mouth, Willowemoc Creek is 26.7 miles long. It rises on the south flank of Beaverkill Range at an elevation of 2,900 feet, turns, and flows almost due west, falling over 200 feet per mile in its first few miles. It levels out quickly to one of the gentler headwater grades to be found in the Catskills. In fact, Fir Brook, the first major tributary, is like an Adirondack bog stream. Silent and slow, ten to 15 feet wide, it meanders among grassy hummocks, grown up on the silt from centuries of beaver dams. For nearly five miles, it flows through a hemlock-lined meadow, its series of still pools resemble little ponds, with sandy-silted bottoms up to four and five feet deep. It is deep and productive for a small stream.
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Walk along the bank, throw a nymph in, let it sit for a while, twitch it a couple of times, and catch a brook trout. Then go to the next pool. It's almost like worm fishing; you don't have to do much casting. It's better one-man fishing. You can't fish side-by-side, as on the lower river, so you've got to cover the water and jump from pool to pool, maybe leapfrogging with another fisherman.
Big Rock Pool on the Upper Willowemoc.
Photo by Robert A. Cunningham
On the Willowemoc itself, north of and parallel to Fir Brook, the same approach works very well. "You could easily have a 50-fish day up here catching little eight- to ten-inch brook trout," Van Put said.
The entire upper Willowemoc basin is perfectly suited for raising brook trout. Plenty of springs seep in from all sides, keeping the streams full and cool most of the year. A rich broth of plant decay, microorganisms, and stream insects is there to support an abundance of wild fish. And there is excellent bank cover with more than the usual number of hemlock and spruce lining the banks.
Public fishing rights were bought by the state along much of Fir Brook in the 1950s. Since then, other sections on the main stream have been acquired, either outright or for fishing only, so that the upper Willowemoc is open in many places to public fishing. The middle section of the river, from the village of Willowemoc down to Livingston Manor is largely unposted or open via public fishing rights, posting is intermittent on about six of the 20.5 miles. Below Livingston Manor, the remainder of the Willowemoc down to Roscoe is open to the public.
Brown trout appear in greater numbers below the mouth of Fir Brook. The state stocks only browns in the Willowemoc. Brook trout thrive without help in the upper reaches and rainbows have never done well in this river except when they're getting handouts.
The middle Willowemoc actually steepens a little after its flat, boggy headwaters, falling about 40 feet per mile until it reaches Livingston Manor. Throughout this 15 or so miles, it ranges from 20 to 50 feet wide, with pools from two to four feet deep. The bottom consists of medium to smaller boulders and gravel. There is a good balance between fast water and silted eddies, the result being a nice accommodation of both burrowing and non-burrowing nymphs. Hatches, especially caddis, are frequent, varied, and heavy.
Fishing the middle Willowemoc usually produces about an equal number of brook and brown trout. These are smallish fish, running six to eight inches for brooks and nine to ten inches for browns. A 12-inch fish is rare according to Bill Kelly, state fisheries biologist, who is puzzled as to why this section of the Willowemoc doesn't produce more and bigger fish. "It has all the right characteristics," he said. "Hemlock-lined banks, good bottom, plenty of insects. It's too bad it doesn't fish as good as it looks."
Tale of an Underdog
Why did the Willowemoc just become the "South Branch of the Beaverkill"? The Willowemoc came in second because the Beaverkill was destined for greater fame and protection. Already by 1869, none other than John Burroughs stepped out onto its bank and proclaimed:“Hail to the Beaverkill! How shall I describe that wild, beautiful stream, with features so like those of all other mountain streams? And Yet, as I saw it in the deep twilight of those woods on that June afternoon, with its steady, even flow, and its tranquil, many-voiced murmur, it made an impression upon my mind distinct and peculiar, fraught in an eminent degree with the charm of seclusion and remoteness."
What began as a trickle grew to a torrent as outdoor writers followed each other in embellishing the reputation of an already famous river. The name itself evolved painfully over the years: Weelewaughwemack, Weelewaughmack, Wilenawemack, Williwernock, Willerwhemack, Williwemauk, Williwemock, Willowemock, Willowemoc. The final choice is even too cumbersome for stylish anglers who come and go, speaking more poetically of the "Willow." But you will not hear them confuse or shorten Beaverkill’s name. As for protection, the upper Beaverkill was never a thoroughfare, even in the late 1800s when a wagon trail came into the head of its valley over Graham Mountain from Seager on Dry Brook. Soon after the turn of the century, a rough motor road was completed from the lower river up to the headwaters. The wagon trail grew over from disuse, and the upper Beaverkill remained a secluded angling paradise of large land holdings, fly-fishing clubs, and privately owned river mileage. By contrast, the Willowemoc has always been very accessible by rail or road along its lower seven miles between Livingston Manor and Roscoe. The next 15 miles upriver have from the earliest sportfishing days been paralleled by a rough road through DeBruce, Willowemoc, and up Fir Brook into the Neversink valley. As a result, the Willowemoc got chopped up into smaller parcels, and except for the Ward estate and a few other longer stretches higher up, it sprouted into a patchwork of hotels, boardinghouses, bungalow colonies, summer camps, sanitariums, and campsites. In the 1950s, the hotels and inns declined and gave way to even smaller lots, vacation cabins, and trailer homes.
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