MOHAWK - Discovering the Valley of the Crystals Copyright 2002
Chapter 11- The River
Fort Plain To Canajoharie
Discovery: Winter Run on the
Historic Mohawk
March 9, 2002, 50 degrees, Windy, Partly Sunny
I wanted to save this discovery trip for a warm-weather family outing.
After all, the river between Fort Plain and Canajoharie flows through one
of the most historically interesting sections of the Mohawk Valley. It
offers an excellent opportunity for a one-car, canoe and hike trip because
the distance by river is only three miles, and the Erie Canalway Trail
between villages is just over two miles. And for frosting on the cake,
the waters around the
locks, numerous shoals, rockpiles, runs and bays, and the mouths of
tributaries, are excellent places to catch fish.
Because this is such an ideal trip for kids and grandkids to discover the Mohawk Valley, Denny and I skipped it last December when we canoed to the 106-mile mark at Lock 13. For some reason that 3-mile gap in the exploration of the Mohawk River nagged at me all winter. So, when the forecast for Saturday called for temperatures in the 60's I called Ron Gugnacki. The conversation went something like this.
"Ron. How does a three-mile run on the Mohawk sound?"
"In March?
"They're predicting temperatures in the 60 this
Saturday."
"We won't catch any fish. Water's too cold."
"A live minnow on a jig should catch some of those
big river walleyes. Got any ice fishing minnows left."
"Yeah."
"You interested?"
"Not really."
"I promise we'll go slow and easy. No rushing to
see what's around the next bend. Heh it's better than
sitting at home watching TV."
"Okay."
"We'll launch below Lock 15 at Fort Plain and take
out at Lock 14 across from Canajoharie. We'll need
two vehicles unless you want to walk
back."
It was 50 degrees at 10:25 a.m. when we left Ron's
truck in the parking lot at Lock 14. Several people were fishing in the
lock. One of them hauled up a shiner.
Because the Canal was closed and the dams and gates
were open, the river was way down and free-flowing. It would be an easy
run to Canajoharie.
At 11 a.m. we carried the canoe down the steep,
riprapped bank below Lock 15 and launched just out of the current. We paddled
across the river and against the current to the waters below the dam. I
held the canoe in an eddy while Ron cast a minnow-tipped jig into the current
and worked it through a long pool. True to my word, we took it slow and
easy, crisscrossing the river, fishing water that was sure to hold fish.
Nada.
At 11:30 we drifted under the bridge that connects
Nelliston and Fort Plain, casting to bridge abutments without success.
Ditto at the mouth of Otsquago Creek where piles of sediment created some
inviting looking pools and runs. Ron grumbled, "Too cold to catch fish
in the river."
I reminded him that the Otsquago was the stream
we had explored on a discovery trip where we discovered the site of an
ancient Indian village. (See http://www.paulkeeslerbooks.com/OtsquagoCreek.html
) I added to that memorable walk through history by noting there are more
archaeological sites---mostly Indian villages---in this area than in any
region of the Mohawk Valley. This was also an area of conflict and atrocity
during the Revolutionary War. Homesteads were destroyed, families killed
and captured. Before the war was over forts were built nearby to protect
farmers and house troops. And this is where an army was deployed to march
to Otsego Lake and float down the Susquehanna River to join the campaign
to destroy Iroquois villages, orchards and farmlands in western New York.
The east wind helped us take it slow and easy. Sometimes
it was strong enough to counter the current. When clouds covered the sun,
the wind blowing over the water dropped the temperature several degrees.
Jackets off. Jackets on.
As we drifted by an old grain elevator, we saw several
toppled poplars. Fresh beaver cuttings. Across from a rocky outcrop a female
merganser took off, wings beating "slippity slap" across the water.
At noon we passed the Nelliston Fishing Access and
Boat Launch. With the water so low it was easy to see it sat atop a rock
outcrop. It was also easy to locate areas that held fish during the canal
season. All along the river we discovered rock piles, gravel bars, large
rocks, and steep banks and points near stream outlets.
Flocks of geese and ducks claimed one of those exposed
rock and gravel bars. They honked, squawked and took off as we approached.
The mallards circled overhead and flew upstream, but the Canadas flew downstream,
silhouetted against the clouded sky.
On the opposite side of the river we discovered
a small--stick and mud--beaver house built against the bank. I've seen
many beaver houses in ponds and damed streams, and I've seen holes in streams
and lake banks where "bank beavers" set up housekeeping. I've even seen
a beaver house attached to a beaver dam, but I don't recall ever seeing
a bank beaver house. Sort of a beaver condo on the river.
The river swings tight to the Thruway for a couple
thousand feet, passes by a good size tributary on the right, swings back
towards the railroad and passes a smaller tributary on the left. Although
there was water coming out of both streams and there were deposits of rock
and gravel that often hold fish, our minnows and lures were unproductive.
Lock 14 at Palatine Bridge and the Beechnut
Plants in Canajoharie. The bridge-like structure
is the lock dam which is open throughout
the winter.
As a "black bridge" and white buildings came into
view, two ducks swam slowly across the river in front of us and stopped
where a large flock of geese sat on a rocky bar. Almost in unison a beautiful
black and white male merganser flew past us just above the water, and a
flock of a hundred geese filled the sky and flew over the bridges and Beechnut
buildings, forming a black line across grey sky.
It was 1:25 p.m. when Ron took control of the canoe
so I could photograph Lock 14 and the Beechnut Plants. I noted that
just downstream was the location of one of the earliest bridges to cross
the Mohawk River and was in fact called the Palatine Bridge.
A
family was fishing off the upper end of the island, so we moved in for
a few close-ups. A toddler stood on the shoreline next to his Mom, waiting
for a fish to bite.
Our takeout was on the island, just to the right
of the lock gate, so I paddled slowly along the concrete wall on the left
side of the lock entrance, so Ron could cast a white plastic jig. His last
chance to catch a fish. He had mentioned several times that he would catch
fish if he found warm water coming into the river. Nevertheless, it was
still a surprise, when a large fish took the bait at the outflow of a culvert.
With rod bent and reel releasing line in spurts,
Ron slowly worked the fish towards the canoe. A big walleye? It was not
to be. The bugle mouth of a large carp surfaced beside the canoe.
It was almost two o'clock and 65 degrees when we
carried the canoe across the top of the lock gate to Ron's truck. We learned
that one of the anglers fishing in the lock had landed a 24-inch tiger
muskie. He thought it was a northern pike and planned to keep it, but an
Environmental Conservation Officer (ECO) was on hand to identify the fish
and point out it was too small to keep.
In three hours we had canoed through some beautiful
and historic country, saw plenty of ducks and geese, discovered a beaver
condo, caught one big fish . . . and filled that three-mile gap in the
exploration of the Mohawk River. Not bad for a winter day in upstate New
York.
When I asked Ron if he wanted to canoe the river
on the next warm day, he said, "When the water is 60 degrees, call me."
Follow the path of this discovery trip by clicking on Mohawk Valley Maps: by Maptech.
Type Fort Plain select New York, press GO!
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