TR: Batten Kill

It was my first trip to fish The Batten Kill area, but not my last. . .

Last year during The Mass Exodus mini-clave, Gary McMeekin teased the
rest of us with tales of The Batten Kill. It's not like I hadn't been
teased enough by Lee Wulff and other author's writings, but this put the
thought in my head I should really make the time to visit. In the
freezing cold of winter, I ran into Gary again at the fly fishing show
in Marlboro, MA and was again taunted. At that point, tentative plans
were made to make the journey. I then proceeded to harass Gary over the
following months until he conceded to giving me the guided tour.

We met at Orvis at around 1:30 in the afternoon. If you haven't been to
the main store in Manchester, VT, it is well worth the trip. I know
Orvis gets a bad rap from several on roff as a yuppie store, but the
people who staff the business are knowledgeable, helpful, and a real
treat to chat with if you're willing to spend the time. Fortunately, I
had plenty of that since I arrived about 2 hours early. After buying
$200 tippet (I was only going to buy tippet - I sweartagod - but somehow
ended up with a rain jacket, new wading boots, a back-relief wading
belt, flies and the tippet), I watched the casting instructor give a few
lessons and drooled over the wish-pool full of 25+ inch fat browns and
rainbows, and nearly-as-big brookies. As I was leaning on the rail, one
of the Orvis staff members came over and said, "Man, I love brookies"
and that was all it took for us to talk for 15 or so minutes. During
this time, the person's boss was watching us talk, so I later asked if
he minded me tying up his help for so long. He said their customers were
the most important part of their business and the other work could wait.
I think there's a lesson in there somewhere.

Before I get into the details of the fishing, it should be noted this
was *not* the ultimate "catching" trip, as we knew it would not be. The
recent storms and the rain that surely fell in the mountains the morning
of our arrival made the water high and a bit off-color. Still, you could
see the bottom of the river through the weak-tea colored water. We
wet-waded both of the feeder branches we fished, and the water felt
incredibly good on a day that started hot and humid, but soon worked its
way through a cold front into a very pleasant feel. Gary taught me a few
tricks that will serve me well in other waters as well as these. One was
skittering a caddis across the water's surface. Neither of us caught
fish at the first stop, but we had a few of them doing somersaults as
they broke the surface at full speed. Great fun, and a sweet little
stream.

At the next branch, we stood over the water on a bridge for a while and
watched some feeding fish. Gary decided he wanted to try for them, so we
tried the Clark Reid trick with me spotting the fish from the bridge and
directing Gary's efforts. First he picked up a fish we hadn't even
seen - a small brookie. Then he got closer and closer to the target and
*wham*, it moved fast and hit the GHRE hard. A nice Batten Kill brookie
about 8 inches or so. This looked like good fun to me, so I grabbed my
rod and went looking for an entry point farther downstream. It was
pretty thick bank growth, but I found my way under some trees and slid
into the water. This water was about ten degrees cooler than the first
branch and was cold enough to have me give a slight gasp, but after a
few minutes it wasn't bad at all. We took turns casting as we watched a
very spotty spinner fall go by, but nothing was coming up to our flies
or the spinners.

It was almost 6:00 when we got into some dry clothes and headed for the
main branch of the river. As we crossed over several bridges, it became
apparent the river was blown out and we wouldn't be fishing any more
that day. But we had some crackers and cheese, so we were happy.

Whew! That was a helluva long report for virtually no fish, but, as you
can probably tell, I had a good time. Gary is a great fishing partner
and makes the experience a team sport. He gets a grin on his face that's
contagious, especially when he sees fish activity. That's probably the
part I like most about all this fly fishing stuff - the fact that men
can become boys again, if only for a short while.
--
TL,
Tim
------------------------
http://css.sbcma.com/timj

On 6/16/05 10:41 AM, in article , "Tim J."
wrote:

That's probably the
part I like most about all this fly fishing stuff - the fact that men
can become boys again, if only for a short while.

Nicely done, my friend.

Bill

"Tim J." wrote:

....
Whew! That was a helluva long report for virtually no fish, but, as you
can probably tell, I had a good time......
....

Which is what's important.

Nice TR. Thanks. How does one's first contact with the Orvis mother ship
compare to the L.L. Bean in Freeport experience?

JR

JR wrote:
"Tim J." wrote:

....
Whew! That was a helluva long report for virtually no fish, but, as
you can probably tell, I had a good time......
....

Which is what's important.

Nice TR. Thanks. How does one's first contact with the Orvis mother
ship compare to the L.L. Bean in Freeport experience?

I'll let you know after I get up to Freeport. ;-) I've been to Orvis
before, but never fished the area. I was a little disappointed when I
found out they quit giving their 1:00 rod building shop tour and only
give one at 10:00. I'd like to see that operation. Orvis has a Bargain
Room that's separate from the main store, and they normally have good
stuff at 40% or more markdown. The rain jacket i picked up was normally
$90, and I picked it up for $50. Last year, I picked up some tying
magnification headgear for $20, so it's worth the trip from here - about
2 hours.
--
TL,
Tim
------------------------
http://css.sbcma.com/timj

Tim, thanks. I'm leaving for cooler climes next week and the Battenkill is
one stop on the trip. Glad to hear you had such a good day.

I've every reason to believe I'll have a great time. I've a great friend to
fish with and an extra day built into the schedule.

--
Stev Lenon 91B20 '68-'69
When the dawn came up like thunder

"Tim J." wrote in
:

That's probably the
part I like most about all this fly fishing stuff - the fact that men
can become boys again, if only for a short while.
--


Hey Tim, what a nice trip report. A fair account of a bad day. I insist
you join me for tricos in about, oh, 4 weeks from now. Lots of good
trico water to show you.

"slenon" wrote in
m:

I've every reason to believe I'll have a great time. I've a great
friend to fish with and an extra day built into the schedule.

Not sure if you have local knowledge at hand and I don't claim to be
any kind of font either, but if you want any suggestions, I would be
glad to share what I know via email.

GaryM wrote:
"Tim J." wrote in
:

That's probably the
part I like most about all this fly fishing stuff - the fact that men
can become boys again, if only for a short while.

Hey Tim, what a nice trip report. A fair account of a bad day. I
insist you join me for tricos in about, oh, 4 weeks from now. Lots of
good trico water to show you.

In four weeks, I'll be ready for another break. We've accepted an offer
on our house, the inspection is within the next ten days, and then all
the work begins. The closing is presently scheduled for August 19.
Someone *please* shoot me if I even think about buying an old house
again.
--
TL,
Tim
------------------------
http://css.sbcma.com/timj

Tim J. wrote:

The closing is presently scheduled for August 19.

Congrats on the sale, happened faster than you thought. Now that frees
you up for the week of Setember 9th.

Wayne Knight wrote:
Tim J. wrote:

The closing is presently scheduled for August 19.

Congrats on the sale, happened faster than you thought. Now that frees
you up for the week of Setember 9th.

September 9 is good, at least at this early date. A lot can happen
between now and then, especially regarding closings. I'm assuming you're
feeling up to the trip? Let me know how many days or portions thereof
you have available so I can map out the places we can hit. Besides, I
know some teenagers I need whupped into shape. ;-)
--
TL,
Tim
---------------------------
http://css.sbcma.com/timj/