Yesterday (Monday), I finally made it to Kensico for the first time in two years. I brought my two smaller poles I use for trout and bucket with the aerator.
My first task was to find Wade's Bait and Tackle, which moved again. It went from North White Plains to Valhalla and now Hawthorne. I stopped at the Kensico Dam Plaza to study my roadmap. After driving for about 10 minutes (up Columbus Avenue and then left on West Stevens Avenue), I found Wade's, which is right next to the Gate of Heaven Cemetery and maybe a block or two from the Mt. Pleasant Metro North Station. (I also discovered that Wade's is right off the Taconic State Parkway.)
The man there said they were out of sawbellies, but had shiners. I bought a dozen of them. I also bought three new lures. The man said the trout were biting and advised me to fish one shiner with a bobber and one off the bottom.
I decided to return to a rock, off Rye Bridge, which I haven't tried in over ten years. That rock is very significant in my personal history. It's where I broke my ankle in August 1996. I did return to the rock maybe a couple of times afterward when I was healed up, but I don't think I've been back since the 1990s. I guess I got used to other spots at Kensico.
The only change I noticed is that a sunken tree on the right side of the rock was no longer there. Everything else looked the same.
I also brought along the long pole I usually use for New Rochelle and the Hudson River. I wanted to use it for lures.
I started fishing around 4:30. The sun was out, and the water was still. Using the small poles with egg sinkers, I could never get a good cast. With the bobber, I got the line only a few feet off shore. I also forgot that one of my poles has a defect. Whenever I cast the line out, it always got caught on a slight nick on my reel, which caused my line to drop. I should either replace the reel or find a way to fix the nick before using it next time. I lost a few shiners when casting the line. I didn't have a single bite.
With the long pole, I tried numerous casts with a Krocodile. But I didn't have any luck. In fact, I got my line tangled. Now I probably have to respool it.
I gave up at 6:30, earlier than I planned. I dumped the rest of the shiners in the water.
The day was frustrating. I never had much luck with trout. So why does Kensico keep luring me? It's a nice drive up, and the area is very beautiful. I also have hope that I'll catch something big here someday.
