The Oswegatchie Swap

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Fly lines are rated according to the weight concentrated in the first 30 feet or so of the line. In addition to this rating system (2-13) there are three types of lines: floating (F), sinking (S), and sinking tip (F/S). Floating lines are available in either weight-forward (WF) or double taper (DT) configurations. For a beginner, it's much better to stick with the weightforward floater. In weight-forward lines, only the "head" is flared and weighted. This is the end to which you attach your leader and fly.

It is also this weighted head section that allows you to cast the line instead of the lure. The head is normally 24-30 feet long and is noticeably thicker than the 50 feet of thin, level running line that is seamlessly joined to it. A decent durable line will run you from $22-$46. The differences are in the taper designs, coating, and core construction. For Peter, I picked out a Cortland 333 HT WF-6-F for $23.

We would have no more time for fishing this day. The clouds were closing ranks, and after our chat we returned to the tents. A fire was already on. We made coffee, ate breakfast, and packed the canoes again.

At the trail's end we lunched under a canopy of gargantuan pines on the banks of Big Deer Pond. But aware of the big portage still ahead, we didn't waste any time in getting underway again. After crossing the pond, we struggled a while trying to find the next trail marker. We finally located the path and began a twoanda-half-mile trek over hills and swampy terrain. For the first three fourths of a mile, the trail was hard to make out and often seemed to disappear entirely into muddy bogs and meadows. With everyone in our party making two trips, we crossed the hills in about five hours.

At last we had reached our destination, the East Branch of the Oswegatchie, although our arrival seemed a bit anticlimactic. Snaking and oozing through a swamp, the river at this spot is hardly a majestic sight. Looking at its small width, you begin to doubt that it is navigable at all. Yet while it is narrow, it is also deep, and apart from the beaver dams that interrupt its flow every 100 feet or so, a canoe can move easily through it. That is if you understand, as Kit and I did not, how the person in the bow of the boat steers on a down-current trip. But this was our chance to learn.

The rain got heavier. But even struggling with the boat and the elements, I was amazed by a spectacle that I could not have imagined. In the midst of what became a downpour, trout were rising in every square yard of the river, many jumping clear out of the water! Witnessing this, the soreness of the day's labor went out of my back. With dark coming on as we pulled into the first campsite on the river, I was already planning the next day's fishing.

Day Three:

The 0swegatchie

But waking to the sound of rain pelting our tent, I knew that fishing this day would be difficult at best. The river was now swelling and muddied. Narrow and contorted, making 90-degree turns every 30-50 yards through bushy banks—this stretch was no place to give a casting lesson to a beginner. We would probably use the day best by making some distance and, if the rain kept up, by finding a better site farther downstream and battening down for the duration. During our spiraling three-mile cruise through timberland and quiet dark water, I managed to grab a few free moments to describe to them the mechanics of casting.

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