I walked and fished the section of the Pocantico River running through Rockefeller Preserve to document disturbances with TU’s RIVERS app as part of the Big Apple Brook Trout program.

Some main takeaways:

• I documented some erosion and some places I’d be concerned about surface runoff, but in general this is a pretty well maintained section of stream.
• The water temp was warm for this time of year. Mid 60s in most spots, as high as 67 in one spot. I get that this is the lower section and the past couple days have been hot, but that is higher than I’d expect.
• There is already some conservation work happening. Some removal of things like Knotweed, bolstering the banks against erosion with large rocks, some young tree plantings.
  • The office said that the local Trout in the Classroom program is changing this year and they only allow brook trout releases there, no brown trout releases. The state still stocks brown trout, though. I wonder if we can change that?
• I caught a young largemouth bass and hooked up with that I’m pretty sure were two small (6-8in) brown trout, but they didn’t make it to the net. Both slipped my barbless hooks at my feet (from what I did see of them I noticed the lighter upper body, so pretty sure they are the smaller stocked browns). Lots of rises today, though, in the three bigger pools in this section of the river.

The largemouth bass I was surprised to catch when I was casting to rising trout: