I got out Sunday morning to fish the upper part of a brook in Putnam County that is the closest thing to a Catskill hollow brook east of the Hudson River. This quiet little stream is tucked away in the woods a mile away from the nearest road.

A month and a half ago I fished the lower portion and was delighted to find brook trout. I’ve wanted to return and explore the upper portion of the brook since. Sunday was the day.

Another reason I wanted to get out was to fish a bamboo rod I recently purchased from a friend: A 7ft 2/1 4wt made by PA rodmaker Tom Nigro (Spring Creek Rods) with a Dickerson 7012 taper. I found an English-made Orvis CFO III for a reasonable price that looks quite handsome on the rod.

I scoured maps to find an accessible spot. On AllTrails I found a public trailhead a mile’s hike from the stream. That eats up fishing time, but having a beautiful babbling brook all to myself is one of the reasons I enjoy fly fishing so much anyway. So I drove to the trailhead, pulled on my waders, laced up my boots, zipped up my jacket, and started walking.

It was a beautiful autumn walk. I could see my breath in the 33°F air, but the forecast promised it would warm up to about 60°F by noon. A couple nights of frost dropped most of the leaves, and they crunched underfoot as I made my way down to the stream. I was glad the leaves were down, that meant they had already been pushed to the sides of the stream or sunk to the bottom. Pausing to pull a leaf off your fly after every other cast is no fun.

As I arrived at the water, I was happy to see the upper portion of this stream is less choked with brambles than the lower section. There is a lot more access and casting room. While the lower portion has lots of long pools and runs, up here is mostly pocket water and small plunge pools, with a couple of nice runs sprinkled in.

The 7ft 4wt performed beautifully with a WF4 line. I did a lot of close oval casting to keep my line under the canopy, and it gracefully turned over the leader and allowed the fly to land gently on the water. Splashes in this shallow, clear water just spook the cautious wild trout.

I brought 7 speckled brook trout to hand, ranging from 4-7in. A Royal Wulff and an X-Caddis were the two producers, size 16. An Ausable Wulff and a foam ant stirred no fish. Size 16 is my go-to for brook trout. Big enough that it won’t be swallowed completely, and small enough that the 4-5in fish won’t miss it. I get a lot more misses on size 14.

Next, I’m eager to get this rod out on a proper river so I can make longer casts with it.