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July 14, 2003 |
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Tubing the Esopus
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Now that it finally feels like summer, we thought it would be fun to help some visiting relatives cool off by taking them tubing on the Esopus. It was a nice, sunny afternoon, however when we got to Town Tinker Tube Rental, proprietor and friend Harry Jameson told us that the water was quite chilly. The water temperature was in the mid-50’s because of recent water releases from the Shandaken Tunnel, and Harry highly recommended wet suits. We squeezed into the tight suits, grabbed some tubes and life jackets, and listened to the safety instructions. Chris decided that on this trip he would do something he’d wanted to do for a long time - fly-fish while tubing; attempting to perhaps bridge the gap between two often conflicting Catskill outdoor activities. Harry warned that inner tubes and sharp objects such as fishhooks or broken rods do not mix well; but he had no policy against it and just said to be careful. We all headed down to the river, eager for a fun 2.5-mile float down to Mount Tremper.
The water was a bit cold, but we got used to it pretty quickly. It was moving along at a good pace with some fun whitewater. The first big challenge is the rough bend just below Phoenicia (known as Elmer’s Rapids), which had flipped Chris out of his tube on a float trip a few years ago, but everyone successfully navigated the stretch on this trip. In the flatter runs and long pools Chris cast an olive colored bead-head nymph, but had no strikes from fish.
About halfway along, there was a place where the river constricted and picked up its pace, and in the center of the rapid was a very large boulder. The first few tubers made it through without incident, but Chris could not avoid the boulder as much as he tried to and flipped out of his tube into the deep swirling water behind the boulder. He clutched to the inner tube in one hand and the fly rod in the other while trying not to swallow too much of the Esopus. At first he thought he was floating downstream through the rapids, and was trying to keep his feet up in front of him, but he realized that he was trapped in a strong back-eddy formed by the water rushing over the boulder. The water was about as deep as he is tall, with a lot of force trying to push him under. Luckily he was able to keep his head above water by virtue of the fact that he was wearing a life jacket and grasping the big floating tube. At last he got his feet on the river bottom and pushed off, getting away from the pull of the eddy and able to relax and breathe freely again. It was a moment of panic, but the only injuries sustained were a bruised ankle and a bruised ego.
The second half of the run was free from mishaps in the whitewater and Chris had better luck fishing. He switched to a size 12 bead-head Prince nymph fly and started catching trout. The first fish on was the biggest, and he had to get out of his tube to land the fish. It was a 10" wild rainbow worth keeping. A bit further downstream he caught another rainbow, this one 7", in the seam where two where two split channels came back together. This one was also kept for dinner. The last trout was caught just before the take-out spot at the roadside pull-off in Mount Tremper, and was a little 4-5" rainbow; this one released.
It was a fun run all in all, and we had a great time on the river. The feast at Aaron’s house afterward was a great way to end the day and appreciate the fruits of the river (baked on the grill in lemon juice and butter).
- Chris and Aaron
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