Pepacton reservoir NY

[jrock]

Was in the mood for something different so decided to finally, after so many years of hearing about the awsome brown trout fishing here, it was time to give it a try. Went on craigslist and picked up a nice 12 foot semi v aluminum row boat. This place has strict rules, row boats only, must register online for a permit, ( 5 minuye process), and of coarse ny state fishong license. You also have to have your row boat steam cleaned, ( 10 bucks). You either leave it there locked to a tree or you can take it home but you would need to re-steam clean it before bringing it back up. Seems like a lot of work but iys not to bad and once ur done u have a boat right there all you have to do is drive up and fish. Anyway its way wirth it because its a gorgeous place, I mean gorgeous. Barely any other fisherman in site and the browns are beautiful, large, and plentifull. We decided to troll spoons some weighted to get a little deeper and some flatlined. The fish were 10-15 feet down. Trolled for about six hours, (great workout trolling with paddles), and landed about 8 quality thick browns. Biggest was 5 lbs, with a bunch of 3-4 pounders. They hit like mack trucks and fight like hell..... the amount of bait in that place is ridiculous. I live fishin my home state of nj but if you want to get away from the crowds and get into some good fishing and beautifull scenery, ya can't beat the catskill region. By the way we caught all them fish our first time oit on that giant reservoir with very little tips. Just went out and fished. There was fish blowing up everywhere, place is full of trout. The smallmouth fishing is supposed to be great also. We trolled a few up and when we stopped for a shore lunch caught a few casting spoons from shore. Shore fishing is also permitted. Here is a few pics of our limit.

[Andrushkin33]

That's some nice quality fish you got there.

Nice to get out and try new places to go. Kudos on your success.

Andre

[AndyS]

The 1st time I heard of Pepacton I was just a teenager. I went to a friends house and he pulls a fish out of the freezer, I think it was close to 15lbs, Brown Trout ! My friend went on to tell me how they would drift herring 35ft down and catch huge Browns.
I check the reports from the lake every so often, seems like the Brown Trout fishery is still alive and well up there after all these years. From what I understood also was the fact you could only use herring from the lake, no imports. I think NY was on the verge of allowing electric motors up there and then 9/11 hit and that was the end of that.
GREAT report !!!!!!

[jrock]

Your right about the herring andy, you can only buy them up there by the certified dealers. They will give you a sticker to place on ur bait bucket to show that they are certified bait. They sell for a dollar a herring, I can only imagine what your bait bill would look like up there andy lol. They also have a pilot program going with the trolling motors on another reservoir and according to the guy at the shop, will be aloud on pepacton next season. I'm ok with row trolling my 50cent ebay spoons for now lol, they work wonders. Plus who's gonna leave a trolling motor up there all season.......

[bassnblues]

Always wanted to fish there.

My father grew up around there and his family was displaced because of the reservoir being built. I have a very old local news paper from the area with the headline "This valley is doomed!".

[JDTuna]

Awesome! Do they allow kayaks in there?

[FASTEDDIE29]

Beautiful fish Jrock! Thanx for checking in with an AWESOME report. Those are some super healthy Browns right there. Way to GIT-R-DONE on a totally new place. Great report!!!

[jrock]

Thanx fellas, yes kayaks are allowed. You can get all the info online. Takes a couple minutes to fill out the application online print it out and your set for five years. Just have the permit with you when on reservoir property.

[JerryC]

awesome nice job!

[FISHOFF]

Originally Posted by jrock

Was in the mood for something different so decided to finally, after so many years of hearing about the awsome brown trout fishing here, it was time to give it a try. Went on craigslist and picked up a nice 12 foot semi v aluminum row boat. This place has strict rules, row boats only, must register online for a permit, ( 5 minuye process), and of coarse ny state fishong license. You also have to have your row boat steam cleaned, ( 10 bucks). You either leave it there locked to a tree or you can take it home but you would need to re-steam clean it before bringing it back up. Seems like a lot of work but iys not to bad and once ur done u have a boat right there all you have to do is drive up and fish. Anyway its way wirth it because its a gorgeous place, I mean gorgeous. Barely any other fisherman in site and the browns are beautiful, large, and plentifull. We decided to troll spoons some weighted to get a little deeper and some flatlined. The fish were 10-15 feet down. Trolled for about six hours, (great workout trolling with paddles), and landed about 8 quality thick browns. Biggest was 5 lbs, with a bunch of 3-4 pounders. They hit like mack trucks and fight like hell..... the amount of bait in that place is ridiculous. I live fishin my home state of nj but if you want to get away from the crowds and get into some good fishing and beautifull scenery, ya can't beat the catskill region. By the way we caught all them fish our first time oit on that giant reservoir with very little tips. Just went out and fished. There was fish blowing up everywhere, place is full of trout. The smallmouth fishing is supposed to be great also. We trolled a few up and when we stopped for a shore lunch caught a few casting spoons from shore. Shore fishing is also permitted. Here is a few pics of our limit.

Hate to burst ur bubble those fish nice but should have been released and are not that big. Congrats on catching some fish, however we don't talk about the big pond. Been there since '72, when u break 10 lb let us know. Cannonsville allows electric motors, if u get in the trout derby bait is 10 dollars a dz.