The Black River - Dexter New York

This being my day off from work and not having anything important or vital that needed to be done, I decided to go fishing out at Dexter, New York.  I mostly wanted to get outside and experience the warm sun and above freezing temperatures that we in the North Country have been blessed with these last few days.  Aftera quick stop at the Wal-Mart in Felt Mills to load up on much needed supplies (two cans of worms and a ham sandwich) I was on my way.

The one thing anybody will notice if they decided to drive into Dexter from Interstate 81 is that the bridge going into Dexter is still under construction.  Now this damned bridge has been "Under Construction" since my employer took me to New York and that was back in July of 2014.  Only one lane is open, last year it was the right side now it's the left, so you have to sit and wait for the light to change in order to drive across.  It's a bit frustrating, but I am pretty sure NYDOT will be working on that damned thing when I leave and that shouldn't be for another two years.

The weather was nice, bright, and sunny, with gusts of wind coming in from the south.  Not bad if you have a jacket.  Already the local New Yorkers were taking their boats out to the ramp.  Fat lot of good it did them.  The rain we had for the past few days and the effects of all the melting snow had caused the Black River to really swell with a muddy brownness that most likely came from all the sand that was washed off the roadways.  The river current is normally strong but for the most part clear, the bottom is mostly large rock.  Now it looked like something you would find in Louisiana.

I set up my little spot on Fisherman Island Park just above the dam.  The current wasn't too bad and there was not a lot of underbrush preventing access.  The sun was warm on my face and I enjoyed listening to a repeat of  Rush Limbaugh's Friday Broadcast on 790 WTNY.



While Bobby Likis was singing the great benefits of ethanol, I set about the task of trying to catch some fish. Using a size 6 hook with a good 10 inches of 8-lbs test for a leader and one of my trusty egg sinkers, I set my first rod up for a bottom feeder rig and casted off a good 25 feet from shore. The second rod I used a fairly simple river rig; consisting of 12-lbs test, floating jig and a 3-way swivel. You can use this set up for trolling for for river fishing, the idea being to keep the bait off of the bottom. A good float jig is recommended.

  As for the fishing itself?  Completely unproductive.  A passerby made the comment that he managed to get a few pickrell last Wednesday when it was still raining.  I told him that was my damned luck, the fish only bite when I'm at work.  Although I will say this, I did manage to catch a log.