Never mind the dinkers, it’s steelhead time

Gary Dodson was catching steelhead last week. Will the streak continue?
Provided
Gary Dodson was catching steelhead last week. Will the streak continue?
Weather and work finally aligned and I spent three pleasant hours on Monday, April 14, wandering Macedonia State Park in Kent. I went everywhere except the big pool at the bottom of the waterfall. Just too obvious.
The stream was stocked for the first time April 10.
I caught four rainbows and tickled two or three others, using a Dragontail Mizuchi tenkara rod. It’s a zoom rod, meaning it can be deployed at 11 feet, nine and a half feet, and a bit under eight feet. I used the longest two settings and a nine-foot furled line with two or three feet of tippet.
That might seem on the long side for a mountain brook but until the streamside vegetation springs up there is plenty of room. You could easily use your industry standard nine foot five weight fly rod without spending precious time getting hung up in the bushes.
The trout would not come up for anything on the surface. I tried. Big and bushy, small and subtle, and points in between. Pure D bupkis.All the action was on weighted nymphs and a relatively tight line.
This time of year Macedonia is a good place to practice small stream techniques with willing test subjects. When the campground opens in early May all bets are off. I suspect a lot of those fish wind up in the campers’ frying pans. Which is fine.
In addition to catching rainbows my accomplishments were all negative, but in a good way. I didn’t fall down. I didn’t break a rod. My waders didn’t leak, and my shoulder feels okay.
I did stab myself in the thumb with a Chubby Chernobyl, but because I squashed the barb on the hook it didn’t stick and it didn’t bleed much. So that’s neutral.
I repeated the process the next afternoon on the Blackberry in East Canaan. It was a little on the high side so I stuck to the easy-in, easy-out spots in and around Beckley Furnace.
Whereas the water temperature at Macedonia was a brisk 46, the Blackberry clocked in at a much friendlier 52. Friendlier for trout, that is. For a person it was still plenty cold.
Results were similar, except I broke in a 10 foot five weight rod I picked up over the winter on a whim.
Again I caught nothing but rainbows, all in the 12-14 inch range, and all on nymphs fished deep on a tight line.
Then what had been a nice sunny day turned dark, chilly and snotty. I cheesed it and returned home to the couch and the ongoing study of martial arts movies from the 1970s and 1980s.
This activity was all filed under the heading “spring training.” The regular season starts the following week, when I am traveling to Pulaski, New York, for another whack at steelhead in the Salmon River.
My confederate Gary is there this week. He sent a photo of him cradling an immense fish. His accompanying text message made it sound ho-hum.
I guess we’ll see.
Habitat for Humanity assisted in the construction and sale of this house at 14 Rudd Pond Road for $392,000.
MILLERTON — Official Dutchess County property transfers for the four months ending in May are fascinating from the sale of the former Presbyterian Church on Main Street for $420,000 to the $300,000 sale of 8.3 acres of the historic Perotti farm for $300,000 where major barn restoration is now underway.
Actively listed properties at the end of July include 14 parcels of land ranging in price from $60,000 for a five-acre lot to six parcels over a million dollars. 15 single family homes are on the market including an $11,750,000 estate on Moadock Road and four village homes for under $500,000.
Residential
14 Rudd Pond Road — 3 bedroom/2 bath home on .64 acres sale recorded in March for $392,000 to Anthony M. Macagnone.
81 Rudd Pond Road — 3 bedroom/2 bath home on .45 acres recorded in April for $360,300 to Sara Whitney Laser.
926 Smithfield Road — Historic house and barns on 8.31 acres sale recorded in May for $300,000 to Colonial House & Barn LLC.
5408 Route 22 — 3 bedroom/2 bath home on 5.38 acres sale recorded in May for $465,000 to Erich McEnroe.
The former Presbyterian Church on Main Street in the Village of Millerton was purchased in May for $420,000 and then pained grey.Christine Bates
Commercial
1 Smith Court, Village of Millerton — Office building sale recorded in March for $825,000 to OneJohnStreet LLC.
58 Main Street, Village of Millerton — Sale of former church recorded in May for $420,000 to 58 Main Street LLC.
5546 Route 22 — Sale of former restaurant on 2 acres recorded in May for $70,000 to Haithem Oueslati Trustee.
Land
State Line Road (#789358) — Sale recorded of 20.82 acres of vacant residential land in March for $150,000 to Elliott Squared LLC.
148 Morse Hill — Sale recorded of 30.03 acres of vacant productive farm land in 5 parcels in March for $800,000 to Thorne Water LLC.
*Town of North East and Village of Millerton property transfers from March through May not previously reported as sales in The Millerton News are sourced from Dutchess County Real Property Office monthly reports for March through May. Details on property from Dutchess Parcel Access. Compiled by Christine Bates, Real Estate Advisor with William Pitt Sotheby’s International Realty, Licensed in Connecticut and New York.
MILLERTON — Heavy rain brought down trees on Park Avenue, South Center Street and Century Boulevard, causing blackouts across the village on Friday, July 25.
The Millerton Moviehouse cancelled film showings for the afternoon following the outages, as stated in a release sent out to Moviehouse supporters over email Friday afternoon.
Village Clerk Lisa Cope said the downed trees landed on power lines, causing localized blackouts for many village residents and businesses between 3 and 6 p.m. Friday evening.
Central Hudson crews cleared the trees and restored power to the village that evening.