Nissequogue

[TheIndian]

Have been watching the tide tables, waiting for high tide to coincide with a nice Friday afternoon. Yesterday it seemed about right so I took out, what some call, the “garbage barge,”...it ain’t pretty but it floats.
Was on water by about 2:30 and was hoping to hook up with some stripers and blues and whatever else might be out there. Well, it didn’t take long to hook up with a short 24” striper which was a lot of fun on some of my larger freshwater gear but that was it for the afternoon.
When the sun got low, the breeze turned off and it was like glass out there.

 

[Robin]

I used to like to paddle the Nissequogue in my Grumman, grew up in Commack so I was pretty close. Trout fishing could be good there also.

 

[TheIndian]

Yes, the trout fishing has been great on the upper reaches of the river where it’s freshwater and I even hear it’s good in the brackish sections where browns are stocked by the NYSDEC.

Commack? That’s funny. I’m in Kings Park now. Would love to see some of your photos of the river when you were on it if you have any.

 

[snapper]

Wow...that's a blast from my past. I too grew up on LI; Floral Park to be exact but there were still farms in my town as a kid. My Dad and I used to travel out to the Nissequogue, Connequot & Carmens river for fishing (I hope I spelled them all correctly...it's been a while). We also spent a lot of time on Forge Pond; which flows out to Riverhead and into the salt water between the forks.

That's all for now. Take care and until next time....be well.

snapper

 

[Waterspyder]

Since it seems like a number of us have roots on Long Island and recall paddling on the Nissequogue River I thought I'd add a few recent comments on paddling the Upper Nissequogue. Twice a year the local paddling club is permitted to paddle the upper River before and at the end of trout fishing season. The paddle takes place from the mill dam on Stump Pond in Blydenburgh County Park to old mill just south of the RR tracks in Smithtown near the Bull. This portion of the river is in Caleb Smith state park and the paddle is conducted as a river cleanup. Other than these twice a year river cleanup paddles no paddling is permitted on this portion of the river.
This year's fall paddle at the end of October involved walking most of the first half mile or so due to low water levels. For those of you who don't know the river this upper section is roughly 8 to 10 foot wide and surrounded by unimproved parkland. Since both parks (Blydenburgh and Caleb Smith) were originally private hunting and fishing clubs there are a number of old fish weirs and in the resulting deeper water a number of trout were spotted. There was little wildlife on the section prior to the spillway which is roughly the half way point. At the spillway as in the past there were signs of otter scat. After the spillway the river widens to about 20 feet and eventually to the pond by the former lower mill. This wider section of the river turned out to be a bird watchers paradise ranging from wood ducks, osprey, great blue herons and even a couple cormorants (which are usually seen on Long Island in salt water). If it were one or two birds it wouldn't have been unusual but on the day of the cleanup paddle the waterfowl were there in the hundreds. The good news is the limited amount of trash we found on this year's paddle with the only odd item found being a skimboard. What that was doing on a narrow winding river with little or no current I'll leave up to your imagination. But, it doesn't compare to the bowling ball I found about a mile from the nearest road on a prior cleanup of the upper Connetquot river but that is a different story. Then there was the porcelain toilet found on the ..... thankfully that went in someone else's canoe.
Currently NY state is drafting plans for the lower Nissequogue River at the Nissequogue State park near Long Island sound. This lower section from near the Smithtown Bull (Rt.25) to the Long Island sound is open to paddling and is popular for group canoe paddling. The plans involve dredging and creating a new power boat marina and some restrictions to canoeing activity in the area near the "new" marina. To show the differences in priorities at a recent meeting and comment period, held by the state, the powerboat owners concerns involved such items as the lack of Wifi connectivity at the marina and whether they could get lifetime leases to the docking spaces instead of ten year leases. After receiving comments from local paddlers the state is considering adding provisions for launching of canoes and kayaks in the Nissequogue State Park. My understanding is little or no consideration for paddlers were included in original plans.

Ray

 

[TheIndian]

Wow...that's a blast from my past. I too grew up on LI; Floral Park to be exact but there were still farms in my town as a kid. My Dad and I used to travel out to the Nissequogue, Connequot & Carmens river for fishing (I hope I spelled them all correctly...it's been a while). We also spent a lot of time on Forge Pond; which flows out to Riverhead and into the salt water between the forks.

That's all for now. Take care and until next time....be well.

snapper

That's cool to know Snapper. My Aunt and cousins used to live in Floral Park. I'll try to remember the name of the street. All those waterways you mention are beautiful however there are strict provisions applied to fishing certain sections of them (except Forge Pond). Makes it a little inconvenient to access them but it keeps them in pristine condition...at least for Long Island.

I'm trying to finish a book by Nick Karas (sp?)..."Brook Trout." Lots of history about the Long Island rivers...pretty cool stuff.

Never entered into the salt water from Forge Pond...will have to put it on the to-do list.

 

[TheIndian]

Snapper....Aunt lived on Tulip.

 

[snapper]

TheIndian - I grew up on Carnation Avenue; about a 5-10 minute walk from Tulip depending on where she lived. Most of the streets in the village are named after trees, flowers, etc. because John Lewis Childs, one of the early movers & shakers in the town, once operated the world's largest seed factory in Floral Park. The old factory was still there when I was a kid but the LI RR took over the land and brought the building down to make way for new tracks.

That's all for now. Take care and until next time....be well.

snapper

 

[coldfeet]

Side note to Snapper, I paddle the Great Swamp in Patterson on Saturday with my wife and friends, heard from southcove you were just there. Hope all is well.

 

[snapper]

Coldfeet - I was there just over a week ago with a session of the NYS Outdoor Education Association conference that was being held at Green Chimneys at their Clearpool campus outside Carmel. We didn't have much time in the swamp but I certainly enjoyed my short adventure there. Would love to go back in the future. I hope your trip was a good one.

That's all for now. Take care and until next time....be well.

snapper

 

[Robin]

Just a quick response to see if everything is working correctly after the site update.

 

[pataneap]

Seems to be working well.............Tony

 

[Robin]

Thank You