Fishing on the Mohawk Towpath Byway

Fishing under the Route 9 Bridge in Crescent - photo by Henny O'Grady

The kid in me says, “Don’t be silly. The Byway is a road. You can’t fish on a road!” But the Mohawk Towpath Byway follows the waterway west and therefore makes just getting to a fishing spot an easy and pleasurable experience. In the Byway’s upcoming Guidebook Rodney Priddle, Jr and Larry Syzdek offer their suggestions on fishing along the Byway.

“No one who seriously fishes will give up their secret spots or techniques, but any locals can tell you where they see successful fishing. Many fishermen seek out areas near dams and the Erie Canal system’s locks, where fish often congregate. Common catches include: walleye, northern pike, small and large mouth bass, panfish, and blueback herring.

“There are quite a number of popular places along the Byway for fishing.
In Schenectady there’s access at:

• the bike trail that goes west from the parking lot behind the Schenectady County Community College campus at State Street and Washington Avenue;
• at the historic bridge abutment at the foot of Ferry Street in the Stockade; and
• along the water front park just north of Ferry Street.

“In Niskayuna check out the Lions Park water front on the Aqueduct (south) end of the Rexford Bridge where Route 146 crosses the Mohawk.  But respect the dock as private property of the Rowing Club.

“The access on Riverview Road, Clifton Park at the bottom of the hill east of Riverview Orchard. There’s also a secluded area below the Lock 7 Dam just west of Vischer Ferry at the foot of Sugar Hill Road.
“Halfmoon has a newly installed handicap fishing access on Terminal Road. An access ramp is provided to a platform located under the Route 9 Crescent Bridge. But there’s also access on Canal Road at the foot of Dunsbach Ferry Road and all along the waterfront to Crescent Park.

“In Colonie there’s Freddie’s Park on the east side of Route 9 just south of the Crescent Bridge. Although the waters edge is engulfed in vegetation there are two pull offs on the Cohoes Crescent Road that offers access to the river. But a more popular access is just below the N Y S Power Authority Power Plant on the Cohoes Crescent Road, in Colonie.

“Some have good luck below the Cohoes Falls. There’s access to the water at an unpaved parking lot opposite the Intersection of Mohawk Street and New Cortland Street in Cohoes.  Respect this as private property as well.

“Waterford has a secluded spot at the western end of Fight Lock Road where fishing is popular with plenty of parking. Fishing is great at ‘the Battery’ just east of the Waterford Visitor Center and at a number of spots around Peebles Island State Park, but both of these areas are ‘catch and release only’”.

New York State requires everyone above the age of 16 to have a license to fish in New York’s freshwaters. For more detailed fishing regulations and information on fishing in New York, visit the Department of Environmental Conservation’s web site http://www.dec.ny.gov/outdoor/fishing.html.  Whatever you do on or near the Byway this summer, do it safely.  Treat both public and private property with equal respect.  But enjoy the beauty around you and don’t forget the bug repellent.

Growing Up Near the Canal

- by Isabel Prescott

View of the Mohawk River from Riverview Orchards during Farm Fest 2008.

When my family moved to our farm on Riverview Road in 1944, one of the first things my parents noticed was the beautiful view of the Mohawk River. Our house and barns sat atop a hill overlooking the sloping pasture where our cows were put to graze, with the river just beyond.

As I was growing up, I found that the river provided my sisters and me with a lot of entertainment. My whole family would look on with wonder at huge yachts and pleasure boats heading down toward the lock two miles away, tug boats pushing long barges full of cargo, and blue and yellow work boats maintaining the buoys and the shoreline.

An avid journal keeper, Grandma kept track of many happenings on the farm, including activity on the river, noting how many boats had been seen going by in one day, when the buoys were placed in the water in the spring to guide the tugboats, and when they were removed for winter. She noted in the summer of 1956, “Helen [my mother] took the girls to the lock to see the boats. They had a good time,” and yes we would have. On a summer day my family would be busy on the farm, and we would hear the tugboats blowing their horns to warn the lock tender that they’d be going through. We’d excitedly tell our mom that we could see three or more barges lined up on the Mohawk waiting to go through the lock. If we were lucky, she would say, “OK, girls, get in the car. We’re going,” and what a fun time it would be. She’d drive us over the Rexford Bridge, up Balltown Road to River Road and eventually to the winding dirt path which would take us to Lock 7 on the other side of the river from our farm. We’d rush out of the car, climb the steep steps up to the sidewalk where we could see the huge lock doors open and close slowly, oh so slowly, in order to let in or out the rushing water to raise or lower the boats. We’d dream that night about what adventures might befall us if we ever had the opportunity to live on a tugboat and travel down the river.

Some years in the springtime the Mohawk would flood and overflow its banks (Grandma noted that it happened in 1949 and 1955), or huge blocks of ice might get pushed up on the shore (1964). In still other years, a barge could be stranded in shallow water or even capsize.

But most of all, memories come flooding back for me of the lazy hot days of summer and watching the barges go by, hearing their chugs and warning horns, wondering what load they carried, and hearing lively voices echoing up to us from the river on a still dark night. Childhood life along the Mohawk River was good, and even today, as I continue to live on the same farm along its banks, I am captivated by its peace and its beauty.
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Isabel Prescott owns Riverview Orchards, Riverview Road in Clifton Park and is an avid supporter of the Mohawk Towpath Byway.

Caution: Turtle Crossing

Drive carefully on the Byway.

image courtesy of www.krittersinthemailbox.com

In addition to the usual runners and cyclists on the Byway, spring brings out the turtle to lay eggs in upland areas and geese with their family of fuzzy little goslings.  Be especially careful where the road passes near the river or the old canal.

Warm sunny days seem to be a favorite time to encounter wildlife on the roadway, especially for cold blooded creatures like amphibians.  Some of our Snapping Turtles are huge so if a motorist hits one they can cause serious damage to your under carriage.  Obviously this isn’t to good for the turtle or the eggs she’s trying to lay.   I advise against stopping and trying to help the turtle along.  These ugly snappers see you as a threat.  Their best defense outside of their ugly shell is to reach out and bite the threat.  An outstretched hand or a human ankle makes an excellent target for mother turtle’s powerful jaw.  And once clamped on she will not let go.

But look out for the smaller, more attractive box and pained turtles too.  Give them the right of way or drive well around her.  Likewise with ducks and geese with their new families.  Life’s lessons are hard enough for these animals without adding highway fatalities to their numbers unnecessarily.

The Byway is best enjoyed at a slower pace.  Slow down and enjoy the spring wild flowers and give the wildlife (bikers and pedestrians, too) a wide berth.

image courtesy of www.krittersinthemailbox.com

Free Fun for Next Weekend

With rising gas prices and growing environmental concerns “staycations” have growing appeal.  There are lots of fun things to do right here on the Mohawk Towpath Byway.  Take an hour or loose yourself for a day of discovery without spending a dine.  Here’s 10 ideas.  See if you can come up with others:

1. Take in a special event on the Byway.  Most weekend days there is something special going on in one of the 8 communities along the Byway.

2. Volunteer. Call one of the eight local highway departments along the Byway and find a section of the Byway that has not be “adopted” for a roadside clean up.  Most likely they will provide you with bags, reflective vests and even gloves to help you get started.

3. Go for a walk on the Byway.  For starters pick a section of the Byway that has a sidewalk, parallel bike path or nature trail.  See if you can measure a mile: 15 minutes at a brisk walk.  How many different birds did you see, hear, or watch fly?  How many people did you see and what were they doing to enjoy the Byway?  Did you see any “wild life”?  Was it cold blooded, mammal, or bird?

4. Put some “Listerine” in a spray bottle.  Take your favorite pillow, summer blanket or beach towel, sketch pad, camera or the latest best seller novel and relax at a secluded spot on the Byway.  Experiment with the “Listerine”… does it really work as good as the name brand area bug repellent?

5. Try “geocaching”.  It’s like a modern day treasure hunt.  There are several sites on or near the Byway.  Visit www.geocaching.com and register.  Then read “Getting Started”.  It’s free.  Or ask a friend to join you or ask how to use his or her GPS.

6. Dress up like a tourist… camera, free map from Town hall, broad brim hat, and French (or any other language) -to-English dictionary and “drop in” to one of the visitor centers on the Byway: Waterford Harbor, Peebles Island, Schenectady Museum, or the first floor of the Cohoes Music Hall.  How many “foreign languages” can you hear?

And if it is a rainy day?  Take advantage of the weather.

7. Borrow a fishing pole from friend or family member.  Fish are more apt to bight in the rain. Does a ball of fresh bread work as well as earth worms?  Don’t forget your umbrella and your bug spray.

8. Relax with that box of photographs you’ve wanted to organize.  How many pictures are of friends and family having fun on the Byway?

9. Visit one of the six libraries within 5 miles of the Byway corridor.  Find their local history section and peruse one of the topics that you’ve always been curious about:  Erie Canal, Knox Canons, Native Americans and “the Falls”, geology of the eastern Mohawk Valley, Cohoes mastodon, historic business gazetteer, or family history for a starter.

10. Invent another activity on the “Byway” and fill us in on the details by commenting on this blog.

Assessing and Sustaining the Quality of America’s Byways®

A new primer on the America’s Byway® collection is now available at:

http://www.bywaysonline.org/program/reports/

This is a compilation of everything you always wanted to know about the America’s Byways program.  The entire report is available on line in short easy to read segments.

Golf on the Byway

- by Edward W. Brown

I love to play golf, and have been playing since 1973.  I am not an expert, but just your everyday average golfer.  I play to challenge myself, the exercise, being with friends and enjoying the great outdoors.  Playing a round of golf is much like taking a hike along the Mohawk Towpath Byway. If you hit your ball into the woods you have to go searching for it and sometimes blaze your own trail, unlike the well blazed Byway.  On some courses if you hit the ball the wrong way you may have to hike up or down a hill to retrieve or hit it out without penalty.

Other things I notice when I am playing is the beauty of our surroundings, the trees, plants, flowers, water hazards, sand traps, streams and brooks.  These are the same things you can find when you stop along the Mohawk Towpath Byway and explore.

The golf courses that come to mind in our area are rich with these natural features.  Mohawk River Country Club is somewhat flat, challenging and has elegant dining.  The Edison Club is a private club, but I have played there as a guest.  The course is challenging, has many of the hiking attributes, and has fine dining.  Schenectady Municipal is also a challenging course, open to the public and also has some history in it’s background.  It’s a short drive from the Byway.  Stadium Golf Club is a family owned operation a short drive from the western end of the Byway.  It’s challenging and plenty of that nature feeling and also offers some history for our area.

Get out and go hiking, play a round of golf, or do both, but enjoy the beauty of both on the Mohawk Towpath Byway.

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Ed Brown lives in the corridor, enjoys our resources, and volunteers his many talents to the Byway.

Spring is Returning to the Byway

The ice is out of the Mohawk.  It went in a relative undramatic fashion: no major floods, no major ice jams.

The snow has all melted except in the most protected spots and the areas under mounds of debris left by the mid December ice storm.

It is great to hear the cacophony of song from returning birds, returning in flocks, returning individually.

Winter on the Canal

Barb and I went out for a “simple” Christmas eve dinner at a popular, always open diner just south of the Byway corridor. I was amazed with the number of trucks still trucking on the eve of a major holiday. For each I could not help but wonder where they were going and what their stories were.

I have said before that we tend to romanticize transportation industry and that part of our history without realizing the hard work under unforgiving weather and with unforgiving machinery.

Recently I learned that historically the Erie Canal was open at least a month later than it is today (and opened in the early spring as soon as the ice was out.) I had the honor earlier this month of helping move the tug and barge that make up the North River Tugboat Museum from its fair weather location to a winter location. This move is necessary to get these historic vessels to a section of the canal that is not prone to certain destruction when the ice goes out of the Mohawk during a mid winter or spring thaw.

This move came on Thursday, December 11 during the early stages of the nor’easter that brought much of the northeast to it knees with a power outage that lasted for days with a half to two inches of ice accumulation, downed trees and power lines, and slippery conditions in miles in any direction.

If you can imagine me retired from a 34 year career of pencil pushing out in the bone chilling weather without my cross country skis you can begin to appreciate how pathetic an experience this was. Attached is a picture of the Tug “Francis Turecamo” and the 1930’s Pennsylvania Railroad Barge #399 crashing through two inches of early river ice. To give proper perspective you can see the gray figure of “Junior” on the forward deck of the barge. Junior is several inches taller than I and has a bigger frame than mine.

My role in all this was to catch a land line (a two inch diameter manila? rope) and secure it to the base of a N Y S Canal Corporation flag pole. This is an easy task for a nautical type on a warm summer day. But for me who has never gotten beyond a granny knot and square knot… all I can say is it’s a good thing the crew wasn’t depending on me to save a sinking vessel.

The authenticity of the experience includes the weather, the inflexible, ice encrusted, huge, manila being thrown at me from 20 feet, the lack of nimbleness to wrap a stiff, frozen line around a solid object and the request from a crew man to tie a bowline. [Yes, I know what a bowline is: an ancient but simple knot used to form a fixed loop at the end of a rope.] But I am embarrassed by not knowing how to tie a basic knot.

I don’t think that the Mohawk Towpath Byway or the North River Tugboat Museum can package this type of experience as authentic to the market place. A large sector of the population would not find this type of experience appealing. And if we packaged it would it still be authentic?

What we can do, however, is provide the opportunities for the public to build their own authentic experience. Individually we can’t do this alone. But if each of our member municipalities, each of our businesses along the Byway, each of our museums and cultural resources, and each of our agricultural concerns work together we can provide a destination that offers residents and visitors opportunities for unique and memorable experiences of their own.

The First Snow on the Byway

The first snow is a great time to visit the Byway.

The foliage is off the trees and the contracts between the new snow and natural and man-made features offer up some unique discoveries.  Old canal structures constructed over a century and a half ago stand out.  Historic foundation walls which have been covered with foliage for the past six months now stand out in the bare landscape.  Sand dunes that have grown over with forest regrowth are now quite visible.  Creeks and drainage ways are also more noticeable.

Get out there and enjoy the quiet of new snow and discover something new along the Byway.

Byway Has Its First Interpretive Kiosk

Newly installed interpretive kiosk in Crescent Park

The Mohawk Towpath Byway has its first interpretive kiosk located in Crescent Park at the intersections of Canal Road, Crescent-Vischer Ferry Road, and Route 9.  The kiosk has three panels: one providing the significance of the Town of Halfmoon, another that lays out the history of the Hamlet of Crescent, and a third to describe the Mohawk Towpath Byway.

This is the first of several information kiosks planned to help tell the story of the waterway west and the role our communities played in the westward expansion of the country and in the Industrial Revolution.

This project was funded by a grant to the New York State Scenic Byways Program, at the New York State Department of Transportation, through the Federal Highway Administration and the Transportation Equity Act for the 21st Century of 1998.  The Town of Halfmoon administered the grant obtained by the Mohawk Towpath Scenic Byway Coalition, Inc.

“Projects like this illustrates the types of community improvements that are possible through partnerships,” said Eric Hamilton, Chairman of the Mohawk Towpath Scenic Byway Coalition.  “In addition to work by the Town of Halfmoon’s Parks Department the Shenendehowa Rotary Club provided many hours of preparation and site work as a part of their Rotary Centennial Project.

Shenendehowa Rotary Help

These in kind services provided a major portion of the local match for the federal aid we received.”

An additional kiosk is planned in the spring for the Dunsbach Ferry site approximately 2 miles west.

Three additional kiosks are on the drawing boards for historic points of interest along Riverview Road.  Going east on the Byway the Town of Colonie has an information kiosk in Freddies Park just south of the Route 9 bridge.  This kiosk provides the history of the Mohawk River Crossings at this location.