Grasse River – Pyrites to Canton

The canoe launch at the bridge on County Road 21 (Pyrites – Hermon Rd) is usually more rock than river this late in the summer. For the first half mile or so the river is much too shallow to float your boat. Launching anything but a rubber duck here means wading in the shallow water and dragging your boat behind you over the rocks. But a heavy rain (over 3 inches) the other day raised the water level significantly making this section of river navigable to canoes and kayaks.

The current is swift but running the ‘rapids’ here is easy. The water depth was a good couple of feet. Standing waves marked the location of rocks just under the surface that you could easily get hung up on but were easily avoided. Once around the first bend you’ll see the discontinued gauging station (04265000), the last records from this station are from 1977. The river settled down somewhat here, the current was still swift but there were few if any submerged boulders to worry about so I started casting about. Before I entered the first flat water section I had caught a couple small bass. Around 7 inch, they were nothing to write home about.

Harrison Creek empties into the Grasse River just before the old bridge abutments where a road must have connected Barnes Rd with the Miner Street Rd long ago.

the canoe is pointing right at the creek entrance

A tree had recently fallen across the creek just above a beaver dam now topped by the high water.

I could see two barriers as soon as I started paddling up the creek.

The creek turned out to be the hot spot of the day. I pulled in 4 bass within minutes of each other in this short section of the creek. The first was a 15 incher, the next was about 13 followed by two 10 inchers. The 5 inch monster got away.

After the creek my luck changed. I caught plenty of bass but most were in the 7 inch range with the largest pushing 9 inches. As luck would have it the big fish never took the bait on the Grasse. But that’s no big deal, fishing is only one excuse I use to go canoeing. (as if I needed any)

By the time I hit this section I still had a good 5 miles left to go before I reached Canton. I’d pause long enough to cast into likely spots, maybe catch a little bass and move on. If I fished the whole length I would not have made it to the takeout before dark. So I paddled easy and took in the sights, the scarlet red of Cardinal Flowers highlighted the yellow blooms of Sneezeweed along the entire trip. Other wildflowers such as Joe Pye-weed and Swamp Milkweed had gone by but the white flowers of Turtleheads were still hanging in there. All was silent including an owl but it’s movement when it did a Linda Blair on me caught my attention. After a couple of quick photos I continued my paddle.

One panorama after another comes into view as you round the numerous bends in the river.

Sometimes a little rain must fall.

This turtle has more climbing skills than I imagined possible. That stump was almost straight up. How that turtle managed to climb up there is beyond me.

The mouth of the Little River marked the last leg of my trip to the boat launch on County Rt 27 just outside the Village of Canton. A few minutes more and my 5 hour canoe journey would be over. I’m not sure how much time I spent fishing, drifting, hiding under overhanging trees to avoid the couple downpours that passed by or just plain goofing off. Even a little Muskrat Love kept me dawdling on the river.

The little fur ball didn’t seem to mind my intrusion so I maneuvered closer for a more personal encounter.

This was my last distraction, I did spot some ripe Jack in the Pulpit berries on the bank of the Little River as I paddled by but I didn’t let them stop me. I was wet as the muskrat and twice as hungry and just wanted to get home to some dry clothes and a hot meal.

Use the Google map to follow the course of the trip from the bridge on the Grasse River to the takeout on the Little River

View Larger Map