WiseAcre Gardens

Another day canoeing on the Grasse River.
This time it was the section between Morley and Bucks Bridge. The trip starts out in shallow water riffles and there is always the chance of getting hung up on submerged boulders and rock ledges. By keeping to the north side of the river you can avoid most of the snares. A bedrock shelf extends out from the north (right) side. During periods of low water it lies exposed, today it was mostly submerged. You can just make out some debris stranded on the shelf where the water lever was only a couple inches deep.

It only takes a few minutes to run shallows (about 3/4 mile) in a canoe. This section is probably my favorite fishing spot in the county. It’s a great spot to wade and fish on a hot summer day, smallmouth bass like to hang out in the numerous ‘holes’. These pockets can be waist deep and the current can sweep you off your feet if you stumble into one but it’s oh so refreshing when it’s unbearably hot and humid. By the time both the river and I run out of current I can just manage to walk up the hill to home.

Near the end of the shallows is a limestone outcrop on the south (right) side and the location of my primary objective of the day. It might only be a mile from home and I may be a bit carried away when it comes to rocks but I’m not dumb enough to carry one that far. I are smart so I used my canoe to collect this beauty I discovered on the river bank.

RockinCanoe

I’ve been collecting rocks and thinking about making some disappearing fountains. I’ll get into that another day.

After the shallow water riffles the river settles down. There’s 2 miles of flat water and a number of small islands before reaching sight of Bucks Bridge. I fished some on the way and caught a couple of smallmouth ‘keepers’ that I let go for another day. Hooking into bass over 15 inches is not an unusual experience in this section of river.

The river bank is high and hides a beaver pond / swamp on the south side. Where the swamp drains to the river is a shallow area filled with pickerelweed. I usually catch both pickerel and northern pike here but today I just drifted by. A Great Blue Heron was stalking the shallows and I didn’t want to disturb it. I wanted photos of big blue.

I was drifting slowly and quite a distance away but the heron noticed me right away.

A couple of strides with those long legs and it was nearly hidden in the pickerelweed.

My presence was too much to tolerate. With both of us in motion and the camera at full zoom I was surprised to capture the moment it took wing and get a half way decent photo.

The rest of the trip was pretty much uneventful. Another bass caught and released, a turtle diving for cover and a good slap by a beaver was all that interrupted the last part of the trip. (No I didn’t get slapped, beavers slap the water as a warning to others then dive out of sight)

The end in sight. Bucks Bridge

This is another section of shallow water riffles. Just before the bridge I got hung up and had to get my feet wet pulling the canoe to the takeout.

A Google map of the river section along County RT 14.

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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

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Put on a pair of old sneakers and go for a short hike in the Grasse River. Start at the hamlet of Morley and splash your way downstream. With the current low water level a good portion of the river bed lies exposed and it’s possible to go about a mile downstream without getting more than knee deep in the water. The river banks are private property so you can’t take the short hike on foot without getting them wet. You either wade or trespass. I suggest wading like I do.

Grasse River – looking upstream to Morley

Before I get to the wildflowers I need to mention this section of the river is a great spot to go small mouth bass fishing. They run small but they’re plentiful and will keep ya more than busy reeling them in. There’s nearly always a ‘keeper’ in the bunch and catching your limit isn’t all that unusual. Me, I’m all catch and release – the water gets pretty warm and the bass tend to get mighty grubby. Bass aren’t the only thing lurking below the water’s surface. I’ve pulled out Walleye, Perch and have even hooked onto a good sized Muskie here. The fishing is good till you can’t wade any deeper, after that you need a boat.

A rock ledge overhanging the south bank of the river

Cardinal Flowers dot the river bank

There were plenty of Monkey-Flowers growing where the water had receded. One plant was doomed, left stranded in a bit of mud stuck on a rock. I don’t give it much chance of surviving.

Square-stemmed Monkey-flower

I should go back and rescue it. ‘Blue’ flowers are hard to come by and I think this one would appreciate being placed in my pond garden.

Square Stemmed Monkey Flower – Mimulus ringens

I can’t make up my mind which of the photos to post.

So you get all 3.

Another blue wildflower on the river bank is Common Skullcap. There are more this year than I ever remember but it just might be a matter of timing.

Common Skullcap – Scutellaria galericulata (S epilobiifolia)

Another look, this time a bit closer at the cap.

And a look at the leaves of this skullcap.

Although the name implies this wildflower is blue I see it as more of a purple. Blue Vervain has tiny flowers but the multiple flower spikes are hard to miss contrasted against the river.

Blue Vervain – Verbena hastata

The flowers bloom a few at a time while advancing up the spike.

A look at a Blue Vervain leaf.

That’s it for blue. Time for yellow.

Sneezeweed, I assume it gets it’s common name from the fact that the powdered leaves of this wildflower induces sneezing. Native Americans also powdered dried florets to use as a snuff to treat head colds and catarrh.

Sneezeweed – Helenium autumnale

And just because they’re so pretty – another photo of them.

Warning:
Poisonous to cattle, fish, worms and insects. It may cause dermatitis – I assume to humans.

The next yellow flower was a real find for me. This is the first time I’ve ‘documented’ this plant. I may have seen it before but never managed to get a photo or place it in my memory.

Great St. Johnswort – Hypericum ascyron (Hypericum pyramidatum)

Giant might be a better name, this St. Johnswort can grow to 6 feet in height and the flowers are huge (up to 3 inch across) compared to other species of this plant. Even the seed pods are over sized.

Time to wrap up this post. I’ve already bogged down the loading time with too many photos. It’s time to flutter off but not before I post a couple more photos.

A Red Admiral Butterfly on Joe Pye-weed

Canadian Geese on the Grasse

Where in the world is Morley, NY?

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