bluecordfishermen 
Its Fall in the Adirondacks. I’ve been wanting to get to Streeter Lake to take a shot at the trout. I was not disappointed, but it will be the last kayak opportunity of the season with temperatures rapidly dropping.
GETTING TO STREETER LAKE.
Route 3 rolls through the Adirondacks from Fort Drum. The challenge is after you find your way to Oswegatchie and then Coffin Mills Road to Aldrich. Aldrich is a village of hunting camps. One Sign in the village stated the population of Aldrich is 2. I also mention the route to the Little River in an earlier post.
FINDING THE TRAIL
Traveling from Oswegatchie on Coffin Mills Road, the gravel road will be on the left after you pass over the bridge across the Little River. The sign above marks the entrance. The best map I have found to navigate to Aldrich is below.
The gravel road heads South for 4.9 miles to the gated access. This is beyond the range of cell phone towers. There are several camp sites along the gravel road leading to Streeter Lake. On the other side of the gate you can find a trail that leads to lean-to shelters. The URL at the bottom of the post has details but the bottom line is that these are all first come first served. Below is the gate and the hand launch ramp that enters the outlet cove to Streeter Lake.
The trail system on the other side of the gate is extensive. and goes from Cranberry Lake to Stillwell Lake (See the signs below.
SEARCHING FOR A MOUNTAIN STREAM
The Topo map below details the area around Streeter Lake. Combined with the NY DEC Sketch map, you have all the info you need to fish this lake. The Little River parallels the road in and provides another option for fishing.
After parking, I took a hike to find a mountain stream that might have some native trout. 30 minutes later I found the stream that runs out of the Streeter Lake outlet. It was small and surrounded by dense vegetation but not impossible to follow the creek. I found this single fall pool but it was void of fish. Shortly down stream from here it became a bog. I headed back to my truck to launch the kayak.
FISHING STREETER LAKE
I did a little work along the cove leading into the open water but no luck. As soon as I got beyond the cove the wind kicked up. I drifted and fished and reached the far side. I did a sprint across hugging the shore line and got to a protected corner and fished. The sunlight was perfect in spite of the breeze. An hour of fishing without any results. I worked my way back to the cove and decided to take on the cove and the vegetation. That afternoon I paddled or drifted the entire shore line with not even one strike.
BROWN TROUT
I set the kayak up so I was casting down wind across the mouth of the cove. On my first cast, I placed it just beyond some weeds and he struck my crankbait hard. Initially, I would has swore he was a big bass. He made a foot high jump and it was clear he was a trout. He destroyed the crankbait by the time I got him in the kayak. In fact, he straightened the wire but the swivel held up. First I thought about having him for dinner but he was just such a beautiful fish. His teeth were sharp enough that I had to put him down to get my phone for the picture. In a single flop, he did a half gainer and was in the water. I could not help but smile. He was dark on the back and deep orange underneath and on his flippers. I felt cheated for not getting his picture, but he won the day. After that I used the fly rod for some small trout but they were just small fry nipping at my small hopper.
It was dusk. The loons and owls were calling each other. When I got out, I realized how cold it was. The temperature rapidly dropped to 39 F. I was wet from the sitting on the top kayak and my feet had been wet all afternoon since I launched. I was shaking to put it mildly. A quick change of clothes and dry socks and I returned to functional level and packed up the rods and kayak to drive back to Fort Drum. That night it dropped to 31 in the Adirondacks (19 SEPT)
Unless we get an Indian summer, this will be the last kayak adventure in the Adirondacks this year. That one trout was worth the effort. I still have not caught a walleye.
Below are full size maps or as large as I can present them:
