Fly Fishing Guide to the Battenkill

Book excerpt: The main stem of the 60-mile-long Battenkill forms from the confluence of the East and West Branches in downtown Manchester, Vermont, home of the Orvis Company and the American Museum of Fly Fishing. Though notoriously challenging to fish, anglers from all around the world ply its fabled waters for brook trout (it’s rare for a river this size to have strong populations of brookies) and large brown trout that swim in its waters almost as far downstream as its confluence with the Hudson River in New York. In Fly Fishing Guide to the Battenkill, local expert Doug Lyons covers the fishing access, hatches, patterns, and strategies for both the Vermont and New York stretches of the river, as well as its major tributaries, including both its East and West Branches near Dorset and Roaring Branch, Green River, and Bromley Brook.