Syracuse.com - Trout stream profile: A look at Butternut Creek (first of three-part series)

[HuntingNY-News]

The series will look at three Onondaga County streams with stretches open year-round to trout fishing: Butternut, Limestone and Chittenango creeks. (includes video) Watch video John Berry/The Post-StandardGary Lauzon considers Butternut Creek his favorite trout fishing stream.Year-round streams Since 1996, the state Department of Environmental Conservation has permitted anglers to fish year-round in designated sections of more than 30 trout streams. Three of those streams are in Onondaga County: Butternut Creek, Limestone Creek and Chittenango Creek. Today: Butternut CreekMay 25: Limestone CreekJune 1: Chittenango Creek Gary Lauzon has been fishing Butternut Creek since he was 4.“My father took me below my grandfather’s house. I caught my first trout down there and I’ve been hooked ever since,” he said.Lauzon, now 63, still lives nearby in the town of Jamesville. He prefers to fish Butternut with salted minnows or worms, and on occasion will throw a spinner.“It’s not a real wide stream,” he said. “There’s a lot of places you can cross if you have hip boots or burly boots.”He noted there’s a host of bridges and state Department of Environmental Conservation parking lots and pull-off areas.“This is a good stream to take a kid fishing — by the bridges, the big pools,” he said. “You can sit them down, feed them, get them happy and teach them how to fish.”Lauzon said his biggest fish out of the stream was a 17½-inch brown he caught on a salted minnow. Most of the fish he catches are brown trout. Occasionally, he’ll land a brookie.Down toward Jamesville, he added, there are wild rainbows in the stream.“Some guy was raising rainbows a few years back and had trouble with the foundation of his pond and they got into the creek,” he said.Lauzon has fond memories of Butternut. He remembers when he was 12 to 14 years old and his father would drop him off at Route 20.“He’d say, ‘I’ll meet you (downstream) at the church in about three hours,” he said. “I’d then fish all the way down to the church by myself. Sometimes, I’d have my limit before then.”BUTTERNUT AT A GLANCE Butternut Creek goes from Apulia Station, through the Jamesville Reservoir and combines with Limestone Creek. The two then flow into Chittenango Creek at Minoa. The year-round section, where fish can be kept year-round — limit of five fish, with two no longer than 12 inches — stretches from the creek’s mouth to Route 20. Type of fish: Butternut offers wild and stocked brown and brook trout. In addition, a section in the lower half around Jamesville has wild rainbow trout. Each year, it’s stocked with 5,200 one-year-old brown trout (8-9 inches) 2,400 two-year-old brown trout (12-14 inches) and 600 brook trout (6-8 inches). There have been reports of browns in the 20-inch-plus range in some of the deeper holes. Public fishing: There are a number of easy access points at bridges and plenty of holes where fish can be taken with worms, salted minnows or lures. It’s easily fished from shore or by wearing hip boots or knee-high boots. There are 8.1 miles of land along its banks for public fishing. For maps and more about this stream, see the DEC website at dec.gov. For the fly guys: The creek’s not known for its outstanding insect hatches. It’s a good stream, though, for streamers and nymphs. The upper part is overgrown, and casting is tough. There’s more open space downstream.FOR MORE ON BUTTERNUT CREEK, SEE THE DEC WEB SITE.

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