Fly Fishing Report for the Upper Delaware and Catskill Rivers

Holiday Weekend Outlook

This weekend is forecast to bring us some real nice weather. We are forecast for sunny skies and warm air temperatures through the weekend. There is a chance of some passing thunderstorms on Sunday and Monday but currently they are forecast at a 30% chance. This could also be seen as a 70% chance of continued good weather.

Anglers planning on fishing this weekend will be hitting it right with the hatches. The insect activity is great and there are a lot of species. Right now you can run into Hendricksons, Blue Quills, March Browns , Sulfurs, Assorted Caddisflies and various sized spinners. Every section of river is offering a slightly different menu.

Over the last 2 days our river have had falling water levels. Right now the Upper East and Upper West are wadable with good fishing conditions. The Beaverkill and Willowemoc are again dropping to good levels for anglers to get into the water. The Lower East remains a little challenging and the Main is too high for much quality wading.

Since the sun came out the action has slowed. The all day long risers have mostly vanished. There are still fish picking away throughout the day but this action is best described as sporadic. The best action for steady risers is late day after the direct sun has left the water. Now is the time to plan on staying until dark. Yesterday the river went wild at dusk and the heavy feeding happened after dark. You will notice the time of day in the photos I chose for today's report.

Right now I am still rigging my guests with 4X tippet but I am running 15 foot leaders which are less prone to spooking the fish and allow a more natural drift. With river flows dropping the Upper West and East may require some additional tinkering with leader setup.

During the non hatch periods I have been mixing it up between indicator nymphing and blind casting larger dry flies. The nymphing is still mediocre since many of the best waters are still difficult to access. We are taking a few fish but it is not very reliable yet. We have also been working the water with March Browns and big Spinners. This has been more productive than nymphing. Blind fishing should be very good now and we will be using this method regularly for the next month or so.

For this type of fishing I like to rig with our hackle wing cripples. These high floating flies work in all water types and are very easy to see.

Overall the next few weeks should offer some of the most exciting action with lots of insect species emerging concurrently.

Give us a call in the shop if you would like to get in on the action. 607-290-4022