Fly Fishing Report for the Upper Delaware and Catskill Rivers

WEEKEND OUTLOOK

It looks like a solid trend is developing for every weekend thus far in the 2017 trout season and it involves rain jackets. This weekend it looks like gray skies and rainfall right through until Monday when it is forecast to mix with snow. The mountains are definitely back in an early spring holding pattern as the next 5 days are looking at high temps in the mid 40's. There is also frost in the forecast for several of the next few days.

For the fly fishermen this is a tough pill to swallow since the Hendrickson hatch is on the water.

At this time all of our rivers are very high. Currently the best options for wade anglers is the Upper Willowemoc, Upper Beaverkill, Upper West Branch in Stilesville and the Neversink.

Our other rivers are bank full and really running hard. They are best fished with a drift boat. Anglers should also keep an eye on the river gauges since today's rain may push the rivers mentioned above higher.

The West Branch is the best bet since it is the lowest and fish have been rising pretty well at times. It is a risk however since your trip will most likely depend totally on insects being present. Recently that has been about every other day. The drift boat pressure has been steady since opening day and at this time the Trout have seen every single custom streamer pattern known to man. They have quickly developed lockjaw towards anything that moves through the water.

The East Branch is very high along it's entire length. It is still about 1500 cfs. above where it starts to fish well. Additionally the river is very cold. I floated the Upper Section yesterday and the water started at 39 degrees and only made it to 44 by late afternoon. We also put 2 boats on the lower river which was only a bit warmer. All of our guests worked the streamers hard but getting the flies to the right depth is a challenge. Everyone caught a fish or two but the results came from sheer persistence and the fact that our guides know right where the fish hold at these flows. It will take some sunny days and a drop in flow to put the bite back on track.

The Main Stem Delaware is very high and we are not floating it until the flow get back to a manageable range.

We have some openings for nest week for float trips. We are also taking bookings for the second half of June which always has great dry fly action. if you would like to get out on the water. Give us a call today to discuss your next Upper Delaware adventure. 607-290-4022