We hope everyone has a safe and happy Thanksgiving!

November Week Five.  The Extra Red Quill / Dark Hendrickson comparadun.  We took our spectrumized red brown dubbing and really kicked up the red in it.  It’s been a go to hendrickson pattern for the last few years when we want a fly with a little more pop during the heavy hatches.  Tied on a TMC 100 #14 hook.  In the online store here

Every Thursday in November we will list a limited 4 dozen run of a new fly in our online store.  One new pattern each week.  These are patterns we think are cool, don’t have room in the shop bins for, or are just playing around with and haven’t decided on them yet.  Week four’s fly is a shucked white fly.  White flies hatch quickly and often have their shucks stuck on their body in the spinner stage.  It happens so often we were surprised we couldn’t find one commercially tied already. The deer hair tail adds bulk and prevents the shuck from fouling.  Tying it comparadun style made sense because it is easy to see towards dark and imitates spinner stage well.  Here in our online store

Click on the gauges for the latest flow information.  Daily updates resume April 1.

Every Thursday in November we will list a limited 4 dozen run of a new fly in our online store.  One new pattern each week.  These are patterns we think are cool, don’t have room in the shop bins for, or are just playing around with and haven’t decided on them yet.  Week three’s fly is a Spent Apple Caddis. Tied on a Daiichi 1130 #16 curved hook with DRC’s Fermented Apple Dubbing.  The Fermented Apple Dubbing is darker than our normal Apple Dubbing to match the body color after the caddis have been living in the bushes for a few days. The wings are tied on the side of the fly and are a mix of tan cdc and deer hair.  The fly sits low in the film- perfect for spent and dying caddis.   Click here to see it in the store

Air temps have dropped significantly this week and you will find some skim ice on the slow edges and backwaters.  Your best bets will be either nymphing or throwing streamers.  On the really warm afternoons we have seen some fish rising to midges and tiny olives but that’s a long shot.

Click on the gauges for the latest flow information.  Daily updates resume April 1.

Every Thursday for next four weeks we will list a limited 4 dozen run of a new fly in our online store.  One new pattern each week.  These are patterns we think are cool, don’t have room in the shop bins for, or are just playing around with and haven’t decided on them yet.  Week two’s fly is a Hendrickson Floating Wet Fly.  The Hendrickson Floating Wet Fly works well on calm water for picky fish.  It can also be sunk and swung as an emerger.  The thin profile makes it a great option tough situations.  Tied on a Tiemco 100 #14 dry fly hook with a quill body and DRC’s  rusty spinner dubbing.  Click here to see it in the store

Hendrickson Floating Wet Fly

We’re still finding some fish eating on top but nymphing and streamers have produced better over the last few days.  We’re heading into a cold snap for the next few days starting off with a mix of rain and snow this afternoon.  We warm back up slightly in a few days but it definitely feels like November.  The runoff has been good for the system so let’s hope the precipitation keeps coming in any form.

Click on the gauges for the latest flow information.  Daily updates resume April 1.

Click on the gauges for the latest flow information.  We’ll do a new river update Thursday November 7th.  Daily updates resume April 1.

Click on the gauge below for the most recent update:

The rain held off for most of yesterday but it finally caught up with us.  The West Branch came through the storms okay and is under 5,000 cfs and already dropping. The Beaverkill and East Branch side took a worse hit like normal.  There’s going to be some flooding on the tributaries and rivers.  It’s going to take a few days for the rivers to drop and become safe again.  Good day to tie flies

Click on the gauge below for the most recent update:

October 31st marks the end of our daily reports until April 1st.  Since the rivers are still fishing we’ll do some sporadic reports in November if the conditions change dramatically.  We’ll definitely do a report tomorrow morning after the rain Wunderground has in the forecast today and tonight.  We may see 2″ of rain by tomorrow morning with most of it falling tonight.  Click on the gauge links below to see the latest flows.  We have a light rain that started last night and is still falling.  So far the river flows have only increased slightly.  The air temp will hit a crazy 69 degrees today with wind 10 – 20 from the South.  Today is going to be tough out there in the wind.  Yesterday fished well.  Not a lot of bugs hatching.  Just a few isonychias and olives.  The bushes are still full of caddis.  We found good fishing blind casting isonychias and covering slash rises in riffles.  Water temps are great so the fish are still in their normal lies.

Every Thursday for next four weeks we will list a limited 4 dozen run of a new fly in our online store.  One new pattern each week.  These are patterns we think are cool, don’t have room in the shop bins for, or are just playing around with and haven’t decided on them yet.  We’re starting with a large, dark Isonychia.  We fish these in May not long after the Hendrickson hatch end.  This is definitely a pattern we’ve been fishing a while to match the dark gray isos.  A #12-2xl hook with Charcoal Spectrumized dubbing and a black rib.  Click here to see it in the store

If there are any patterns you’ d like to see send us an email and we’ll see what we can do.  Flies are addicting…

A darker Isonychia to cover the large, dark ones we find in May

The border water on the West Branch and Mainstem are open to fishing year round.  The Upper West that flows only in NY is closed.  That puts it roughly around the Beaver Mountain Log Homes display on Rte 17.  The lower EB stays open until November 30th.  Check here for exact regulations:  http://www.eregulations.com/newyork/fishing/delaware-county/

Hatching:
Click on the fly to see the patterns in our online store

Slate Drake – #14 – Isonychia bicolor
Tan Caddis – #16 – 18 – Hydropsyche sp.
Dark Blue Wing Olives  – #16 – 20 – E. lata, deficiens
Tiny Blue Winged Olives - #22 – 26- Pseudo sp.
Little Tan Sedge – #16 – 18 – Glossosoma sp.

Click on the gauge below for the most recent update:

Yesterday ended up being a good day on the water.  Fewer bugs than the day before but there were enough olives, caddis, and isonychias to get the fish to eat occasionally in the riffles.  If you saw one pop you could target they were pretty willing to eat on top.  Today looks pretty similar to yesterday with good cloud cover, 64 degrees, and wind 5 – 10 mph from the South.  We have some rain coming but that should hold off until after dark with more coming tomorrow during the day.

The border water on the West Branch and Mainstem are open to fishing year round.  The Upper West that flows only in NY is closed.  That puts it roughly around the Beaver Mountain Log Homes display on Rte 17.  The lower EB stays open until November 30th.  Check here for exact regulations:  http://www.eregulations.com/newyork/fishing/delaware-county/

Hatching:
Click on the fly to see the patterns in our online store

Slate Drake – #14 – Isonychia bicolor
Tan Caddis – #16 – 18 – Hydropsyche sp.
Dark Blue Wing Olives  – #16 – 20 – E. lata, deficiens
Tiny Blue Winged Olives - #22 – 26- Pseudo sp.
Little Tan Sedge – #16 – 18 – Glossosoma sp.

Click on the gauge below for the most recent update:

We have a light rain falling this morning- almost a heavy mist.  It’s not going to amount to anything but we should keep the cloud cover all day.  It’s a warm 50 degrees this morning too.  The air temp will climb close to 60 degrees today with wind 5 – 10 from the South.  The river flows are continuing to drop slowly as the runoff subsides.  Overall it looks like a good day to be on the water.  Yesterday was sunny in the afternoon so the olive hatch was light but the isonychias and caddis made an appearance in some riffles bringing fish to the surface.

Samantha Dennis with a rainbow yesterday

The border water on the West Branch and Mainstem are open to fishing year round.  The Upper West that flows only in NY is closed.  That puts it roughly around the Beaver Mountain Log Homes display on Rte 17.  The lower EB stays open until November 30th.  Check here for exact regulations:  http://www.eregulations.com/newyork/fishing/delaware-county/

Hatching:
Click on the fly to see the patterns in our online store

Slate Drake – #14 – Isonychia bicolor
Tan Caddis – #16 – 18 – Hydropsyche sp.
Dark Blue Wing Olives  – #16 – 20 – E. lata, deficiens
Tiny Blue Winged Olives - #22 – 26- Pseudo sp.
Little Tan Sedge – #16 – 18 – Glossosoma sp.

Click on the gauge below for the most recent update:

There were a few periods of heavy rain yesterday that brought the West Branch up and added some color but it did stay fishable all day.  It was definitely a streamer day with a few odd dry fly shots at the end.  Not a lot of bugs out there but a few olives and caddis hit the water around 4 pm.  The risers were sporadic so you had to be patient and lucky.  The  wind was the real problem until it dropped by mid afternoon.  It was a tough day with a few rewards thrown in for the people who stuck it out.  You definitely had to work hard.  The runoff has settled down a bit this morning and the flow is just under 600 cfs at Hale Eddy.  Every feeder is adding water so the flow will be a bit higher as you go downstream.  It will clear up today and we’ll have sunshine and 63 degrees by the afternoon.  Wind will be 5 – 10 mph from the East.

Samantha Dennis with a good one yesterday

The border water on the West Branch and Mainstem are open to fishing year round.  The Upper West that flows only in NY is closed.  That puts it roughly around the Beaver Mountain Log Homes display on Rte 17.  The lower EB stays open until November 30th.  Check here for exact regulations:  http://www.eregulations.com/newyork/fishing/delaware-county/

Hatching:
Click on the fly to see the patterns in our online store

Slate Drake – #14 – Isonychia bicolor
Tan Caddis – #16 – 18 – Hydropsyche sp.
Dark Blue Wing Olives  – #16 – 20 – E. lata, deficiens
Tiny Blue Winged Olives - #22 – 26- Pseudo sp.
Little Tan Sedge – #16 – 18 – Glossosoma sp.

Click on the gauge below for the most recent update:

The rain started last night but so far the river flows have stayed steady.  We should see around 1/2″ fall today with the rain finally quitting around 4 pm.  The wind won’t be a lot of fun at 10 – 15 mph from the South but that should also taper off in the afternoon.  The one bonus is the air temp hitting 63 degrees today.  Find a wind protected corner and it could actually fish today.  It’s going to come down to the runoff from the rain and the wind.  Nymphing, swinging wets, and streamers will likely be the best options.  Check the river gauge links below for the latest information.  If the rain does catch up to the flows and we dramatic changes we’ll do a mid day update.

Yesterday should have fished better but the sun shined through a bit more than forecasted.  There were some olives and people landed some fish in the slow sections but nymphing was definitely the better option.

The border water on the West Branch and Mainstem are open to fishing year round.  The Upper West that flows only in NY is closed.  That puts it roughly around the Beaver Mountain Log Homes display on Rte 17.  The lower EB stays open until November 30th.  Check here for exact regulations:  http://www.eregulations.com/newyork/fishing/delaware-county/

Hatching:
Click on the fly to see the patterns in our online store

Slate Drake – #14 – Isonychia bicolor
Tan Caddis – #16 – 18 – Hydropsyche sp.
Dark Blue Wing Olives  – #16 – 20 – E. lata, deficiens
Tiny Blue Winged Olives - #22 – 26- Pseudo sp.
Little Tan Sedge – #16 – 18 – Glossosoma sp.

Click on the gauge below for the most recent update:

The flows throughout the system have dropped slightly but overall they’re about the same as yesterday.  We’re at great levels for wading and good levels for floating on the lower East Branch and Main Stem.  We’ll have a mix of clouds and sun with the air temp reaching 58 degrees.  Wind will not be a factor today.  Yesterday fished well with our normal fall small olives, caddis, and isonychias.  Fish were eating the small olives in the slow foam lines but you could talk them into coming up for the bigger flies. Nymphing has been productive during the day before the hatches.  Swinging flies just under the surface also brought some fish to the net.  The rain should hold off until close to midnight.  We should wake up to a steady rain in the morning lasting most of the day.

Ed with a nice WB rainbow yesterday. Ron Reedy photo

The border water on the West Branch and Mainstem are open to fishing year round.  The Upper West that flows only in NY is closed.  That puts it roughly around the Beaver Mountain Log Homes display on Rte 17.  The lower EB stays open until November 30th.  Check here for exact regulations:  http://www.eregulations.com/newyork/fishing/delaware-county/

Hatching:
Click on the fly to see the patterns in our online store

Slate Drake – #14 – Isonychia bicolor
Tan Caddis – #16 – 18 – Hydropsyche sp.
Dark Blue Wing Olives  – #16 – 20 – E. lata, deficiens
Tiny Blue Winged Olives - #22 – 26- Pseudo sp.
Little Tan Sedge – #16 – 18 – Glossosoma sp.

Click on the gauge below for the most recent update: