If you are not already here and committed to float today stay home and regroup for the weekend.  We’re looking at a bit more rain today but the real downer will be the 20 mph wind from the North with gusts 30 to 40 mph possible.  The weather will be nicer and flows should be settled by Saturday.

The rain finally started after lunch here yesterday.  It never seemed really heavy, just a slow steady rain all day.  All of the feeders are carrying a lot of water this morning and most of the rivers are blown out and dirty.  The West Branch generally drops and clears the quickest.  The flow at Hale Eddy peaked a little over 2,000 cfs and is already dropping so it is at a fishable level from a boat.  It is definitely off color but should clear up a little today as it drops.  We didn’t see any logs or junk floating out front this morning but be careful if you do float it. The best advice is to hold off.  The Mainstem flow will jump today as the Beaverkill and East Branch flows pass through.

Keep in mind the Upper West Branch above the border is closed.  Only border water on the West Branch is open right now.  Check the regs before you fish the system to be sure.

Hatching:
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Olive Sulphur – Hept. hebe – #18 – 20
Slate Drake – #12 – 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:

Wunderground is calling for right around 1.75″ of rain today.  The forecast has changed every time we’ve checked so we’ll have to wait and see what we really end up with.  If the river flows change dramatically during the day we’ll do another update.  The release from Cannonsville has been cut back to 135 cfs so someone in an office somewhere is convinced we’re getting a lot of rain.  Most of the weather channels have the rain starting around lunchtime and lasting all day.  If that is accurate there will be opportunities to fish today before the runoff really hits.  While we’ve had some rain lately the ground is still pretty dry and should soak up the early rain.  Wind will be 7 – 12 mph from the South and the air temp will peak around 60 degrees.  Yesterday was a mix of olives and caddis.  The water was low so the bugs were concentrated in the foam lines.  It ended up being a good day on the water.

Hatching:
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Olive Sulphur – Hept. hebe – #18 – 20
Slate Drake – #12 – 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 release from Cannonsville has been dropped to 300 cfs.  They are counting on tomorrow’s rain to meet the downstream flow targets.  Tomorrow’s forecast changes every time we look.  We should get somewhere between 1/2″ and 1″ of rain.  The latest updates have us closer to the 1/2″ mark.  Yesterday ended up okay once the wind died down in the evening.  Nymphing was decent early and we had good caddis and isonychia spinners in the evening.  There were some iso duns, olives, and heptagenia out there but the caddis were the most prolific.  The weeds floating down were annoying but manageable.  They’ll definitely settle today with the lower release.

Hatching:
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Olive Sulphur – Hept. hebe – #18 – 20
Slate Drake – #12 – 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.
Yellow Sally – #14 – Isoperla sp.

Click on the gauge below for the most recent update:

The release from Cannonsville was increased slightly to 831 cfs.  It looks like the flow at Lordville is flat so the runoff has settled down the release has made it down that far.  Today will be warmer than yesterday hitting 65 degrees with wind 10 -15 from the South.  We’ll have sunshine most of the day.  We still have enough leaves to find spots hidden from the wind.   The increased release increased the dolor and the weeds on the WB but it is fishable.  Wading will be best on the EB and Mainstem but it is possible in spots on the West.   Nymphing and streamers will be your best bet early.  Most of the dry fly opportunities have been late afternoon and ending before dark.  Isonychias and caddis should cover most of what you see but have your olives ready just in case.

Hatching:
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Olive Sulphur – Hept. hebe – #18 – 20
Slate Drake – #12 – 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.
Yellow Sally – #14 – Isoperla sp.

Click on the gauge below for the most recent update:

We were wondering when they would increase the release from Cannonsville to help meet the Montague Flow Target.  It was last night.  The release from Cannonsville is now 760 cfs.  The increased flow may push some extra weeds down during the day until things settle down.  It’s still going to be fishable but you will have to deal with the weeds. It will also increase the color in the West we get every Fall.  There is enough visibility out front this morning for fish to rise.  The Upper Mainstem should be a better option to start off.  Streamers and nymphs will be your best bets early.  There were some caddis and olives out yesterday afternoon.  The caddis generally cause some sporadic feeding since they rarely hit the water at the same time.  If you’re looking for dries pick a god foam line or tailout and be patient.  Try to find places where the bugs will get pushed together.  You may have to cover the fish multiple times to get them to come back up.  We’ll hit 63 degrees today with wind under 8 mph from the South.

Hatching:
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Olive Sulphur – Hept. hebe – #18 – 20
Slate Drake – #12 – 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.
Yellow Sally – #14 – Isoperla sp.

Click on the gauge below for the most recent update:

The release from Cannonsville has been decreased to 309 cfs.  It fished well when they dropped it this low last week so we are expecting the same today.  Afternoon olives, caddis, and isonychia spinner should be concentrated in the feeding lanes.  Wind should not be a factor today hitting 3 – 4 mph.  Maybe a little sun poking through this morning with clouds and the chance of an odd shower in the afternoon.  If we get a shower or two the precipitation amount will be minimal.

The flow at Montague this morning.

Hatching:
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Olive Sulphur – Hept. hebe – #18 – 20
Slate Drake – #12 – 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.
Yellow Sally – #14 – Isoperla sp.

Click on the gauge below for the most recent update:

The release from Cannonsville has been dropped to 467 cfs.  We’re not sure how long the current release will last.  There is a 4 hour whitewater release tomorrow on the Mongaup that would help meet downstream flow targets for a short time.  That release should be about 900 cfs.  There are no scheduled releases from Lake Wallenpaupack.  There is no rain in the short term forecast.  The Delaware at Barryville, NY above Lackawaxen is 1,400 cfs and dropping.  So once the Mongaup water filters through we should see a bump in our release again.  And remember they have to time it to reach Montague NJ.

The dry fly action started late yesterday afternoon.  There were some isonychia spinners and olives but the real story were the caddis.  They came out in good numbers and some were actually on the water.  The fish never got steady – just the nature of caddis fishing but if you watched carefully you could find fish to target and get to eat.  Early in the day streamers and nymphs were the best option.  Fish did hit iso dry flies as we were picking them back up so an iso wet fly would have probably done well.  We’ll hit 67 degrees today with mostly sunshine.  Wind will be 5 – 10 mph from the North.  It looks very similar to yesterday.

Hatching:
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Olive Sulphur – Hept. hebe – #18 – 20
Slate Drake – #12 – 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.
Yellow Sally – #14 – Isoperla sp.

Click on the gauge below for the most recent update:

They were pretty accurate with the forecast yesterday and we did seem to have decent cloud cover.  We had decent fish rising around mid afternoon.  Caddis, olives, and isonychias.  Definitely carry your isonychia spinners.  Nymphing and throwing streamers are bringing some fish to the net before the hatches start.  Today is going to be warmer than yesterday with the air temp hitting 67 degrees.  We’ll have sunshine and wind 5 – 10 mph from the North.  It looks like a great weather weekend with daytime temps staying in the 60’s.

Still a few bigger stoneflies around too

Hatching:
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Olive Sulphur – Hept. hebe – #18 – 20
Slate Drake – #12 – 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.
Yellow Sally – #14 – Isoperla sp.

Click on the gauge below for the most recent update:

The release from Cannonsville has been in creased to 670 cfs.  The release from Pepacton looks like it increased to 290 cfs (ish).  The runoff is dropping back so the increases are likely to meet the flow targets downstream.  We don’t have any rain in the forecast until early next week.  We’ll hit 60 degrees today with wind around 5 – 7 mph from the North.  According to Wunderground we’ll have cloud cover all day.  Yesterday evening fished well with caddis and yellow sallies.  There were some olives and isonychias out there too.  Caddis were the main bugs so you had to be patient.  There were a lot in the air but enough were getting on the water you could find fish eating them.  There was actually a surprising number of yellow sallies out for October.

One of yesterday’s Iso eaters

Hatching:
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Olive Sulphur – Hept. hebe – #18 – 20
Slate Drake – #12 – 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.
Yellow Sally – #14 – Isoperla sp.

Click on the gauge below for the most recent update:

Yesterday’s rain was just what we needed.  Just an all day soaking that never came down too heavy.  There is some color in the West Branch but it is fishable and should clear up even more by the afternoon as the runoff subsides.  The release from Cannonsville is 189 cfs.  The rest of the flow at Hale Eddy is runoff that is already dropping. Today will be totally different from yesterday with some sunshine, the air temp hitting 65 degrees, and wind 5 – 8 mph from the North.  There may be some clouds in the afternoon but we’re betting on sunshine.  The fog is thick this morning but should burn off shortly.  The lower water should help the fishing concentrating whatever bugs are hatching into more defined feeding lanes.  Olives, isonychias, and caddis should definitely be in your box today.

A good level to wade on the West

Hatching:
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Olive Sulphur – Hept. hebe – #18 – 20
Slate Drake – #12 – 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.
Yellow Sally – #14 – Isoperla sp.

Click on the gauge below for the most recent update:

We woke up to a steady rain.  Not heavy but steady.  Wunderground is calling for just under 3/4″ of rain spread out over the entire day.  The release from Cannonsville has been cut back to 300 cfs.  The cut is probably in anticipation of the runoff adding enough water to the system to meet the downstream flow targets.  It looks like the freestone streams are just leveling off and beginning to rise on the graphs.  Wind should stay under 10 mph from the North today.  The air temp will hit 60 degrees.  It took a while for things to get going yesterday but overall most people found success.  It was nymphing and streamer fishing early with some isonychias and olives coming later on some river sections.  Overcast skies and falling water levels always seems to be a good combination.

Tim with a nice one yesterday. Bruce Miller photo

Hatching:
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Olive Sulphur – Hept. hebe – #18 – 20
Slate Drake – #12 – 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.
Yellow Sally – #14 – Isoperla sp.

Click on the gauge below for the most recent update:

The release from Cannonsville has been dropped to 500 cfs.  It seems that ramping down the releases is no longer going to happen.  It was nice the one or two times they did it in the past though.

That being said the West Branch should fish better with the lower flow.  It should concentrate the bugs more and create more definable feeding lanes.  All of the rivers in the system are at a good level for wading today,  According to Wunderground we may see a stray shower today but the better chance of rain will be after dark.    We’ll still have the wind 5 – 10 mph  from the South.  The cloud cover will be great.  Yesterday was a tough combo of wind and sun.  Dry fly fishing was tough so nymphing and wets were the best producers.  Everyone had the same story.  Lot s of bugs in the air.  Caddis, isos, and olives.  No bugs on the water.

The likely reason the release was dropped is the rain in tomorrow’s forecast.  Right now Wunderground has close to 1″of precip tomorrow.  If we get that it should create enough runoff to meet the downstream flow targets.  If the rain misses us count on the release from Cannonsville being increased.

Hatching:
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Olive Sulphur – Hept. hebe – #18 – 20
Slate Drake – #12 – 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.
Yellow Sally – #14 – Isoperla sp.

Click on the gauge below for the most recent update: