Well it’s been an interesting couple of weeks. We went from winter right to summer, and yesterday felt like early spring. The water temperatures have dropped throughout the system but the flows still remain low. Last night’s air temps in the 30’s did wonders for the river. We should hit mid 60’s today with another cold night tonight. We are on a warming trend so without additional releases keep an eye on the water temps towards the weekend. Accuweather isn’t calling for extreme heat like we had but it’s good to be vigilant just in case, especially on the lower sections of the Main Stem. Hopefully we get some directed releases for the Montague flow target soon. The West Branch under the 191 Bridge is 49 degrees this morning.
Wind made fishing tough yesterday but there were rising fish plus plenty of nymphing. The hatching can best be described as bug soup. Bring all your flies. We still have blue quills and hendrickson, plus march browns and gray foxes are starting. It should make for some interesting fishing over the next week or so.
Cam with a West Branch brown on top yesterday. Photo by Bruce Miller
Hatching:
March Brown #10-2xl – S. vicarium (now classified as Maccaffertioum vicarium)
Gray Fox #12-2xl – S. fuscum (now also classified as Maccaffertioum vicarium)
Hendrickson #16 – E. X species
Apple Caddis #16-18 – Light Brachycentrus sp.
Hendrickson – #14 – E. subvaria (male)
Hendrickson – #12 – E. subvaria (female)
Blue Quill – #16 – Paralep. adoptiva
Quill Gordon #14 – Epeorus pluralis
Blue Winged Olives #16 – 18 – Baetis vagans
Little Black Caddis #18 – 20 – Dark Chimarra sp.
| FLOWS AS OF 8:00 AM: | |
| West Branch at Stilesville, NY | 168 cfs @ 40º |
| West Branch at Hale Eddy, NY | 226 cfs @ 46º |
| East Branch at Harvard, NY | 122 cfs @ 50º |
| East Branch at Fish’s Eddy, NY | 417 cfs @ 53º |
| Mainstem at Lordville, NY | 802 cfs @ 56º |
| Beaverkill at Cooks Falls, NY | 201 cfs @ N/A |
