Yesterday was cold, windy, wet, and fished surprisingly well. Accuweather called the wind wrong again and while we did have some gusts it stayed at a reasonable level for most of the day. Once the rain let up mid day we had blanket hatches of Blue Winged Olives (#18 – 20) plus decent flushes of Hendricksons (#14-16). The fish seemed keyed into to olive emergers for a while and a CDC emerger on a curved shank worked well. Not all the fish were active on top but if you were willing to hunt around a bit there were some very nice fish rising steadily. Despite the cold I would take yesterday’s fishing anytime. This should be a fun week with options ranging from Hendrickson fishing to hunting down the March Brown hatch.
The release from Cannonsville Reservoir has been dropped to 150 cfs under Table 4A in the FFMP plan. Luckily we have cool nights, cloud cover, and daytime temperatures in the mid 60’s so water temperatures should be fine. The lower water on the West Branch is a wader’s dream and should push the bugs to hatch. The Mainstem and East Branch received a little help from the rain and both are floatable and wadeable in most sections. The Beaverkill is also at a great level this morning.
We should have warmer air temperatures and light rain over the next few days. Winds should be slight all week while this system just kind of sits on us. We should see some really good fishing over the next few days.
Theo stuck it out yesterday and found a nice brown
Hatching:
March Browns – #10-2xl – Maccaffertium vicarium (formerly Stenonema vicarium)
Hendrickson- #12 – 14 – E. subvaria – Definitely Spinners – duns are waning on some sections still strong on others
Hendrickson #16 – E. X
Blue Quill #16 – 18 – Paraleptophlebia adoptiva
Dark Brachycentrus sp. – #14 – 18 – Dark Grannom
Light Brachycentrus sp. – #16 – 18 – Apple Caddis
Little Black Caddis #18 – 20 – Chimarra sp.
Blue Winged Olives #16 – 18 – Baetis vagans (updated name: Baetis tricaudatus) –
Quill Gordons #14 – Epeorus pluralis – almost gone – you’ll still find a few here and there
| West Branch at Stilesville, NY | 168 cfs |
42° |
| West Branch at Hale Eddy, NY | 468 cfs |
45° |
| East Branch at Harvard, NY | 173 cfs | 46° |
| East Branch at Fish’s Eddy, NY | 824 cfs | 47° |
| Mainstem at Lordville, NY | 1,840 cfs | 47° |
| Beaverkill at Cooks Falls, NY | 441 cfs | N/A |
| Cannonsville Reservoir Release | 150 cfs | |
| West Branch at 191 Bridge | N/A | 46° |
| West Branch at Walton (Cannonsville inflow) | 406 cfs | |
| Cannonsville Reservoir Capacity | 97.2% | |
| Pepacton Reservoir Capacity | 98.9% |
