Greetings Compleat Anglers! Here is your fishing report for April 24th.

Rain, Rain, Go Away! Although almost all rivers in NY, Connecticut and around the Metro area are high, there are still trout to be found (if you can get to them!) Here’s the area breakdown:

The Catskills

Water levels in all Catskill rivers are high and dropping. Clarity is good-to-fair. On the Delaware system and the Beaverkill, there are lots of bugs, including Hendricksons (#14), Blue Quills (#16), Little Black Stoneflies (#16-#18), BWO’s (#16-#18), and Black Caddis (#18-#20). Most fishermen are tossing streamers early, then looking for bugs & risers in the long, flat pools in the afternoon. You can see from the flow charts (below) that water levels in the Delaware system and the Beaverkill are still too high for wading, but ok for floating. Water temperatures are currently in the mid-40’s, but should rise into the low 50’s as we get more warm days. Fish your streamers to the bank with three or four strips and then toss to the bank again. Fish nymphs deep and slow in the slower runs and pools. While fishing isn’t fast, there are some great fish coming to net - we’re in sort of a “quality over quantity” mode! The appearance of a few Hendricksons here and there portends well for the coming weeks - it is probably the “premier” Catskill hatch so keep your eyes and ears open and be sure not to miss a chance for some fast and furious fishing and some big, Catskill Browns and Rainbows.

Our own Bob Reichart this afternoon with a fat Delaware River Brown

Sal Renzuella get’s it done today on the Delaware. Sal can be reached at Riverkeeper Guide Service.

Here’s the Catskill flows:

• Delaware West Branch at Hale Eddy: 3300cfs at 45 degrees;
• Delaware West Branch at Stilesville: 2650cfs at 45 degrees;
• Delaware East Branch at Fishs Eddy: 3820cfs at 48 degrees;
• Delaware East Branch at Harvard: 1960cfs at 44 degrees;
• Delaware Main Stem at Lordville: 7910cfs at 48 degrees;
• Beaverkill at Cooks Falls: 1300cfs at 50 degrees;
• Esopus River at Allaben: 468cfs
• Schoharie Creek at Lexington: 396cfs

A fat, Delaware Rainbow is released

Local New York and Connecticut Rivers

It is pretty much the same story in our local New York and Connecticut rivers. We have Paraleps (#14-#18), Blue Quills (#16), BWO’s (#16-#18) in the afternoons, and Early Winter Caddis in the mornings. In most of our local rivers, nymphs, streamers and Woolly Buggers are currently the name of the game. As well, there are lots of fish being taken on “Junk” flies - (squirmy worms, Mops, Egg patterns, and Green Weenies.) For nymphs, Hare’s Ear (#14-#16), and Pheasant Tails (#14-#18) fished slow and deep are accounting for most fish. Most fishermen are fishing streamers, nymphs and junk flies in the mornings and then looking for bugs and risers as the day goes on. As you can see by the stream flows listed below, while our rivers are dropping, they are still currently too high to wade. The Housatonic has not yet been stocked, so it’s all holdovers at the moment. One of the current brighter spots for trout fishing is in the Croton watershed. There have been reports of bugs on both the East and West branches to the Croton, and many of our clients have reported some good fishing on both drys and nymphs. Remember, if you are planning to fish the Croton, in addition to your New York license, you need a special watershed access permit - it is FREE, and can be obtained at www.NYC.gov. Here are the local Connecticut and New York water flows:

Connecticut

• Farmington West Branch at Riverton: 686cfs in the low 40’s;
• Still River at Robertsville: 426cfs
• Farming West Branch through the TMA: 1112cfs in the mid-40’s;
• Housatonic at Falls Village: 2430cfs in the low 50’s;
• Saugatuck at Lyons Plains Rd: 189cfs
• Norwalk River in Wilton: 131cfs

New York

• Croton East Branch at Brewster: 365cfs
• Croton East Branch at Croton Falls: 217cfs
• Croton West Branch at Caramel: 218cfs
• Croton West Branch at Croton Falls: 514cfs

New Jersey

• Ramapo River in Mahwah: 366cfs

Steelhead Rivers

• Salmon River in Pineville: 1040cfs
• Catteraugus River in Gowanda: 899cfs

Saltwater: Long Island Sound

Fishing is picking up nicely in the Sound. Most of the action is currently in the river mouths, but there have also been reports of fish moving up into some of the adjoining creeks as well. Scott Loecher and I had another great morning yesterday fishing the mouth of the Housatonic. Most of the action came a couple of hours before low tide and fishing until an hour after low tide. Once again, there was some great Schoolie action, with most of the fish being on the larger size for schoolies. And again, there were a few good keeper-sized fish mixed in with the schools. Most were taken on Clousers - white and olive proved the most effective color. Allow the fly to sink before beginning a lazy retrieve. During slack tide, you may want to switch to a larger Deceiver pattern - to look for some bigger bass that seem to cruise along during slack tide periods.

Len releases a nice fish from yesterday

Scott with one of many

My friends who live in Red bank, New Jersey, are currently experiencing some good Striper fishing off their N.J. beaches - those are migrating fish that hopefully will be making an appearance here in the Sound in May. Let’s keep our fingers crossed and our eyes open!

Well, that’s it for now! Conditions are changing quickly now, so be sure to check back with all our reports to keep ahead of the game. And come into the shop for any questions you may have or information you may need regarding river conditions, fly information, guides, hot spots, great, new tackle - Scott, Buffy, Pat, Scott L., and myself will be happy to answer any questions. And while you’re there, be sure to check out our amazing inventory of rods, reels, fly lines, accessories, flies, fly-tying equipment, tools, waders, boots, clothing and so much more - we carry all the major brands such as Simms, Sage, Hardy, Abel, Lamson, Hatch, Nautilus, Echo, Reddington, Gavin, Ross, Scott, Winston, Loomis, St. Croix, Sci-Anglers, Rio, Cortland, Airflow, Patagonia, Yeti, Fishpond, and so much more!

Hope to see you on the water!

Len