Holiday Greetings, Compleat Anglers! It has been a great season, and time now for the final fishing report of 2016! As you know, Connecticut and Catskill trout rivers have been in a severe drought. So the rains of yesterday and today have been most welcome! While they won’t alleviate the dry conditions and low waters, they will certainly help. The Catskill rivers, including the Delaware East Branch, West Branch and Main Stem, and the Beaverkill and Willowemock all received some H2O relief! Current flows are: East Branch Delaware: 1650cfs; West Branch Delaware: 400cfs; Main Stem Delaware at Lordville: 2510cfs. Only the border waters are open for fishing at this time. Best bets are nymph and wet fly patterns such as Golden and Brown Stoneflies, Pheasant Tails, soft-hackle wets, and Caddis pupa fished slow and deep. Also streamers fished slowly and low will pick up fish as well. Here in Connecticut, both the West Branch of the Farmington and the Housatonic received a good dose of rainfall as well. Flows for the West Branch of the Farmington are currently 227cfs through the TMA. Water temps are in the upper 30’s and 40’s, so be sure to wear some layering under your waders! Best fly bets: For dries try a winter caddis #18-#24 and a BWO #24-#26. For nymphs try a pheasant tail, gold and brown stoneflies, baetis, and caddis pupa. And don’t forget to include a few egg patterns in your box – they can be very effective at this time of year. The Housatonic is currently running 826cfs and clear. Best fly bets are nymphs and wets such as Hare’s Ear, Prince, Pheasant Tail, and Brown and Gold Stoneflies, along with soft-hackle wet patterns. Streamers and egg patterns are also effective. And keep your eyes open for small BWO’s and other midges that may bring a few fish up! And we have also had some customers in over the past few weeks who have been having some good success on some of the smaller Fairfield streams such as the Norwalk, the Mianus, and the Mill.
It was a stellar fall season on L.I. Sound with an amazing profusion of bait in the sound and huge schools of Bass, Blues and Albies on them. Although the huge schools of schoolie Bass that hugged the shore over the past few weeks have seemingly moved on, there are still some lingering lunker Bass to be had for those hardy souls willing to brave wind and weather. Most of our resident guides have taken their boats out of the water, but on calmer days it might still be worth a shot!
All the staff here at Compleat Angler send you our best wishes for a wonderful holiday season! Be sure to stop in and treat yourself to that rod, reel and gear that you’ve secretly lusted for over the summer! We’ll be sending out e-mail blasts to keep you in the loop for new gear arrivals, workshops, and other goings-on here at the shop. Our regular fishing reports will resume in March, 2017! ‘Till then, tight lines!
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