The Catskill Fly Fishing Report 2024
October 20, 2024
Beaverkill River, Willowemoc Creek, and the Delaware River System

Its a cold morning in Roscoe with a blanket of frost coving the ground the high today will be 69° so the best time to get out and fish will be the warmest part of the day, we have seen the fishing start to pick up around 2PM consistently. The Beaverkill and the Willowemoc are still low but the fishing can be great, we recommend fishing faster water to avoid messing with spawning brown trout additionally faster water about two to four feet deep is great holding water in low water conditions. 

Its streamer season on the Upper Delaware System all three sections have had some very big fish pulled out of them. The West Branch is stained brown throughout the river but this isn't a bad thing because it can make for some great streamer fishing, the upper section of the West Branch has a lot of spawning habitat so we are not recommending anyone to fish it. The East Branch is high in its upper reaches so it helps to have some local knowledge to find the right access points but the lower section is a great place to get some dry fly fishing in. The Main Stem is still having a lot of activity depending on where you fish you can catch a wide variety of species using a variety of methods. 

The bugs to be on the look out for are Blue Winged Olives (16-20), Isonychia (10-14), October Caddis (12-16), Rusty Spinners (12-22). Our favorite patterns for October Caddis currently are the orange stimulator and the CDC and Elk hair cinnamon caddis. 

GUIDE TRIP AVAILABILITY: We still have some openings for end of season guided fishing trips to inquire about openings please call the shop we are happy to help. If you want to do a guided trip with us next year we plan to start booking in January in advance for the fishing season, May and June are our prime time dates and generally yield some of the best fishing in the country so its good to book a trip in advance.

DEER REPORT: We are seeing a big increase in deer activity this is being caused by cooler weather and we are approaching the whitetail rut, please be cautious while driving if you see one deer their probably will be more to follow.

DEP AQUEDUCT REPORT:
​In preparation for the Delaware Aqueduct Repair Project, DEP has begun ramping up discharge mitigation releases (pursuant to the Flexible Flow Management Program) from the Cannonsville, Pepacton and Neversink reservoirs this week at the respective rates of 400, 452 and 123 million gallons per day to position the Delaware system for next month’s aqueduct shutdown. DEP will continue to make adjustments to its standard release rates based on multiple variables such as storage, forecasts, and other conditions. For more information on the project please visit this link https://www.nyc.gov/.../delaware-aqueduct-shutdown-impact


FLOWS AND TEMPERATURES REPORTED IN REAL TIME