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Northeast Fishing Report 5/22/26
Hello Compleat Angler Friends! Happy Memorial Day Weekend. The cool temperatures and rain have temporarily locked some jaws in the Sound over the last two days, but people are still catching as long as the effort is there. For freshwater, fishing remains top notch, and should continue to improve with next week’s return to warm weather. Trout stocking has reached its final push of spring, but holdovers and wild fish are aggressively taking offerings with increased hatches and better flows. Striper fishing remains steady, with bigger fish filling the Western Sound each day. We are still getting reports of anglers catching bass as far east as the Pawcatuck River in RI. The predominant bait remains to be herring, silversides, and squid, but some fresh bunker pods have started to show up in the Western sound. I saw a very lucky Osprey last night in Norwalk chomping on one that must’ve been 12 inches long!
Read on for more…
Connecticut
Local Rivers
Flows are a bit up from where they were earlier this week in our local freestones, with the Saugatuck at 22.1 CFS. Hendricksons are starting to phase out, with caddis becoming the predominant hatch. Anglers are still reporting quality catches coming from the Mianus, Mill, Norwalk, and Saugatuck rivers. I have had some big luck with streamers lately, specifically a RIO’s Soccer Mom and smaller conehead streamers. I think the increased water levels have fired up our rivers, so as long as you can get to a spot without too many people (a tall order, I know), you should be able to scare up a trout.
Dry Fly Hatches:
Nymphs:
General Mayfly Attractor 14-18
Streamers:
Krystal Bugger (Black, Chartreuse, Brown, Olive, White, Burnt Orange) 6-12
Naugatuck River
The Naugatuck has dropped considerably down to 185 CFS. The East Branch, Mid Sections, and Lower Section of the Naugatuck have been stocked in the last two weeks. With warmer weather next week as well as the recent rain, streamers and dry flies should start to pull in some nice fish. Try targeting pools and pocket water along the banks, as well as deeper water at the end of riffles or shallower runs.
Farmington River
With the heat wave finally over, fishing should start to improve. Highs will drop into the upper 50’s to mid/upper 60’s through the holiday weekend, with cool nights in the 40’s. Caddis are still the main bug, with #16-18 tan Caddis hatching in the mornings & afternoons. There are also assorted smaller Caddis in the mix. Seeing a few big #10-12 March Browns, and a #12-14 Vitreus here & there. Both bugs aren’t strong hatches yet, but should be any day now. Vitreus are most active on cooler, overcast, and even wet days, and tend to hatch between late afternoon and evening. They are a fast water bug, close cousin to the Quill Gordon. March Browns are also a fast water bug, they tend to hatch one here, one there, sporadically between late morning and evening, with spinner falls at dusk. Caddis are most active from about mid/late morning through early/mid afternoon, and come back later in the day to egg-lay over faster water in the eves.
Trout do not always rise to hatches, so be prepared to go subsurface with nymphs & pupa. I’ve caught many thousands of trout over the years nymphing Caddis pupa in the fast water from May to October, even November. Caddis pupa are like candy to big trout. Wet flies & soft hackles are also good options. And don’t rule out streamers, especially early & late in the day, and on rainy and/or high water days. I see rain in the forecast for Saturday & Sunday (about ½” for each day), could be a good time to fish streamers. We could use the rain, the river is moderately low and very fishable and wade able, but at about 50% of normal flow.
It is 178 CFS total flow below the Still River as I write this- more like the water levels we normally see in July. Historical normal/median total flow would be 384 CFS. We have a flow of 129 CFS in Riverton above the Still, from the Rt 20 bridge Hitchcock/Riverton Self Storage) to the dam, normal/median flow for today would be 248 CFS. Just below that, the Still River is adding in 49cfs, normal/median flow for today would be 136 CFS. Unionville USGS gauge is reading a low 244 CFS, normal/median flow would be 555 CFS. Riverton water temp was 44.5 degrees at 8am this morning, it peaked at 50 yesterday.
#16-18 Tan Caddis remain the dominant bug, but there are several varieties of smaller Caddis including the “Hatch from Hell” #24 micro Caddis- we don’t have an imitation for that one because it’s a hard bug to match and the hatch (it’s actually an evening/dusk egg-laying event) doesn’t last very long. We are at the very beginning of both #10-12 March Brown & #12-14 Vitreus hatches- we are seeing a few of both, but not many yet. Should pick up a bit by the weekend though. #18-22 Olives are hatching on cloudy afternoons, usually in gentle riffles & pools. With total flows just under 200cfs as I write this report, the trout are definitely looking up now when bugs are on the water. And nymphing the fast water can be very effective when they aren’t rising (which is most of the time!). With water on the lower side, trout will seek out deeper water, and also faster water. When flows are down like now, deep is a relative term. If all the water in one stretch averages a foot deep, 18" can be plenty deep enough, especially if the water is faster and riffled/broken. Dry/Dropper could be a good option now, especially in shallower and slower runs.
Dry Fly Hatches:
Nymphs:
General Mayfly Attractor 14-18
Streamers:
Krystal Bugger (Black, Brown, Olive, White, Burnt Orange) 6-12
Larger Articulated Streamers on a sinking/sink tip line
Housatonic River
We should start to see March Browns, Cahills and Sulfurs out soon. Big holdover Rainbows and Browns have been taking flies throughout the river, and the cooler weather should fire up the bite. There are some fish rising to Caddis and BWO’s, but most trout have been caught on Nymphs. Streamers will certainly start to be more effective with higher flows after the wet spell this weekend, so keep a variety of offerings in the bag just in case.
Dry Fly Hatches:
Nymphs:
General Mayfly Attractor 14-18
Streamers:
Krystal Bugger (Black, Brown, Olive, White, Burnt Orange) 6-12
Larger Articulated Streamers on a sinking/sink tip line
New York
Salmon River
On the Salmon River, angler density was low today and the fishing was described as “quiet. Guests didn’t report any Steelhead connected with and under a dozen Smallmouth were brought to hand.
The current dam release is 285 CFS scheduled through 8:00am Friday morning and then dropping to the ‘traditional’ summer flow of 185 CFS, scheduled through 11:59pm tomorrow evening. The flow from the Pineville gauge is at 387 CFS.
Tonight: Partly cloudy. Low 41F. Winds NNE at 10 to 15 mph.
Tomorrow: Intervals of clouds and sunshine. High 67F. Winds light and variable.
Catskills
The release from Cannonsville is 450 cfs. The East Branch flow has dropped quite a bit and now all the rivers in the system are wadeable. Caddis are still around in good numbers getting some fish looking up midday. The #14 dark blue sedges are showing up on some rivers. Hendricksons are still hanging on in some river sections with March Browns, Gray Fox, and olives mixed on other sections. Definitely have your sulphur box just in case. Green Drakes can’t be far off. We have some rain starting tomorrow we’ll keep an eye on. Like normal, the forecast is different every time we look.
Today will be 67 degrees with some clouds. Wind will be 5 – 10 mph from the South.
CT Saltwater
The big system that went through this past Wednesday/Thursday seemed to shut the bite down locally in the river mouths/back bays, but anglers are still reporting quality catches in the Sound. Bigger fish are arriving with each passing day. Our manager Scott was taken on a Nantucket sleigh ride in his canoe this morning with a bass that took him into his backing. Unfortunately, he lost it at the last second, but the good news is that there are plenty of opportunities to hook into nice fish. Bunker have started to show up, albeit in limited quantities, but bass are also keying into smaller offerings such as sand eels and silversides.