Fishing Report: June 13th

Greetings Compleat Anglers!  Here is your fishing report for June 13th.

Our featured image this week is of a beautiful Luna Moth, taken by guide Ben Rinker of East Branch Outfitters  info@eastbranchoutfitters.com. It is perched on Ben's Hyde driftboat.

Overview

Fishing remains good, both in our rivers and Long Island Sound. In our Connecticut and Catskill rivers fishing has gone from the high-water Spring conditions to lower-water summer conditions. There are still lot's of bugs but they have definitely slowed down from the bug blizzards of the past few weeks. The Hendricksons are now just a memory - but we have Isos, BWO's, a few straggling March Browns and Gray Fox, Vitreus, Sulphurs, Cahills and lots of tan and olive Caddis. On both Connecticut and Catskill rivers, be sure to keep your eyes open for spinner falls - not only in the evening but in the mid-late afternoons as well. There are March Brown spinners, Iso spinners, Coffin Flies (Green Drake spinners), and some Sulphur and Cahill spinners as well. On some of our rivers keep your eye on water temperature - a few that have lower water have begun to heat up and have reached 70 degrees - the temperature where trout are really stressed. Even on the tailwaters, which remain cold closer to the dams, we have begun to see some warmer temperatures as you move further downstream. Here's a shot of the lovely Beaverkill river just outside of Roscoe, New York.

Connecticut Rivers

In Connecticut, On the Farmington River, there are big fish to be had (both wild and holdover) and lots of stocked fish as well. Water temperatures are in the mid-40's in Riverton and in the mid-50's downstream so the water remains nicely cool. Our own Pat Fowler had a great day on the Farmington TMA area this week and took this beautiful Brown among many others:

Pat reports great action on nymphs and dries as well. The fish were on Caddis and BWO's, and there are also reports of Vitreus. For nymphs, fish the medium-fast water and look for soft spots, seams pockets etc.to drift your nymphs through. And keep your eye open for spinner falls as well, both in the evenings and mid-to-late afternoons. For dry flies, look to Vitreus (#14-#16), Caddis (both tan and olive) (#14-#18), BWO's (#18-#24), Sulphurs (#16) and Light Cahills (#12-#14). There are also reports of March Brown spinners as well. For nymphs and wets, try Hare's Ear (#14-#16), Pheasant Tails (#14-#18) (both Hare's Ears and Pheasant tails are great March Brown imitations) , Caddis Pupa (#14-#16), Frenchies (#18-#20), Olive Nymphs (#16-#20), Zebras (#18-#24), and Stoneflies (#6-#12). 

On the Housatonic, Rob Nichols from Housatonic Anglers housangler@yahoo.com reports that there has been some great dry-fly action. Best bets for dries are Alder Flies, March Browns, Sulphurs, Cahills and Caddis (both tan and olive.) Nymphs have been also very effective - try Pheasant Tails (#14-#18), Hare's Ears (#14-#18), Prince (#14-#18), Caddis Pupa (#14-#20), and Copper Jon and Frenchie patterns (#18-#22). Water temperatures have been in the low-high 60's. Water levels have lowered, which has been great for wading but not-so-great for floating.

In the smaller streams such as the Saugatuck River, Norwalk River, Mill River and Mianus River, water levels are low but there are still good fish to be had. Try using a dry fly/dropper or casting a bushy Caddis pattern. As well, fish the deeper runs of medium-fast water with a dry-fly with a small nymph dropped off it. Look for the deeper pockets and seams where a trout can both hide and find a good drift of insects being funneled down to it. Other key patterns would be Caddis Pupa, Scuds, and smaller nymph patterns such as Copper John, Frenchie or Zebras.

Here are Connecticut water flows:

Farmington West Branch at Riverton:  312cfs in the mid 40's;

Still River at Robertsville:  40cfs;

Farmington through the TMA:  352cfs in the mid-50's;

Saugatuck River at Ford's Rd (Westport):  5 cfs;

Norwalk River in Wilton:  11.5cfs;

Catskill Rivers

In the Catskills, fishing continues to be good, although the blizzards of hatches that dominated the spring season have slowed down considerably. For the three Delaware River branches (the East Branch, West Branch and Main Stem) with the onset of summer-like conditions, key hatches are Isos (#10-#14), Sulphurs (#14-#16), Caddis (tan and olive) (#14-#18), Olives (#14-#18), Cahills (#14-#16), and a few straggling March Browns and Green Drakes (#10-#12). Look for good spinner falls of Coffin Flies (Green Drakes) in the late afternoons and evenings. Sal Renzuella of Riverkeeper Guide Service netroutbum@gmail.com  took this lovely Main Stem beast this past week. 

Water levels have lowered in all three Delaware branches as well as the Beaverkill and Willowemoc. Keep your eye on water temperatures, especially on the lower Delaware East Branch and the lower Main Stem - on warmer days water temperatures have hit 70 on both of those sections. The Main Stem is down to 1170cfs which makes it perfect for wading - anglers can get into some prime spots at this flow!  The West Branch remains cooler, especially the upper West Branch in the Stilesville area).  For nymphs, try Pheasant Tails (#14-#18), Sulphur-type nymphs (#14-#16), Hare's Ear (#10-#14), Cadis Pupa (#16-#18), and smaller nymphs such as Zebras, Frenchies and Copper Johns (#16-#22).  Also, look for medium to fast water to swing a small wet fly or soft hackle. Effective wet fly patterns can be as traditional as a Dark Cahill, Leadwing Coachman, Hare's Ear or any soft hackle in a combination of appropriate colors. I took this neat 'Bow in the Main Stem swinging a #12 Dark Cahill wet this past week:

In the Beaverkill and Willowemoc, water levels have lowered but wading and fishing  is still very good. Key hatches are Green Drakes (#10-#12), Coffin Flies, Sulphurs (#14-#16), Isos (#10-#14), tan and olive Caddis (#14-#18), and Olives *#14-#18). Small nymphs dropped off a dry have also been very effective. As above, look for patches of medium-fast water to drift your dry/dropper combination. 

Here are water flows for the Catskill rivers:

Delaware East Branch at Fishs Eddy:   446cfs at 68 degrees;

Delaware West Branch at Hale Eddy:   511cfs at 53 degrees;

Delaware Main Stem at Lordville:  1170cfs at 65 degrees;

Beaverkill at Cooks Falls:   205cfs in the low-mid 60's;

Long Island Sound

In Long Island Sound, fishing continues to be good, but spotty. There are lots of Schoolie Bass, but they are not yet heavy on the beaches. There have been some huge bass taken in mid-Sound and the river mouths as well. Also, there have been schools of gator Bluefish, mostly in mid-sound but there are reports that in the evenings and early mornings they are in closer to the beaches. Top-water action has been excellent - try using a small popper or crease fly such as the one pictured below:

Captain Ian Devlin of Devlin Charters  captain_ian@yahoo.com reports some great action with some huge bass being taken. Check out these beasts:

If you're looking to hook up with one of these beasts, give Ian a call at 203-451-9400.  As always, best bets for Bass are Clouser patterns and Deceiver patterns, along with topwater poppers/plugs and crease flies. If you are working the beaches, look for outgoing tides and try to fish in the evenings and early mornings. There are large Bunker schools in mid-sound along with some sand eels. As the water warms look for those bait schools to work in closer to the beaches and hopefully draw in Bass and Bluefish.

This Week's Featured Fly Tier

Finally, our Featured Fly-tier this week is Mike Motyl. Mike is a master commercial fly tier specializing in the hatches of the Farmington River and the Catskills. His beautifully-tied and remarkably effective trout patterns are highly prized by anglers from all over New England (including myself!). Our fly bins here at Compleat Angler are filled with Mike's elegant and amazingly effective patterns and the entire staff can testify to their effectiveness. I use them on a weekly basis on the Delaware Branches and they have been responsible for many beautiful trout. Mike also ties specialty salmon flies for our salmon-oriented customers as well as custom patterns. If you haven't already used Mike's's flies come in and check them out. Here's some of his amazingly effective "Thunder"patterns:

I can personally testify to their effectiveness! 

That's it for this week. Stop by the shops for all your angling needs. Check out our amazing inventory of rods, reels, waders, boots, flies (both fresh and saltwater) fly lines, clothing, accessories, fly-tying equipment, luggage, and so much more. We carry all the major brands such as Sage, Scott, Loomis, Hardy, Winston, Reddington, Echo, Hatch, Tibor, Nautilus, Ross, Abel, Lamson, Hardy, Simms, Patagonia, Rio, Sci-Anglers, Airflow, Yeti, Mountain Khaki and lot's more!

Hope to see you on the water!

Len