Fishing Report, October 13th ("Friday The 13th"!)

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

In the Catskill rivers, earlier in the week I drove up to Hancock, NY with Frank Corrente to spend a couple of days on the Delaware River. On Tuesday, I floated the Main Stem while Frank fished the upper East Branch. The flow from Cannonsville Reservoir on the West Branch has been yo-yo-ing up and down from irresponsible and schizophrenic releases by the state; add in the additional color from the reservoir turning over (as air and water temperatures drop)  and you've got a drastically varying flow, milky color and added weeds and leaves - all of which make for some challenging conditions on the West Branch and Main Stem. We saw few bugs and no rising fish on the Main Stem and decided to speed through, take the boat out and heading to the East Branch for some clearer, cool water.  Frank caught several beautiful trout on beetles, and I managed a few swinging a tiny zebra nymph and floating an ant. Bug activity was very limited on all rivers, with sizable hatches of Heptagenia Hebe (olive sulphurs) (size #18-20), and tan caddis (#16) making up the bulk of the bugs. I also saw some hoppers - so fishing blind and dropping a hopper imitation in the riffs, along with ants and beetles should continue to be very effective. Frank took his lovely fish by stalking the banks of the beautiful upper East Branch flats looking for rises and plopping his beetle imitations above them. One interesting note - I also took some lovely little Brown Trout Parr - perhaps four-to-five inches (one is pictured below) - a great indicator of the health of the river. Remember, these are all wild fish and the abundance of these lovely parr bodes for great future generations of trophy Delaware trout.

Flows on the Catskill rivers are as follows:

Delaware Main Stem at Lordville:   907cfs at 57 degrees;

Delaware West Branch at Stilesville:  288cfs at 53 degrees;

Delaware West Branch at hale Eddy:  404cfs at 53 degrees;

Delaware East Branch at Harvard:  103cfs at 50 degrees;

Delaware East Branch at Fishs Eddy:  282cfs at 56 degrees;

Beaverkill at Cooks Falls:  112 cfs at 62 degrees;

In Connecticut, both the Housatonic and Farmington West Branch have been fishing well, although the Farmington has been very low.  In the Housatonic there have been lots of rising fish sipping BWOs (#18-#22), Caddis (#16-#18), ants, beetles, and Isos (#14). As well, try drifting a nymph (#16 Caddis Pupa/Larva) in the riffles, pockets and runs, along with Princes, Zebras, Pheasant Tails, Copper Johns and other small patterns. There have been bugs most of the day and the river is at a great wadeable flow with a cool water temperature and happy fish.

In the Farmington, the main fare has been hatches of caddis - dries fished blind in the riffles and pockets have been scoring nicely. As well, caddis emergers and pupa have been effective - try fishing a caddis dry with an emerger or pupa dropped off the bend of the hook. Terrestrials such as ants, beetles and hoppers have also been effective. Earlier in the week the Farmington River Association stocked 1000+ trout. With the river at very low levels it is easy wading and you can get to pretty much any spot/fish you desire. 

Connecticut flows are as follows:

WB Farmington at Riverton:  64cfs at mid-50s-low-60s degrees;

Still River at Robertsville:  20cfs

WB Farmington through the TMA:  84cfs at mid-50s-low-60s;

Housatonic at Falls Village:  275cfs at 58-64 degrees;

On Long Island Sound, we have the following report from Capt. Roger Gendron of Connecticut Island Outfitters;  Fishing has been great with nice Bass on top and below. For fly fishermen, small eel or rain bait patterns have been productive, along with Clouser and Deceiver patterns. There has been a steady Striper bite, along with some Bluefish and Albie appearances here and there. The Bass and Blues have also been in closer to shore, so if you are a beach-hunter, this is a great time to grab your rod and search the beaches, especially for bass and an occasional Blue.  Also, as I experienced on my recent trip with Capt. Roger, there have also been good quantities of Porgies and Black Sea Bass hitting flies and plugs as well - providing a great smorgasbord of species and a lot of fun!

And don't forget to stop by the shop for all your fishing needs - we carry all major brands of rods, reels, boots, waders, accessories, clothing, flies, fly-tying materials and tools, hooks and luggage. Come in and throw one of the new rod models from Sage or Scott, and check out the new bootfoot waders from Reddington. Treat yourself to a new reel by Hatch, Lamson, Ross or Nautilus, or set-up your existing reel with some new backing and fly-line from Rio, Airflow, or Sci-Anglers. Stock up on Steelhead flies, shooting heads, and cold-weather gear for the upcoming season on the Salmon River, or bone-up on Bonefish and Tarpon gear, as well as luggage for your upcoming winter trip to the warmer climes. If you want to brush-up your fly casting, come in on Saturday and speak with Scott Loecher, our master/caster! 

Tight Lines, and hope to see your soon!