Fishing Report: September 19th

Greetings Compleat Anglers!  Here is your fishing report for September 19th.

Lots of on-and-off rain has our Connecticut and Catskill rivers still at very healthy flow levels.  In the Catskills, due to the increased release in the Cannonsville and Pepacton reservoires, rivers are still too high in most places for wading. In Connecticut, the Farmington River has remained very wadeable but the Housatonic is still too high for safe wading. After forecast rain events today and tomorrow, rivers should begin rapid drops to wadeable levels. River temperatures have come down nicely in the Catskills due to a combination of cooler nights and increased releases from the dams (Cannonsville Dam is releasing 1499cfs and Pepacton Dam is releasing 678cfs.) Water temperatures in both Connecticut and Catskills range from the low 50's to the mid-60's.  

In Connecticut, the DEEP did their first fall stocking in 9/11 in the Farmington River, stocking1400 Brown Trout from the lowqer end of the C&R area at RT 219 to the RT 177 bridge, and an additional 300 trout from the RT 177 bridge to RT 4 in Farmington. All trout were 12" and over.

Here in Connecticut, in the Farmington River fish action has picked up considerably due to the fall stocking. With the new hatchery fish in the river, best fly bets have been Wooly Buggers, mops, Green Weenies, and egg patterns. Hatches consist mostly of fall Caddis (#14-#18), Tricos (#20-#24), and small BWO's (#20-#22). Nymphs in sizes #14-#20 have been effective as well as stoneflies (#6-#12) fished in the riffles and seams. Sal Renzuella from Riverkeeper Guide Services netroutbum@gmail.com reports that the Housatonic has been fishing well. Sal had a great day this week casting Isos in the riffles and took  a lot of nice fish. As well, Sal and friends did well earlier on the Delaware West Branch and took some beastly Browns on streamers.

Flows in Connecticut are:

WB Farmington at Riverton:  234cfs in the low-mid 60's;

Still River at Robertsville:  99cfs;

WB Farmington through the TMA:  333cfs in the mid-60s;

Housatonic at Falls River:  740cfs in the mid-high 60's;

In the Catskills, rivers reman high due to rainfall and increased dam release. Streamers have been very effective on all three Delaware branches, taking some great Delaware hogs. In the evenings fish are looking up - seeing little BWO's (#16-#20), Isos (#12), Tricos (#22-24), Fall Caddis (both green and tan) (#16), and Light Cahills (#14-#16).  Nymphs and soft hackle wets have scored fished along the slow edges of riffs and swung in the tailouts. With today's forecast rain, rivers might be somewhat stained or even cloudy but should clear quickly.

Catskill River flows are as follows:

Delaware West Branch at Stilesville:  1470cfs at 60 degrees;

Delaware West Branch at Hale Eddy:  2590cfs at 61 degrees;

Delaware East Branch at Harvard:  984cfs at 52 degrees;

Delaware East Branch at Fishs Eddy:  2200cfs at 58 degrees;

Delaware Main Stem at Lordville:  4040cfs at 63 degrees;

Beaverkill at Cooks Falls:  1230cfs in the mid-60s;

In Long Island Sound, there have been some bass and blues on the reefs but action is moderate. We've had a few customers in the shop who have reported some good schools of schoolie bass around the Weed Beach area. I was up on Sherwood Island yesterday and there were large schools of snappers up and down the beach feeding on huge balls of tiny Silversides (but no Bass.)  Large schools of bunker, Silversides, and Bay Anchovies roam the Western Sound, but, as of yet, there are not corresponding large numbers of bass and blues feeding on them. And everyone is impatiently awaiting word of some Albie activity. There's also Black Sea Bass, Porgies, and other bottom dwellers to be had. Water temperatures are in the low 70s - so in general, there are bass being taken along with the occasional blue but its not on fire. We're kind've in a wait-see mode! Here's our friend Roger Gendron from Connecticut Island Outfitters  info@ctislandoutfitters.com  providing a couple of happy clients with some nice memories this past week:

That's it for now. Stop by the shop and check out some great new rods from Sage and Winston. We carry all major (and minor) brands such as Sage, Scott, Winston, Loomis, Hardy, St. Croix, Echo, Reddington, Ross, Abel, Nautilus, Hatch, Tibor, Lamson, Rio, Airflow, Sci-Anglers, Patagonia, Simms, Yeti, Fishpond, Regal, Renzetti, Galvin and so many more. We have a huge selection of freshwater and saltwater flies for trout, salmon, largemouth and smallmouth bass, pike, panfish, Striped Bass, Bluefish, Bonefish, Redfish, Albies, Tarpon, Permit, Jacks, and many, many more. Many of our flies are tied right here in the US by master tier Mike Motyll.  And be sure to check out our amazing selection of fly-tying materials and tools.

Until next time, hope to see you on the water!

Len