Prospector
Well-known member
SUMMARY
Last year was our first year making a 5 day trip the Catskills and it was great. Last year, we experienced low water, lots of insects, large fish looking up for large flies, virtually no people fishing (we fished anywhere we wanted) and the fish were thick and muscular.
On Day 1 we realized this year would be different. There were lots of people (8-9 in one hole, some casting to the same fish), small fish looking for the smallest of flies and they were very selective. So we went from spoiled to reality in a year. Despite the fish being a challenge we enjoyed our second trip as much as the first trip. Overall there were an ample number of insects, but last year there were larger flies. As a group we caught 19% less trout than last year. Rain days have been a very important component and have elevated catch rates.
DETAIL BY DAY
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Monday June 20
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Willowemoc
Time Fished: 330pm - 920pm
Weather Conditions: 70 degrees, sunny
Water Conditions: 61 degrees, clear
Insects: Paraleptophlebia, lime sallies, cahills, sulfers, iso spinners , a million midges
When I arrived many trout were midging in some soft water but after 4-5 casts the whole pool stopped rising. This is the exact opposite of the typical response of fish on pressured streams. It really made no sense why they weren’t used to people. The fishing etiquette was squeeze in where you could which isn’t what I’m accustom to. The angler above me was close enough to cast to some of the same fish as me. When the next guy came down from the parking lot and asked if he could hop in between us, I felt the best option was for me to make my spot available to people who were less mobile than me. It was the Juneteenth holiday so that might have had something to do with the crowd.
I enjoy fishing riffles anyway where you can bring up fish to a dry as you probe the best holding water. My diligent effort was rewarded with zero fish brought up in about 600 yards of stream. Not one fish. The reason could be the stranglehold the mergansers had on the riffle and the fact that so many trout were small. I watched the Mergansers lounge on rocks then leave to hunt in packs rather than a singular mission. When one would catch a fish the others tried to steal it. It was quite the ruckus.
Eventually I lost hope in the riffle and slogged my way back to the big hole. My father and buddy had maneuvered into the 2 best spots as people came and went. They were each casting to about 20-25 fish. Midges were the only flies working. I sat and watched but soon my father wanted to go to the truck to get something so I went out and held his spot. In the time he was gone I couldn’t solve the puzzle of what the rising fish wanted. When my father returned, our other buddy wanted me to hold his spot. I caught a tiny brown there but he made a quick return and I bowed out and watched.
About 8pm about half the people left presumably heading back to NY for work on Tuesday. At that point I took a spot vacated by 2 guys that had lots of rising fish but slow water. A speckled midge was the ticket and I caught 8 fish over the next hour. When I couldn’t see my midge I switched to progressively larger flies for visibility and in the low light they attracted more attention but I didn’t land any losing about 5-6.
This time of year in PA the trout in the most popular hole project water have serious mouth issues from being hooked so much. All trout I caught tonight had perfect mouths. I assume they were recently stocked. I landed 9 browns.
In the last hour I saw Lime sallies & Paraleptophlebia hatch together followed by sulfers hatching (like missles from a submarine), then ISO spinners, followed by Cahill spinner and small rusty spinner and after that no clue. The peak of rising was about 850pm
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Tuesday June 21
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Willowemoc
Time Fished: 4pm - 915pm
Weather Conditions: 65 degrees, Rainy
Water Conditions: 56 degrees, clear
Insects: midges, no spinnerfall
A rain shower occurred during our arrival but only lasted a short time. When we got to the creek there were no visible insects but fish were rising pretty consistently. Most appeared to be midge-like rises.
It was a very tough night. Many people left early. Those that stayed were not rewarded. The lack of insects was the main issue. I stayed with small stuff and it just wasn’t working in the very slow water where I stood. I had only 1 fish in the first four hours. I tricked a second trout with only 15 min left before dark. I fished the slower water and left the riffle for the elder statesman in our group. They fared better in the riffle but it was all about sz 20 / 22. They got 8 & 5 respectively.
During the course of the night, Since the fish near me were not liking my “match the hatch” flies I decided to try other techniques that are tried and true fish catchers. I first threw a terrestrial and it attracted a lot of fish were that were too small to get hooked by it. I must have had 25 takes and didn’t hook any for more than 1 sec. I tried dry/dropper to no avail. No spinners around but tried those and caught one. Reports from people that fished here in the morning stated there was good BW0 hatch (sz 18). I was surprised the spinner fall was nonexistent.
Both fish I caught were browns.
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Wednesday June 22
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Time Fished: 1020am - 240pm. Including changing locations twice
Weather Conditions: 61 degrees, cloudy, misty
Water Conditions: 52 degrees, clear
Insects: couple different kinds of Caddis, small BWO duns, some small spinners over a riffle. Very few flies
I dropped off my dad and his buddy at their favorite hole. I had another location in mind but 2 cars were parked in that spot. Another parking area was also taken. I drove upstream until I found an open area with decent water. I noticed a small park near the covered bridge. It had 3 nice holes with creek access but there were no rises. As I fished upstream with a #16 BWO, I brought up one fish to a #16. It was in the 14” range. Also tried a Caddis and #16 rusty spinner.
Driving back downstream I noticed the 2 cars were gone at the one of my favorite locations. I wanted to fish quickly, so I jumped out and went to my favorite hole. It is a bit of a walk to get there. I saw no rises and never brought a fish up.
Heading back to my dad and buddy, I found out they wanted to stay a little longer. I got my gear and worked the riffle with a #16 BWO. I caught one and got others interested. I switched to a sz 20 midge and that was the ticket. 70% of the trout wanted it but my hookup rate was poor. I caught 4 more on the midge but couldn’t fish that long since our meal time was approaching.
On the day I landed 5 browns and 1 brook. The others guys caught everything on small flies. Sz 20/22
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Thursday June 23
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Time Fished: 830am - 200pm
Weather Conditions: 56 degrees, heavy showers that ended 1130am
Water Conditions: 52 degrees, clear trending to murky and back to clear
Insects: cahills, small BWO, midges
When we arrived the stream was clear and there were a couple rises. Those early fish were easy bring up but I missed one and broke off the other. It would rain off and on for the next 3hrs which limited dry fly fishing but fish were still rising periodically. I sat out for a long time and then decided to fish streamers and the trout were receptive. It was a great brown trout bite.
When we stopped for lunch I had landed 23 browns and the guy with me caught 12 on dries.
Time Fished: 800pm-900pm
Weather Conditions: 63 degrees cloudy
Water Conditions: very off color and running fast
Insects: hatching: yellow Sally, lime Sally, cahills, BWO, a different tan mayfly spinnerfall: none
I had dropped my father and our buddy off on the Willowemoc before I headed over the Beaverkill. I returned to the Willowemoc at 8pm to find it very dirty like the Beaverkill (where I had been earlier today). My dad and our buddy are dry fly guys so they had spent most of the last 3 hours watching for rises in the high water. I still had my streamer on from the Beaverkill so I started to fish it down and I had a ton of strikes and caught my largest trout of the trip in the muddy water. I actually was wading midcreek and I caught the large trout when I casted back towards the shallow shore. In hindsight I probably should have stayed with them instead of going to the Beaverkill at all. Things may have turned out better. But I was happy either way.
I caught 7 on streamers and then 2 on dries at dark. All browns.
==============
Friday June 24
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Time Fished: 715am - 1015am
Weather Conditions: 55 degrees, cloudy
Water Conditions: 52 degrees. Clear
Insects: cahills BWO stoneflies
The stream was amazingly clear. It was still running higher than prior to the rain. I fished a streamer and my dad and our buddy fished dries. The trout were clearly not as revved up for streamer as they were yesterday (I’d call it 75% less strikes). However it was still a good morning. Our buddy caught a couple on streamers and 7 on a Cahill dry. My dad caught 2 on dries. I landed 7 brown trout and 1 brook trout on streamers.
Last year was our first year making a 5 day trip the Catskills and it was great. Last year, we experienced low water, lots of insects, large fish looking up for large flies, virtually no people fishing (we fished anywhere we wanted) and the fish were thick and muscular.
On Day 1 we realized this year would be different. There were lots of people (8-9 in one hole, some casting to the same fish), small fish looking for the smallest of flies and they were very selective. So we went from spoiled to reality in a year. Despite the fish being a challenge we enjoyed our second trip as much as the first trip. Overall there were an ample number of insects, but last year there were larger flies. As a group we caught 19% less trout than last year. Rain days have been a very important component and have elevated catch rates.
DETAIL BY DAY
==============
Monday June 20
==============
Willowemoc
Time Fished: 330pm - 920pm
Weather Conditions: 70 degrees, sunny
Water Conditions: 61 degrees, clear
Insects: Paraleptophlebia, lime sallies, cahills, sulfers, iso spinners , a million midges
When I arrived many trout were midging in some soft water but after 4-5 casts the whole pool stopped rising. This is the exact opposite of the typical response of fish on pressured streams. It really made no sense why they weren’t used to people. The fishing etiquette was squeeze in where you could which isn’t what I’m accustom to. The angler above me was close enough to cast to some of the same fish as me. When the next guy came down from the parking lot and asked if he could hop in between us, I felt the best option was for me to make my spot available to people who were less mobile than me. It was the Juneteenth holiday so that might have had something to do with the crowd.
I enjoy fishing riffles anyway where you can bring up fish to a dry as you probe the best holding water. My diligent effort was rewarded with zero fish brought up in about 600 yards of stream. Not one fish. The reason could be the stranglehold the mergansers had on the riffle and the fact that so many trout were small. I watched the Mergansers lounge on rocks then leave to hunt in packs rather than a singular mission. When one would catch a fish the others tried to steal it. It was quite the ruckus.
Eventually I lost hope in the riffle and slogged my way back to the big hole. My father and buddy had maneuvered into the 2 best spots as people came and went. They were each casting to about 20-25 fish. Midges were the only flies working. I sat and watched but soon my father wanted to go to the truck to get something so I went out and held his spot. In the time he was gone I couldn’t solve the puzzle of what the rising fish wanted. When my father returned, our other buddy wanted me to hold his spot. I caught a tiny brown there but he made a quick return and I bowed out and watched.
About 8pm about half the people left presumably heading back to NY for work on Tuesday. At that point I took a spot vacated by 2 guys that had lots of rising fish but slow water. A speckled midge was the ticket and I caught 8 fish over the next hour. When I couldn’t see my midge I switched to progressively larger flies for visibility and in the low light they attracted more attention but I didn’t land any losing about 5-6.
This time of year in PA the trout in the most popular hole project water have serious mouth issues from being hooked so much. All trout I caught tonight had perfect mouths. I assume they were recently stocked. I landed 9 browns.
In the last hour I saw Lime sallies & Paraleptophlebia hatch together followed by sulfers hatching (like missles from a submarine), then ISO spinners, followed by Cahill spinner and small rusty spinner and after that no clue. The peak of rising was about 850pm
==============
Tuesday June 21
==============
Willowemoc
Time Fished: 4pm - 915pm
Weather Conditions: 65 degrees, Rainy
Water Conditions: 56 degrees, clear
Insects: midges, no spinnerfall
A rain shower occurred during our arrival but only lasted a short time. When we got to the creek there were no visible insects but fish were rising pretty consistently. Most appeared to be midge-like rises.
It was a very tough night. Many people left early. Those that stayed were not rewarded. The lack of insects was the main issue. I stayed with small stuff and it just wasn’t working in the very slow water where I stood. I had only 1 fish in the first four hours. I tricked a second trout with only 15 min left before dark. I fished the slower water and left the riffle for the elder statesman in our group. They fared better in the riffle but it was all about sz 20 / 22. They got 8 & 5 respectively.
During the course of the night, Since the fish near me were not liking my “match the hatch” flies I decided to try other techniques that are tried and true fish catchers. I first threw a terrestrial and it attracted a lot of fish were that were too small to get hooked by it. I must have had 25 takes and didn’t hook any for more than 1 sec. I tried dry/dropper to no avail. No spinners around but tried those and caught one. Reports from people that fished here in the morning stated there was good BW0 hatch (sz 18). I was surprised the spinner fall was nonexistent.
Both fish I caught were browns.
==============
Wednesday June 22
==============
Time Fished: 1020am - 240pm. Including changing locations twice
Weather Conditions: 61 degrees, cloudy, misty
Water Conditions: 52 degrees, clear
Insects: couple different kinds of Caddis, small BWO duns, some small spinners over a riffle. Very few flies
I dropped off my dad and his buddy at their favorite hole. I had another location in mind but 2 cars were parked in that spot. Another parking area was also taken. I drove upstream until I found an open area with decent water. I noticed a small park near the covered bridge. It had 3 nice holes with creek access but there were no rises. As I fished upstream with a #16 BWO, I brought up one fish to a #16. It was in the 14” range. Also tried a Caddis and #16 rusty spinner.
Driving back downstream I noticed the 2 cars were gone at the one of my favorite locations. I wanted to fish quickly, so I jumped out and went to my favorite hole. It is a bit of a walk to get there. I saw no rises and never brought a fish up.
Heading back to my dad and buddy, I found out they wanted to stay a little longer. I got my gear and worked the riffle with a #16 BWO. I caught one and got others interested. I switched to a sz 20 midge and that was the ticket. 70% of the trout wanted it but my hookup rate was poor. I caught 4 more on the midge but couldn’t fish that long since our meal time was approaching.
On the day I landed 5 browns and 1 brook. The others guys caught everything on small flies. Sz 20/22
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Thursday June 23
==============
Time Fished: 830am - 200pm
Weather Conditions: 56 degrees, heavy showers that ended 1130am
Water Conditions: 52 degrees, clear trending to murky and back to clear
Insects: cahills, small BWO, midges
When we arrived the stream was clear and there were a couple rises. Those early fish were easy bring up but I missed one and broke off the other. It would rain off and on for the next 3hrs which limited dry fly fishing but fish were still rising periodically. I sat out for a long time and then decided to fish streamers and the trout were receptive. It was a great brown trout bite.
When we stopped for lunch I had landed 23 browns and the guy with me caught 12 on dries.
Time Fished: 800pm-900pm
Weather Conditions: 63 degrees cloudy
Water Conditions: very off color and running fast
Insects: hatching: yellow Sally, lime Sally, cahills, BWO, a different tan mayfly spinnerfall: none
I had dropped my father and our buddy off on the Willowemoc before I headed over the Beaverkill. I returned to the Willowemoc at 8pm to find it very dirty like the Beaverkill (where I had been earlier today). My dad and our buddy are dry fly guys so they had spent most of the last 3 hours watching for rises in the high water. I still had my streamer on from the Beaverkill so I started to fish it down and I had a ton of strikes and caught my largest trout of the trip in the muddy water. I actually was wading midcreek and I caught the large trout when I casted back towards the shallow shore. In hindsight I probably should have stayed with them instead of going to the Beaverkill at all. Things may have turned out better. But I was happy either way.
I caught 7 on streamers and then 2 on dries at dark. All browns.
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Friday June 24
==============
Time Fished: 715am - 1015am
Weather Conditions: 55 degrees, cloudy
Water Conditions: 52 degrees. Clear
Insects: cahills BWO stoneflies
The stream was amazingly clear. It was still running higher than prior to the rain. I fished a streamer and my dad and our buddy fished dries. The trout were clearly not as revved up for streamer as they were yesterday (I’d call it 75% less strikes). However it was still a good morning. Our buddy caught a couple on streamers and 7 on a Cahill dry. My dad caught 2 on dries. I landed 7 brown trout and 1 brook trout on streamers.
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