Posted on May 01 2025
Spent the day on the river in virtual solitude. Never had a boat float past me and never had a fisherman within two hundred yards of me. Started at the lower game lands, hadn't fished there in a couple of years and with only two cars in the lot, (one turned out to be a lady out for a walk), it seemed a good place to start. At 1:30 there were a few pseudos and Hendricksons being blown by me in a nasty north wind. Saw six or eight rises, had three refusals, and hooked one fish on a blind cast when walking back to the trail head.
Drove along the back side of the river all the way up to Deposit. There were quite a few boats, mostly all anchored, waiting. Never saw a rise at any of the lookout spots nor was I able to see any meaningful bugs. Saw a lone fisherman in a yellow cap below the Deposit town bridge about 3:00. Decided to head east on 17 and ended up driving over to Horton. Parked at one of the more popular pools on the river, (no one was fishing it), and Ed Smith and one of his fishing buddies pulled in right behind me. We walked down to the river and watched caddis both laying eggs and hatching. A few Hendricksons also floated by. We never saw a rise. Got back into the car and followed the river downstream, there were fishermen to be sure but it certainly wasn't crowded until I got to a pool where I might well have fished - four anglers had it covered.
Tried an empty pool a bit upstream and found both caddis and feeding fish, got three fish to eat before they stopped feeding. My last stop had lots of both caddis and feeding fish. Much like yesterday, however, the fish were zoned in on something in the water column and wouldn't give my flies a look, until the hatch waned. For about half an hour between when the hatch ended and the sun went behind the hill, the fish were more than happy to eat my offerings. As soon as the sun disappeared behind the hill the cold air shut everything down. Drove back to the Lordville Estate with a smile on my face. Got only my third "win" of the month with a perfect 10 for 10 day. Not a fish over 16 inches but a nice mix of fish all between 12 and 16 inches.
The outlook - Still haven't a clue. I believe that the lower reaches of both the BR and the BE will soon be, (or are now), in the doldrums. There are Hendricksons hatching on both the UEB and the WB. I have yet to see what I would describe as even a fair Hendrickson hatch anywhere, (except the Neversink). Without good Hendrickson hatches the fishing has been challenging. The only thing I know for sure is that I'm sick of the G.D. caddis.
Started off at noon at Deposit where there were some random flying caddis. Saw two fish come up. One hit my caddis missed and that was it. Fished nymphs, swung a black streamer but the wind was tooo much.
Went to Hancock and saw caddis all over being blown away by the strong wind but the few that landed on the water. No sight of Hendricksons. Nary a fish rising. Swung a nicely weighted black streamer that I could “punch cast” into the wind and connected with a 12 inch brown.
Went to junction pool. Caddis flying by in the wind with the occasional one landing on the water as well as a few Hendricksons. Fish were randomly feeding. Would spot one, try to target it but then it would not rise again for 5 minutes. That with the ever blowing wind made it all a fruitless gesture of fishing.
BTW the far shore as usual had more risers with some fish actually feeding.
The highlight of the day ( lol) was the walk/wading all the way up to the East Branch connection. Lots of nice water along that stretch.
Dennis-Fantastic. Sounds like you had a super day- nice fish landed and plenty of action. Kudos. Ed
Angler119- The good, the bad and the ugly. The good- as always I enjoyed chatting with you on the BK as we continued our respective search for rising fish. The bad— not really . Not much doing even though there were tons of caddis flying over the river. Did see some “one time risers”on the UEB. I did manage to land a 16” brown on the Willow on a rusty spinner to end the day. Congrats to You on finding risers and going 10 for 10. Ed
I started out at the barking dog and stopped just short of the 17 pool. Not a rise and no Hendricksons. There were some caddis but nothing else. Headed to the car and was going to the BK but driving to deposit I saw fish rising by the bridge. I went in and had a good day. 2 17 in fat brow trout ate. I had 13 refusals. I used caddis bwo and blue Quils. Refusals on all but the ones I landed ate caddis.
We’ve had a few years of early Hendricksons lately but I checked my 20year log book and many years the main Hendrickson hatch….at least on the WB….is the first 2 weeks of May with Upper west seeing some even later. Can’t explain why they seem so far behind the caddis blizzards but still hopeful many Hendricksons to come.
Angler et. All
Thanks so much for advice two days ago. After an afternoon in Deposit watching a handful of Caddis and no risers, I stopped for some Wendy’s chili, and arrived at another Deposit favorite at around 6 pm.
About 30 minutes later risers began, and it took an awhile, but at about 7 I landed what I am sure will be the fish of trip; a 20+ brown shaped like a football. On a spinner. Had a few more chances until it shut down around 7:30. Still can’t believe how fat that fish was, given there has been no dam spillage this year.
I pretty much wasted mu day driving around looking for spots with less wind and more rising fish than the upper game lands. drovee up the WB and decided the BK . Right above the place where old 17 runs under new 17, I checked and again no risers, or fishermen. Answered the call of nature and in the process took off the new small chest pack I was trying out. Long story short, I left it there. Checked a couple more spots and decided Iwould have to head back the the BR. When I got to Stockport I realized I did not have the chest pack and drove back to the BK. It was gone. Did finally find some rising fish on the BE eating Hendricksons, but my heart wasn’t n it.
My thoughts on your and the rest of the group on the disappointing Hendrickson hatch…last year as you remember we were hit with an extended period of 90+ degree weather that significantly drained the Willow and Beaverkill exposing much of the riverbed..could it be we lost a few years of insect development because of the drought? I remember it happening a few years ago. The Delaware system had some water because of flow requirements also my have gotten too warm killing some insect population.. just my thoughts
Sounds familiar. I waited out the BE as long as I could but it was quiet until 3:00ish so I went elsewhere. Found some fish rising and managed a couple, but I was a little late and it shut down early.
Thank you to the kind gentleman who invited me to fish with him in a crowded area, told me what fly to use ( apple caddis) and pointed out where they were rising, otherwise I might have been skunked. Some fly fishermen are really nice.