Posted on May 11 2026
Was taken by surprise when I looked at the stream flows this morning, either the weatherman forgot to mention that the river system would get an inch of rain yesterday, or, I forgot to look at the forecast. At any rate, the only part of the system that could be comfortably waded this morning was the UEB, yes you could get in the Willow and Neversink, but neither fishes well a todays levels.
So, I decided to take a tour. People are so obsessed with the Delaware and it's trib's that lots of little streams get ignored. Drove east, either caught up with yesterday's rain, or found some that the weatherman wasn't talking about. Saw a lot of little brook trout streams, half a dozen waterfalls, several lakes/reservoirs with tiny camps side by side million dollar second homes, and two buck deer standing beside the road with horns just starting to grow. Never saw a fisherman, a rise, or for that matter, even a bug hatch. Crossed the Neversink, Willow, BK, BE without seeing more than a dozen fishermen, mostly all on the bank. And then - - - , (did this to keep the paragraph from being too long).
Drove back 17 all the way to Deposit, (stopping only for gas), where I found at 5:30, (long past Hendrickson time), no fishermen, no boats, no bugs, and no rising fish. Went down the PA side and there was one car in the upper gamelands lot, 0 cars in the lower gamelands lot, 25 trailers at Balls Eddy, 6 trailers, (some had taken out and left), at Shehawken, 2 trailers at Stockport, 5 trailers at Buckingham. and neither a trailer or car at Lordville.
The bugs/fishing - First rise I saw all day was at the DRC pool, (saw two), next rises were at Buckingham, where three fishermen were trying to reach rising fish from shore, (at 4500/5000cfs you can't even set foot in the stream there. Drove down to Lordville, walked up on the bridge, and saw some rises that I was sure were fall fish. Drove down under the bridge, crossed, (had my waders on since I left the estate), Humphrey's Brook, made two casts, hooked two rainbows, (13 and 15), and for once, knew when to quit.
The outlook - Wait for the water to get to a comfortable level for wading, then get here. The Hendricksons will be arriving in Deposit as soon as the water temps get above 50, and the freestones are coming out of the doldrums. If only it would stop raining.
Ed J. - Welcome back! With just one fact laden paragraph, you single handedly righted a ship that was listing badly to port from too many commenters leaning over the gunwale, (or gunnel if you prefer), trying to reach the fish on the left bank.
I personally agree with your thoughts on the DRC's excessive use of a pictorial display of two and three year old fish, (a blatant attempt to fill both motel rooms and drift boat seats). That said, however, no matter how long the arms of the successful anglers were, there are two or three pictures of really large fish that show up in their photo gallery almost every day.
Ok there LITTLE legend since 1982!!
Maybe I can make up my nickname too….
To Jim N. If only you knew. You have no idea.
Since 1982.
A119
Love it!!! Joe Btfsplk is perfect.
Although I’m still gonna call him “the little ray of sunshine”. Emphasis on LITTLE!!
Legend???… 🤣🤣🤣
Jim N
I get it, people want the water to themselves. This being said, this system has over 60 miles of water, which is usually plenty of room to spread out. Moving here from out West, it’s no different or even worse. Aside from going on private water, it’s everywhere. The Delaware is no worse than most water, and significantly better than a lot.
The exception is below the dam on the WB. I avoid Deposit after June 30th, Stilesville is the exception, it’s lined up the Salmon River in September there.
Geez….you guys are tough…..lol. The system IS too congested when you count 15-20 banana boats floating by in one afternoon. That occurs until sometime in June.
78 fish from 20" to 25.25" in my log in season 2012. That is fishing 2 days/week if water conditions permit. Those numbers won’t happen ever again with this stressed system. Gone…. once again with over crowdedness and water quality decline. Be careful when you state, “the Catskills is where it’s at”. Guess you want more and more congestion. Wishing all of you a good sulfur season on the crowded WB. The legend.
Mardi Gras….not nearly as congested as Montana’s Madison during peak season!
I agree with Jim, the Catskills are where “it’s” at.’we have been fortunate to fish the west and Canada but for a total experience the area can’t be beat.
Big fish comments…sour grapes…
Most fisherman have never caught a 20 inch trout!
Angler119’- Thanks for the report. I’m planning to fish tomorrow so it looks like the UEB may be the only option. Jim D. – I agree . When we live around 10+ million other people the surrounding streams will get a lot of pressure. I don’t have a solution and I wouldn’t want to se a lottery type or some other system put in place. Angler119’- Thanks for the “tip of the cap” to Al Capp. Very cool. Ed
As Yogi Berra once said..”Nobody goes there anymore..it’s too crowded”.. due to its proximity to a large population base, the Catskill River System will always be crowded. I’m two hours away living in Central New York and am lucky to have the ability to fish these waters. I no longer travel out West or Canada so to me this is a blessing. You want to see beat up fish and streams? Fish Central New York water. They are great for a quick two hours of fishing but they never will compare to the Catskills.
Sorry to be that guy, but what you refer to as the DRC pool is the “Home Pool”.
Come on now, I do not consider pictures of 20"-21" fish “really large”, not even a 22" fish……..and they are NOT showing up almost daily. Nonsense. Those fish sizes have declined over the past 5-8 years for sure, just as with the bugs. What ARE showing up are stressed, thin , smaller fish than ever before. The fish NEVER get a break. Day after day after day getting pounded over from banana boats no matter how water levels are. Normal water levels bring the entire Mardi Gras out.