Report from Catskill Flies:
FISHING CONDITIONS- Today is Saturday, September 17th, 2011, at 5:30 a.m. with an air temp of 42 degrees with cloudy skies.. All rivers in the Catskills continue to recede slowly. Yesterday surely felt like fall-with a breeze and cool air temps. One needed a sweater or jacket to be outside. Last night was even cooler.. Both the Willowemoc and the Beaverkill are wadeable & fishable. The West Branch is floatable. The other Catskill rivers still remain too high,and/or too dirty especially in light of the fact that some reservoirs are still spilling but that should end soon. Rivers recede slowly partly because trees are no longer sucking up large volumes of water as they do during growing season-they are in their fall mode. Additionally, the ground still holds a lot of moisture from all the rain. Fishing has definitely picked up again on some rivers as water levels get back to more normal flows. .. For those thinking of coming to the Catskills, we are seeing improved fishing (it’s already mid September) as rivers cool and get back to more normal levels.. In general mid September to mid October can be a very good month to fish. By this time we have hatches of Caddis, Isonychias and Olives. We are already seeing some of these hatches. Mid Oct. through mid Nov. offers a chance to catch post spawned Browns. Although Olives are on the water through November, most large Browns at that time of year, are caught on Nymphs and streamers.
The Beaverkill and Willowemoc- Both rivers are now in good shape and are clear.. Yesterday’s early morning water temp was 50.. Fish have been active and a variety of patterns have worked-Caddis,Olives & Isonychias mainly late in the day.. With the current levels, streamers have also been effective. The East Branch is still very high, muddy and wading is impossible…The color extends into the Lower East Branch. The West Branch is too high to wade with just a little color. Cannonsville Reservoir is still spilling and the release is 1501 cfs.Steamers and nymphs have been effective choices. As the levels drop, dry fly fishing will improve. This is a good river for fall Olives hatches. The Neversink is no longer spilling but it remains dirty from the dam all the way downstream. It still is quite muddy making fishing impossible. The Main Stem is still very high but receding.. .The Esopus has receded a great deal but remains off-color. It will probably remain so for quite some time. They are digging in the river and there is machinery in it. The thinking is that this will continue into next year....
Link to source: http://www.catskillflies.com/stream-conditions/
A little more real (above)....nothing's "on fire" and no one's catch 7lbers. "Yow" is right Andy. Where is that report from?