Catskill Fly Fishing Report - 10/2/2026

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Saturday 9am to 5pm

Sunday 9am to 5pm

Today will be a high of 71 degrees with cloudy conditions rolling through in the afternoon along with a chance of rain. Saturday will bring temperate, sunny, and somewhat windy conditions. The river is running a bit warmer than it was trending last week so there is a remote possibility that water temperatures could spike up a bit, but we don’t expect it to affect one’s ability to fish. Sunday and the beginning of next week look like they could be a bit rainy, but we’ll see if that forecast holds up. Daytime high temperatures look like they’re going to drop somewhat significantly next week with most days forecasted in the 50s and low 60s. Expect that this will continue to drop water temperatures and will likely cause some shift in the fishery as well.

As this is being written, the Beaverkill is running on the lower side, just over 180 CFS. You can expect that the river will fish similarly to what we reported last week. Water temps remain relatively cool—59 degrees as this is being written—however, low flows mean that fish are very wary and will likely be confined in the streams deeper pockets, especially during the day and under high sun like we’re expecting on Saturday.

Like last week, reports from the Beaverkill this week have been mixed with a lean towards challenging fishing. Like we said, low flows turn up a trout’s wariness acutely as they not only work to dodge your flies, but also their natural predators like eagles. It looks like flows will stay at these levels in the immediate future so you can likely expect that light-weight rigs will be your best approach. We continue to recommend a dry dropper set up in which a length of tippet (which is dependent on depth, where in the water column fish are feeding etc.) is tied to the bend of buoyant dry fly and another fly, often a bead head/weighted nymph, is tied to the other end of the tippet. This rig allows you to fish two patterns at once while your dry acts as a strike indicator for the fly below/behind while also being in play for an eat itself. Although it can sound complicated, the dry dropper is arguably the easiest nymph rig to both tie and cast and it also lands a lot quieter on the surface that a traditional indicator rig.

For fly selection on a dry dropper, we recommend throwing the largest, most high floating dry you can get away with—a #14 tan or gray caddis is a great choice right now—and a weighted nymph like a bead head pheasant tail (#16-18) or an appropriately sized caddis larva or pupa. Like we said last week: not to say that you couldn’t pull a fish up to take a look at a second dry or emerger on the dropper, but with low water, it’s likely best to get your dropper down where the fish will likely be holding, which is why we recommend a weighted nymph of some kind.

Which brings us to natural hatch. On the Beaverkill, reports indicate that tricos (#22 and smaller) can still be found specifically in the morning, however, that hatch will continue to taper down. Blue-winged olives (BWOs) (#20 and smaller) will likely remain a reliable pattern for the next several weeks, especially on cloudier days. That said, keep in mind that late season olives can be very small so make sure you have a good size range in the box. For both these two mayfly hatches, consider leading a tiny trico or BWO with a larger, more visible dry fly is a good idea such as a caddis. Or consider tying on a high-visibility variation which will usually be parachute patterns with brightly colored posts. Both of these tactics will help you keep your rig in sight.

Aside from the small bugs, reports indicate some continued activity from isonychia, a hatch which is definitely starting to wind down. That said, there are still a good number popping here and there and imitations of these larger mayflies are a top option in a dry dropper rig, so we advise that you continue to keep some in the box even if chances at eliciting an eat on one are somewhat limited. As we’ve reported previously, all mayflies will be best imitated with an array of presentations representing different stages of the life cycle. Having a selection of different stages to choose from is important in technical/low water when fish have a lot of time to look at what you’re throwing and also might be entirely keyed in on a specific forage. Trust us, there’s nothing more frustrating than watching a fish eat emergers or spinners at dusk and all you have are duns. With that in mind and when in doubt in front of a rising fish, consider going more “emergent” with your presentation, meaning lean towards patterns that look vulnerable with bodies/shucks still stuck in the surface meniscus.

Aside from mayflies, we’ve also received reports that caddis are starting to crop back up in a more significant capacity. What we said last week about their specifics will remain true—the caddis that are coming off are either tan or gray in a #14-16 or are the famous October caddis, a beautiful and quite large (#8-12) cinnamon colored bug that we have been seeing a bit of. For caddis imitation you can’t go wrong with a juicy larva, buggy pupa or soft hackle/wet fly for subsurface imitation, and there’s a lot of ways to skin the cat at the surface. Expect that upcoming windy conditions will blow caddis back into the water so having some “spent” imitations in the box is a good idea. In the shop, we love the splitsville caddis for such a situation, especially imitating those smaller bugs. If you’re looking to a caddis dry to run a dry dropper rig—which we recommend—you can’t go wrong with a good old elk hair caddis (tan or gray #14-16), however, really any high floating and durable imitation will do.

Our report on the Willowemoc is all but identical to what we had to say last week: the creek is running very low at the moment, under 40 CFS as this is being written. There are of course pockets that will hold fish but it’s probably worthwhile to give the Willow a bit of a breather and a chance to come back up a little bit. In such conditions fish will be at their maximum level of wariness which starts to beg the question of whether it’s even worth targeting them. If you do head out that way, look for the deep pockets with a dry dropper and expect that fish will be on the bottom for the most part.

The West Branch of the Delaware is fishing solidly at the moment. As far as flow goes, the West is running a hair over 440 CFS as this is being written, which sets up well for both wading and fishing from a boat. Reports for the West continue to indicate good levels of activity from both fish and bugs. The question really isn’t where are the fish and are they eating, it’s more about your ability to present an all but perfect drift. No matter how you decide to approach it, the West Branch will remain a technical challenge. Uncomfortably long leaders and downstream presentations continue to be definitive keys to success. We’ve had a lot of questions recently about tippet sizing for the West and beyond. If you’re throwing a larger dry like an iso or a caddis, you’ll want to stay away from the super light stuff as it has a tendency to kink when throwing larger flies. That said, if you’re sizing down into BWO imitation, you might need to get as light as 6, possibly even 7x. We recommend that you start with 5x and go from there, but do be aware that sizing down may be necessary.

In terms of hatch, reports of course indicate activity from tricos and BWOs, with isos present as well. We haven’t heard a ton about caddis from the upper Delaware system yet but that doesn’t mean it’s not happening. That said, it’s likely that surface eats will come on the smaller bugs, but that’s not to say that a well presented #14 iso or caddis can’t get a look. If you are fishing small and like we’ve been talking about, mitigate as much frustration as possible and either throw the tiny imitation behind a larger lead fly or use a high visibility pattern.

Reports continue to indicate significant spinner activity into the evening on the West Branch. Remember, spinners are falling in low light conditions so color is not super important in fly selection, it’s way more important to focus on, first, size and then profile. With an array of bugs around, it’ll be a good idea to have plenty in the box in sizes 14 all the way to 24. In store, we specifically like the splitsville spinner which has a super buggy look.

The East Branch is running pretty low at the moment with a flow rate of just 130 CFS as this is being written. This is low water for the East so expect similar considerations as the Beaverkill—i.e. wary and finicky fish. The East is already a significantly technical challenge at higher flows so it’ll likely be very tricky now, however, that’s not to say that you still can’t find some fish out that way. Hatch is going to be the same as what’s been outlined above.

As you may have guessed, expect that fish will be well conditioned to put themselves in places that are hard to reach with a fly. That said, we wouldn’t change too much in terms of approach for the East Branch. At the end of the day, nymphing and small flies are going to give you your best chance at catching fish right now and if you do run into some rising, expect that fish will likely be feeding on small forage.

We are open 7 days a week from 9am-5pm and can be reached by email, phone or on our social media channels. If you have any questions or reports, please feel free to reach out. We wish you luck next time you’re out and hope to see you soon!