The Catskill Fly Fishing Report
September 25, 2026
Beaverkill River, Willowemoc Creek, and the Delaware River System
STORE HOURS:
Monday 12pm to 5pm
Tuesday 9am to 5pm
Wednesday 9am to 5pm
Thursday 9am to 5pm
Friday 9am to 5pm
Saturday 9am to 5pm
Sunday 9am to 5pm
Today will be a high of 65 degrees with mostly cloudy conditions overhead, especially later in the day. Saturday and Sunday will likely present tough fishing conditions with the arrival of this nor’easter system. Rain and high winds are forecasted for both Saturday and Sunday with the coolest temperatures of the fall season so far (highs in the upper 50s). Cool and rainy conditions will continue through the beginning of next week as well. During this time, keep a close eye on the forecast and the flow gauges; depending on how much rain ends up coming down, we may see a spike in river flows.
As this is being written, the Beaverkill is running on the lower side, just under 180 CFS. While water temperatures are cool and the river is still fishable at this water level, expect that fish will be very wary of your presence and will likely seek out deeper areas of the stream to occupy. As was mentioned above, the river is running cool—53 degrees as this is being written—and it’s likely that the time to be concerned with high water temperatures has largely past. That of course could change with just a few days of warm sun, especially at these flows, so let’s hope that cool temperatures and consistent rain continue as we make our way into the fall season here.
Reports from the Beaverkill this week have been mixed, but in general fishing has been a bit challenging. Like we said, these low flows really do a number on a trout’s willingness to take a fly as they become hyper-aware of their surroundings; a fact which owes not only to angling pressure but also predation from avian predators. As long as flows stay at these levels, expect that finesse and light rigs will be your best bet. We may sound like a broken record, but a dry dropper rig is an excellent candidate in such a situation. If you’ve never tied on a dry dropper, it’s a simple rig to setup: tie your dry to the end of your tippet, tie an additional length of tippet off the bend of the dry fly, and then tie a nymph, emerger, second dry, whatever you want to the end of that tippet. The dry dropper is an excellent rig for beginners and experts alike. It casts pretty easily and tangles far less than an indicator nymphing rig, and of course, it kills two birds with one stone in that your “indicator” dry fly could always entice an eat itself.
For fly selection on a dry dropper, we recommend throwing the largest, most high floating dry you can get away with—a #14 isonychia parachute is a good choice at the moment—and a weighted nymph like a bead head pheasant tail (#16-18). 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, things haven’t changed too much in the way of mayfly activity since we last reported. Tricos (#22 and smaller) are still coming off in the morning. BWOs (#20 and smaller) continue to pop up regularly later in the day and will likely be even more active with upcoming conditions. For these two hatches, keep in mind that the naturals are very small so do what you can to make it easier on yourself while fishing these patterns. Leading a trico or small BWO with a larger, more visible dry fly is a good idea. Or consider tying on a high-visibility variation which will usually be parachute patterns with brightly colored posts.
Aside from the small bugs, reports indicate solid activity from isonychia into the afternoon and the same from cahills later into the evening. Like we said above, imitations of these larger mayflies will be the best option in a dry dropper rig, so make sure you have some in the box. The iso naturals are around a #14 at this time of year and the cahills are around a #14-16. As we said last week, all mayflies will be well imitated with an array of presentations representing different stages of the life cycle. Having this diversity of selection is important when fish are vary wary as they are now; in many situations, actively rising fish will be entirely keyed in on a specific bug in a specific stage and 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. We have yet to see or hear of any really consistent activity from these bugs but they are definitely increasingly present. For now, it sounds like the caddis that are around are either tan 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 on the water and a lot under the light on shop porch in the morning. Even though it can be downright nasty to fish, the combination of caddis and wind can often yield pretty spectacular results as the naturals get blown to the surface of the water for the trout to come and collect. In store, we like the splitsville caddis pattern which is an excellent imitation for exactly that phenomenon. Aside from surafce action, swinging or drifting a soft hackle can also be a deadly emerging caddis imitation, however, it will grow increasingly difficult to execute with all the leaf litter that’s about to get blown into the rivers.
The Willowemoc 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 570 CFS as this is being written, which sets up pretty well for both wading and fishing from a boat, however, some areas will be eliminated for wading access. As we said last week, there’s plenty of happy and hungry fish around; the question is just can you feed them a good enough cast to elicit an eat. The West will be a technical challenge no matter how you decide to approach it. Keys to the game are going to be long leader systems regardless of rig and drag-free drifts served from an upstream position. Expect that active fish will do what they can to make themselves inaccessible to you so you might have to get creative in your approach, especially with moderate water levels.
In terms of hatch, reports of course indicate activity from tricos and BWOs, with isos and some cahills present as well. It’s likely that surface eats will come on the smaller bugs, but that’s not to say that a well presented #14 iso 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 tin imitation behind a larger lead fly or use a high visibility pattern.
The main report on the West is significant spinner activity into the evening. Remember, spinners are falling in low light conditions so color is not super important in fly selection. That spinner profile and the correct size are the factors that are going to draw a fish to the surface. 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.
Not much has changed on the East Branch in the past week. Flows are just under 200 CFS and fishing remains pretty tough judging by the reports we’ve received this week. Hatch is going to be the same as what’s been outlined above, however, we have heard that bug activity on the East is picking up from where it’s been. That said, the river is no different from the West in that it is also very technical and demands long leaders and flawless downstream drifts. Again, expect that fish will be well conditioned to put themselves in places that are hard to reach with a fly. We wouldn’t change too much in terms of approach for the East Branch either. 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.
Outside the trout fishery, water levels remain at ideal ranges for both bass and carp in the Delaware River watershed as well as the neighboring Susquehanna River watershed, however, that could shift with upcoming rain. In any case, bass fishing should increasingly interesting as the fall sets in. Bass, and smallmouth in particular, move a lot at this time of year as they search out every meal they can possibly find, so fishing can actually be kind of inconsistent. The key is to push beyond a couple slows days because you’ll eventually strike gold. Finding a group of feeding smallies in October can easily become one of the best days of your year. In terms of fly selection, you might still get a bass to take a shot at a topwater bug but it’s likely that streamers will be your best bet now.
Please be aware that we will open late at 12pm on Monday, September 28th. Otherwise, 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!
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