09/04/2026
The Catskill Fly Fishing Report
August 14, 2026
Beaverkill River, Willowemoc Creek, and the Delaware River System
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Wednesday 9am to 5pm
Thursday 9am to 5pm
Friday 9am to 5pm
Saturday 9am to 5pm
Sunday 9am to 5pm
First off, we want to let you know that we are offering an in-store Labor Day weekend sale including 25% off all sun shirts and sun hoodies and 20% off all fly lines and reels (Friday through Sunday, in-store only)!
Today will be a high of 73 degrees and sunny throughout most of the day with cloudy conditions arriving in the evening. Saturday and Sunday look like they’ll bring a slight chance of rain with mixed sunny and cloudy conditions overhead throughout the day. Temperatures will remain relatively cool in the 70s, however, do be aware that humidity will be relatively high.
Recent precipitation in the watershed has significantly spiked flows on the Beaverkill and Willowemoc. As this is being written, the Beaverkill is running at a virtually unfishable flow of over 2300 CFS and the much smaller Willowemoc is not faring much better at over 230 CFS. For the time being, we advise that you stay off these streams given how hazardous conditions are. Hopefully the system won’t get much rain in the coming days which will allow it to drain. Both the Beaverkill and the Willow tend to come down pretty fast, ideally things will look more fishable by the end of weekend or beginning of next week, but make sure to keep a close eye on the gauges. If there is a silver lining, all this water has done a lot to keep water temperatures cool. While it may be annoying to deal with these high flows—especially on a holiday weekend—it’s likely that we’ll be glad for all the cool water as fall approaches.
When the freestones do come back down, expect that hatch will be pretty limited. If you’re fishing under cloudy skies, you can likely expect some small BWOs ( #20-22) to come off and you might see some tricos here and there but by all indications, your luck fishing the surface will certainly be tested even in a best case scenario. When flows do even out, your best bet will be nymphing patterns. A dry dropper is still a good approach, but you also can’t go wrong with a light indicator or contact nymphing rig. In any case, you’ll generally want to go pretty small with your presentations, think sizes 16-20.
That said, there will likely be a solid streamer window as this high water comes back down, so keep a close eye on the gauges headed into next week. The back end of high water events like this can present killer opportunities to get eats on larger patterns both stripped and swung, so don’t be afraid to get out there and chuck some meat around. As long as the water is stained and on the high side, there’s theoretically no reason not to throw a big, bright bug, but as the water recedes and clears out, you’ll likely want to get smaller and more natural with your imitations.
The West Branch of the Delaware is fishable for wading above Stilesville as this report is being written with a flow of just over 480 CFS, however, you should keep a close eye on what the gauges are doing. Further down, the West Branch is not so suitable for wade fishing with a flow of over 1500 CFS at Hale Eddy. At this level we advise that wade anglers avoid the lower areas for the time being. Fishing from a boat will likely be productive, however, it is the end of summer and reports have indicated some pretty tricky, technical fishing on the West. When flows do come back down or if you have access to a drift rig, you’ll want to go with small BWO and trico imitations ( #20-24) and long, light leaders if you’re plying the surface. For those fishing nymph rigs, keep things light and long. If you’re fishing an indicator, keep in mind that ball-style indicators smack down on the surface with some authority; consider using a yarn indicator like the New Zealand indicator system which lands relatively silently, can easily be mistaken for drift material, and is well suited to the small flies that will be necessary on the West Branch at this time.
Unsurprisingly, the East Branch is also running high at almost 460 CFS in Harvard as this is being written, however, is certainly more approachable than just about anything else. If you do head out that way, getting higher up on the system will likely be a good idea, however, do be aware of private property in the area. Reports for the East Branch indicate pretty limited activity from both bugs and fish. A good amount of people coming through the shop talking about only seeing a few heads here and there and not much else beyond that. That said, the East Branch is obviously more temperature stable than Beaverkill or Willow and isn’t too far down the road, so it can’t hurt to at least take a peek should you find yourself in that area.
Switching gears away from trout, we continue to encourage you to seek out warm water opportunities, especially with all the rivers being blown out at the moment. While a lot of the great warm water patterns in the area are riverine, we highly encourage you to check out local pieces of still water like lakes and ponds, places that many fly anglers often overlook. What you’ll find in a lot of such fisheries is that many fish haven’t seen many fly patterns and will take readily where they might not on more common conventional gear. Bass, pickerel, carp etc. are all fine targets that put up a sturdy fight on a fly stick. For the former two, you’ll want to seek out pieces of stable structure—laydown logs, rocks, grass lines, lily pads, etc.—with streamers, especially during daytime hours when such targets tend to retreat into the shade of cover. That said, we highly recommend giving a pond or lake a shot during low light when topwater opportunities can be plentiful. In any case, these patterns do require some different gear and know-how separate from trout fishing, so do not hesitate to reach out with questions.
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!