We woke up to a covering and it continued on until midday leaving us with about 3” Most of the snow should melt by tomorrow. Rain expected this coming this week. The reservoirs are spilling and the rivers are high and cold.
Keep an eye on the flows page.
Tomorrow is April 1st opening day of trout season (for every year until now). Currently its 5pm in East Branch NY, and 65 with storms coming in.
The guides have all been busy up and down the rivers opening up their camps the past week or so. It’s that time of year to see what the mice got into over winter. Luckily with last years fall flood this year was mouseless for our camps.
The rivers will see a big push of water through opening day. If the chain of thunderstorms headed from the southwest come east enough we might be washed out. There is a slight chance however they wont touch us.
Keep an eye on the water levels. As of right now the Willowemoc and the Beaverkill are perfect to wade. This can change fast so take caution. It all depends on this system coming in right now.
Here’s some new fly fisherwomen and men from a recent learn to fish at Antrim Streamside on the Willowemoc. We have left the Delaware alone for the fish to rest for the season.
This past week six of us skipped town for two days of fishing the White River in Arkansas. With cabin fever setting in we booked this trip to get outside and see some country and possible stick a giant brown. Although we missed our opportunities at some of the legends of the white we had a great time together. We got two decent browns and stuck some bows and cut throat trout on bobbers. Throwing the big sinking lines can strain on you. The whole time we were there we all secretly were wishing we were in the Catskills! A little over a month now until Hendricksons!!!
As of right now the Upper Delaware Rivers with the Beaverkill and Willowemoc are all low. The flow charts show every river below average. The reservoir system is about 5% lower than the yearly average on this date. The total reservoir system for NYC drinking water is 84% full. That’s shy of the 89% average historically speaking.
The Upper Delaware rivers will get about an inch of rain this week which should pump a lot of the rivers bank full. The precipitation will also help fill up the reservoirs some. We need a good big snow before the spring comes. The snow pack is anywhere from 0” to 10” depending where you might be in the hills. Some higher altitude north facing mountains have the volume of the snow pack.
Be careful this weekend if you are headed to the river. There will be big ice chunks floating down the river during this thaw. The more downstream you get in rivers the higher possibility you will see ice.
To see up to date flow charts click here.
