Posted on May 31 2016
With the Big River, the Big East Branch and the lower Beaverkill all too warm to fish, there just wasn't enough river for the holiday weekend throng to fish. Add to that a week of unseasonably hot weather, the algae problem on the West Branch and bright all day sun and you had the makings for a very poor fishing weekend.
Surprisingly the algae problem improved slightly the second day after the increased release ( beware another increase in release is scheduled for June first) but it made little difference in the fishing, there were just too many boats and fishermen. The fish were either rowed over or cast to non stop and never settled down to feed on the surface. With the algae situation, nymph and streamer fishing were taken out of the equation.
On the upper East Branch there were plenty of bugs and feeding fish but the sheer number of anglers limited most anglers success. Parking areas were jammed and fishermen lined pools less than a cast length apart. The fish responded by looking at every fly with care before eating. They made a few mistakes but not many.
This was probably the peak of the big bug hatch and for most fishermen it was a huge disappointment. We need a substantial amount of rain, a cold front and bigger releases to turn things around.
Surprisingly the algae problem improved slightly the second day after the increased release ( beware another increase in release is scheduled for June first) but it made little difference in the fishing, there were just too many boats and fishermen. The fish were either rowed over or cast to non stop and never settled down to feed on the surface. With the algae situation, nymph and streamer fishing were taken out of the equation.
On the upper East Branch there were plenty of bugs and feeding fish but the sheer number of anglers limited most anglers success. Parking areas were jammed and fishermen lined pools less than a cast length apart. The fish responded by looking at every fly with care before eating. They made a few mistakes but not many.
This was probably the peak of the big bug hatch and for most fishermen it was a huge disappointment. We need a substantial amount of rain, a cold front and bigger releases to turn things around.
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