Posted on July 23 2021
With the EB and WB still unwadeable, I decided to try a little exploring on the Willowemoc. Drove over the bridge at "The Secret Spot " (only four cars in the lot), turned left and drove upstream just past the Creekside Cabins where I encountered a brand spanking new "Fishermen Park Here" sign together with Special Regulations advising me that I couldn't keep any fish in a 3.5 mile stretch of the Willowemoc. Walked upstream two or three hundred yards before coming to a big beautiful pool and run which I fished for over an hour without having a single fish come to my fly.
Someone please give me some help. I didn't even know there was a special regs area on the Willow. The water at current levels looked great but is it any good? Are there any wild trout there? Is it stocked? Is it worth going back to?
Returned to the car and drove over to the Museum, pulled into the empty parking lot and read the sign, Hours 10:00 to 4:00. It was 4:09 on the car clock. Headed for my double date with trout and isos on the BK and they both showed up. From 4:30 until 6:00 there were isos hatching and fish chasing the nymphs, all over the pool. I was first on the scene but was quickly joined by three other anglers. Everyone had fish to throw at but if a fish didn't eat your (at least my) first cast, you were just wasting time trying to fool him.
The fish on the BK have seen lots of isos, both real ones and ones with hooks in them and they basically won't eat a dun. Had fish to throw at the whole time, lots of refusals and ignores but enough ate to make it both a fun and productive day.
The BK is one of the best iso streams I know. If you go, it's a late afternoon hatch, look for the waxwings eating the ones the trout missed. If the waxwings are out over the water, you don't need to know more, suit up and have at 'em.
see you soon.
Kevin
Don’t spend your time on the Willow, small fish = all the large fish swim down stream to the BK
How your post made me smile! That spot, which now has a new sign, was the very first place my wife and I fished together in the Catskills. The Beaverkill’s little sister is such a sweet stream.
Editorial correction—-I meant to say “it has NOT fished well for me this year’”. I need to fire my proofreader.
The Willowemoc is one of my favorite trout streams . It holds an excellent population of holdover and stocked fish—not sure about wild fish.(never really look for a clipped fin ). It has all the same hatches as the Beaverkill. As mentioned in an earlier post.,it has fished well for me this year. Hopefully just an off year for me or the river. The Willow has been “no kill “ from Deckertown down to Buckeddy for as long as I can remember,probably just a few years after the first “no kill” was created on the Beaverkill. Don’t give up on the Willow ,it can fish very well