Roscoe NY is the center
of all this, where the Willowemoc joins the Beaverkill. Half a century later,
two reservoirs were built for New York City’s water supply, creating tailwater trout
streams on the East and West Branches of the Delaware River. Hancock NY is where
these rivers join to form the Main Branch Delaware River. The two towns are about 25 miles apart.
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| Typical pool on the West Branch of the Upper Delaware River |
Calling these waters
trout streams is a misnomer. These are big rivers. The Beaverkill is 75-100
feet across in places; the branches of the Delaware approach 200 feet across in
places. The river characteristics are unlike those of the streams in Michigan
and Montana I am familiar with. Lots of gradient. All cobble and boulders. Long
shallow riffles followed by equally long deep pools. A typical riffle/pool
sequence can stretch for half a mile or more.
The Beaverkill is great
wade water with excellent public access for more than fifteen miles before it
joins the East Branch Delaware. The
two branches of the Upper Delaware have good wade water too, but public access is more
limited and the long distance between the pools favors drift and pontoon boats.
This region is surprisingly
remote. Though only 120 miles from New York City, population is sparse; towns
are small; terrain is rugged; jobs are few. Bluestone quarries and forest
products are the only noticeable economic activity other than the seasonal
employment (fishing, paddling) from the rivers. There are multiple fly shops in
both Hancock and Roscoe (which bills itself as “Trout Town USA”), so anglers are
well catered to.
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| Mark prepares for assault on the West Branch of the Upper Delaware |
A big reason for the
trip was to meet my old outdoor buddy, Mark Kulchock, and catch up on life.
Mark and I fished/hunted/camped in Michigan back in the late 1970s. He now
lives in nearby Poughkeepsie NY. The idea of our trip suited his rekindled
interest in fly fishing. We got to spend a long weekend together, then Mark had
to return to work.
One benefit of my six
hour drive north to the Delaware was rediscovering springtime. Lilacs were in
full bloom, many trees were still budding out, and the birdlife was fantastic.
Otherwise, the weather did us no favors. Cold, even downright chilly weather
shut down the bug hatches for much of the weekend. Then, it abruptly turned around
and soared to the upper 80s in just 24 hours. While we did see some hatches and
rising fish, conditions were a constant roller coaster ride. Low water level in
the two tailwater streams was another complication for the fishing.
There are a lot of trout
in these rivers. When bugs were hatching, it was astonishing to see so many
rising fish. When they weren’t, though, lockjaw set in. We had virtually no
luck with nymphs. Over the course of my week of fishing, I had much better
success on the Beaverkill. I think the Delaware’s fishing really suffered from
the low water levels; it remains a very intriguing river for me.
The fishing pressure was
not as bad as I had expected (it being prime season and so close to major East
Coast metropolitan areas). Saturday was crowded, the other days less so. Still,
fishing pressure is constant, the kind that makes for selective trout. Add in
the long, smooth water in the big pools where the fish get a good look at a fly,
and it’s clear why these rivers are known to be difficult fishing.
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| Early Evening at Barrel Pool, Beaverkill River |
First success came
Friday evening at an access point called the Barrel Pool on the Beaverkill.
Consistent risers provided good targets. Then, it became a matter of finding
the right fly and making a good enough cast to cover the distance and solve the
current breaks. I caught two nice brown trout at dusk, using a Hendrickson
emerger and a Dark Quill dun.
Other than a couple
small trout and a few misses, we were shut out for the weekend. We witnessed an
amazing amount of trout one morning on the West Branch apparently feeding on
some diminutive spent caddis that was impossible to match. Worm dunkers at
another access point on the West Branch caught several nice trout one
afternoon. I hooked and briefly fought a huge trout that hit a nymph; it
somersaulted out of the water before I felt the strike.
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| Good brown trout on a Dark Quill dry, Beaverkill River |
My two best successes of
the trip came from doing what I was told. While anglers are notorious for
spinning yarns, I have also found it true just how much good information
anglers share when you take the time to strike up a conversation.
One such episode began
Monday evening. The spot I wanted to go was pretty busy, so I chose a new
access spot. It was an absolutely gorgeous stretch of water...had it all to
myself...but no bugs hatching and no feeding fish. The disappointing evening
included a long drawn out conversation streamside with an angler who has fished
these rivers for three decades.
Tuesday morning was more
of the same...no bugs, no rising fish, anglers where I wanted to be. Tried a
couple new places without success...tripped over a rock midstream and fell in,
got my camera soaked.
With things going
against me, I decided to at least get something in return for the conversation
with the guy who talked my ear off the evening before. Go where he told me to go, I
decided. He had given me a very specific set of instructions for fishing mid-afternoon
at Horse Brook Run on the Beaverkill.
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| This Beaverkill pool yielded no fish...but great advice for next day |
It turned into what is
one of the best three hours of dry fly fishing I've ever had.
Horse Brook Run
is a stretch of fast, boulder water above Cairn's Pool. It's very tough
wading with strong current and uneven bottom. But, I'm pretty good at that
using my wading staff from experience out West. It's all knee to crotch deep
water, wide and about two hundred yards long. The guy told me to be there about
3PM, where to cross, and to throw a March Brown dry fly into all the pockets.
I wound up catching 4
large brown trout, all as large as or larger than that one I caught Friday evening. Three
more big browns rose to the fly but turned away, one was huge. And, two
nice brookies too. It was a spectacular piece of fishing. Right place, right
time, right fly...what Jim Zyla calls 'when all the stars align.'
The other success came down
on the Delaware mainstream at Kellams Bridge where I camped my last night.
After setting up my tent, I went down to the river to see if I could figure
something out for the evening. There was one lone angler in a boat
anchored out in the middle of a gigantic bend pool just below the campground.
About 8PM, he gave up and rowed back to the boat launch.
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| Kellams Bridge, one-lane connection between PA & NY |
We struck up a
conversation as he passed. He said I should be fishing from the designated fishing
access point over the bridge on the other side of the river..."it’s a world
class pool", he said.
I decided I better
follow his advice...what the heck, it sure paid off the last time I took an
angler's tip.
It was deep dusk by the
time I drove across the one-lane suspension bridge and walked down to the pool.
Sure enough, I heard fish feeding actively. Night-time fishing is not my cup of
tea, but this was my last chance of the trip to fish so I waded out and started
to cast to the sounds of rising fish.
Little more than ten
minutes of this, and I got a fantastic strike. A big thrash as the fish broke
the surface, and the reel drag sang. After a very nice fight, I landed a
big chunky rainbow of about 16-17". That's the best rainbow on a dry fly I've
taken in quite a while. It was a great way to end the trip.
If you’d like to read a
little more about this trout fishing, here are a few good websites:
West Branch Angler,
Hancock: www.westbranchresort.com
Beaverkill Angler,
Roscoe: www.beaverkillangler.com
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