The Trip
This was our 7th Annual Fish Camp in the Catskills. Lack of rain was not a problem this year. Actually, too much rain was the problem this year! We got pounded with rain storms after a tough winter with lots of run-off. All the rivers were high and running strong in early spring in the northeast. We were lucky to have things settle down for fish camp, and even though the West Branch flow was over 1,000 CFS most of the week, we were able to wade and fish without too much trouble. We fished the West Branch the entire week with only one day spent down in the Roscoe area on the Beaverkill and the Willowemoc. We had a big crew this year, with Judy coming out for the week, Ralph coming up for a day, and Jimmer, Risty, and Hector all coming up as usual. The weather and the fishing were both challenging, especially during the first part of the week. But we all caught some nice fish and had a great time. Risty caught his biggest brown on a fly rod (his new Scott rod!), and Judy caught one of the prettiest browns of the week. Ralph gets the quote of the week for when I suggested he tie on a different fly to go after a rising fish near him. He said, "What, out here?!" Yes Ralph, we actually do change flies while wading in the river. Since it's where the fish are, we figure it's the best place to be!

The Hatch
We scheduled Fish Camp for about a week later this May due to the terrible weather in the Northeast during winter and early spring. Last year we saw low water conditions up on the West Branch, and in the Catskills in general, but this year, the flows were over the tops of the dams. Things did settle down by early May though, and we saw some incredible hatches. We hit a major part of the Hendrickson hatch for the first time. One afternoon early in the week, we saw thousands and thousands of Hendricksons on the water. It was truly amazing, and the biggest hatch I had ever seen in my life. The weather had just changed though, with a sudden cold snap, so the fish were not doing much early in the week. It was very slow, with some occasional rises to Hendricksons and Blue Quills, and some dark BWOs as well. Risty landed a nice 17-inch brown up above the cabins at the WBA. I hooked (and lost) a few fish there that afternoon as well. There were also some apple green caddis flies hatching (Brackies) each day. We fished streamers and nymphs a lot during the first part of the week. I caught a beautiful 18+ inch brown in front of the cabins on a white Wooly Bugger one afternoon. This fish took me 100 yards downstream in the strong current, before I finally got him in the net. When the weather cleared up and warmed things up a bit, we were able to get some fish on Hendrickson Comparaduns and Compara Cripples, and Red Quill patterns (in sizes 14 and 16). Blue Quills in size 18 were also good flies. And the Brackies brought up a lot of fish. A size 16 delta wing pattern worked well during this caddis hatch. We were successful with Henryville Specials in size 14 and 16 at Gamelands during a nice caddis hatch. We also made it down to the Beaverkill late in the week and hit a nice Hendrickson hatch at Barrel Pool. But the fishing was also tough on the Beaverkill and the Willowemoc. They were doing some fish surveying on the Willow and shocked up a big 22-inch wild brown in a section that Judy and I had just fished through with streamers. We didn't see many rises at all down in the Roscoe area that day. It seemed like we spent a lot of time on the banks at Gamelands, just waiting for the fish to rise. Later in the week, during late afternoon and early evening, things finally heated up and we landed some fish. The last night there, we finally hit a nice spinner fall. I had a really nice fish snap off my fly and missed several others. There are some big fish at Gamelands, and they can be hard to hook and keep hooked. Rusty spinners in sizes 14 to 18 seemed to bring the fish up when the spinners were on the water. We noticed a lot of spinners floating by that were laying on their sides, with both wings stuck together on the same side. When I saw this, I tied on a loop-wing mahogany emerger and got takes immediately. I just couldn't keep those fish hooked though, and lost a real beauty right next to the bank before we quit. Oh well, we'll be back...and probably next month!

> back to the top