At this writing, Sunday afternoon, March 29, we have much to look forward to this week! Our rivers and streams are in excellent shape for Wednesday morning’s official Opening of the (regular) Trout Fishing Season. A walk along the river with our beagle Millie this weekend showed the rock along the left bank we used to gauge the water level was fully exposed, and a check with the USGS webpage confirmed that the Willowemoc was flowing at 169 cubic feet per second, which is below the median average level of 241 cfs over 40 years of record-keeping. The Beaverkill at Cooks Falls showed a similar lower reading, recorded at 735 cubic feet, as compared to the median level of 1000 cfs based on 112 years of record-keeping. Note that the website provides both “Mean” and “Median” water levels; however in this column “Median” is used more often. The Mean, or average, and Median, or middle value, offer different perspectives on water flow; but the Median typically provides a better representation of "normal" conditions. Because river flow data has many low-flow days and infrequent, extreme flood events, the Mean, or average, is often higher than the Median, or middle value. For example, a single large flood (such as 30,000 cfs) can disproportionately raise the Mean value, even if the river is at 200- 300 cfs for most of the year. The Median value is the 50th percentile, or halfway point, which shows the value at which 50%, or half, of the recorded readings are higher than, and 50%, or half, are lower than that value. It is not influenced by extreme high or low water events, making it a much better approximation of "normal" or "typical" flow. Median values are best used for recreational planning, such as canoeing or fishing, to determine what a "typical" day looks like.
Water temperatures, those important numbers for fly-fishers anxiously looking for a possible hatch of insects, were inching up toward 42 degrees in both streams; on last Thursday afternoon, both the Willowemoc and Beaverkill reached 46 degrees, thanks to that lovely 71-degree afternoon. And our go-to water temperature for early hatches to begin is generally 50 degree Fahrenheit, which is not too far away.
Despite the bone-chilling winter we’ve just come through, with frigid temperatures and abundant snowfall that came early and stayed late, there were few if any instances of difficult ice-outs or flooding to disrupt our Catskill waters, with little disturbance of the stream bottoms that often happens when the ice leaves the river. As our rivers and streams are lower than the historical average for this time of year, without the snowy and icy conditions of the stream banks that usually occurs in a more typical season’s opener, they should provide fairly good conditions for those beginning-season anglers eager to head out this coming Wednesday morning. However, the forecast is for rain pretty much every day this week, which will add more water to the system and could result in muddy or turbid conditions as the week progresses. As always in the beginning of the season or your first time out, take care when heading into the stream, even in places you are used to fishing, as the stream bottom could have changed over the winter, with added obstacles or ‘holes’ in the streambed you’re not expecting that are difficult to see in turbid water. A wading staff or even a strong branch or stick is a good idea to use when wading during the start out the season for these reasons.
Stocking of our Catskill streams will occur on schedule; the DEC plans to stock larger (9-10-inch yearlings and 12-15-inch older) brown trout in Sullivan County streams, beginning the first week of April on the Mongaup River in Bethel; the second week of April in the North Branch Callicoon, East Branch Callicoon and Callicoon Creek in the towns of Callicoon and Delaware; and in the Neversink, Towns of Thompson and Fallsburg; the third week of April in the Willowemoc and Beaverkill, Town of Rockland, the Willowemoc in the Town of Neversink; the Little Beaverkill, Town of Liberty; Halfway Brook, Town of Highland. Mongaup Falls Reservoir, Town of Lumberland, will receive 8-inch trout the third week of April; and Loch Sheldrake, Town of Fallsburg, will receive 8-inch brown trout in the month of April, as will the Neversink Reservoir, Town of Neversink. Successive stockings will occur during the end of April and into May and June. For more information, please visit the website https://dec.ny.gov/things-to-do/freshwater-fishing/stocking/spring-trout-stocking/sullivan-county
As always, don’t forget your fishing license - which can be purchased at license issuing agents, such as many sports shops in our county, your local Agway/Home and Garden store, Town Clerk offices, or online at https://dec.ny.gov/regulatory/permits-licenses/sporting-and-use/sporting/decals