Recent rains have helped fill our rivers and streams to a more fishable level; on Sunday afternoon, July 9, the Beaverkill at Cooks Falls was flowing at 237 cubic feet per second. This is above the average median flow of 192 cfs over 109 years of record-keeping. Last Sunday, July 2, was the first time the Beaverkill exceeded the average daily flow in quite some time. On the 4th of July the river raised to more than 600 cfs and has remained above the average flow all week.
However, the warm and humid weather we’ve experienced during the day as well as at night has caused a spike in water temperatures; over the past week, the lower Beaverkill registered in the 70s each afternoon. And due to anticipated higher temperatures during this time of the summer, the DEC has instituted its thermal refuge law on the section of the Beaverkill near Horton. Fishing is prohibited from the Iron Bridge at Horton downstream to the first Route 17 overpass from July 1 through August 31 to protect thermally stressed trout.
Trout fishers would be wise to carry a water thermometer and plan an alternate place to fish during the afternoons when temperatures reach into the 70s. Smaller streams that are well shaded and those in the higher elevations will be a few degrees cooler; adjusting your fishing trips to early mornings or late evenings should be more productive.
Fly hatches this time of year continue to be Blue-Winged olives, Sulphurs and Light Cahills and Isonychias, as well as various caddis flies. Spinner flies are helpul when fishing during the evenings; and when no rises are noted try an attractor pattern, such as a Royal Wulff.