Fly fishing in May- West Branch vs Beaverkill

[Bucksnbows]

4 hours ago, ATbuckhunter said:

I get my ass handed to me every time I fish the WB with Chef and Crappy. I see plenty of huge trout rising, just have a hard time getting a fish on the fly. I've only gotten two all my times up, but one of them was a big 18" brown. I want to explore more Euro nymphing water this year, but I'm always going to make time to fish the WB with Chef and crappy. 

As a lifelong fly (nearly 100%) angler and West Branch fanatic, I tell others that if you learn to catch big browns on dries on that river with any consistency, fishing for trout the world over will be easier. It is that difficult most of the time. If you don’t quickly master the reach mend at the end of your cast, don’t bother. But you can do well nymph fishing if dries aren’t your game. Even the perfect drift (after drift, after drift) won’t mean they will eat. They are wild, live to grow well over 20”, see flies over their heads all day both real and fake,  and see micro drag on your flies as if you were dragging a 2” thick rope over the surface rather than 6X tippet.   They are caught and released dozens of times each in most places and grow wary fast. And the pools are super long and can be like glass, making dry fly fishing even harder. And I love every second, even the occasional skunking. 

[left field]

9 hours ago, Bucksnbows said:

What about the upper East Branch?  

I'm going to say that the UEB is probably the hardest fishing in the area. Flat frog water with very spooky and picky fish. 

7 hours ago, BowmanMike said:

I went years ago with a guide on the esopus,he set me up for euro nymphing/short line nymphing and we caught 50+ fish between us,easily.

I think the Esopus is the easiest big river to fish. Plenty of access and fiesty rainbows.

There are lots of quiet places on the BK. You just have to walk a bit.

 

[crappyice]

5 hours ago, Bucksnbows said:

As a lifelong fly (nearly 100%) angler and West Branch fanatic, I tell others that if you learn to catch big browns on dries on that river with any consistency, fishing for trout the world over will be easier. It is that difficult most of the time. If you don’t quickly master the reach mend at the end of your cast, don’t bother. But you can do well nymph fishing if dries aren’t your game. Even the perfect drift (after drift, after drift) won’t mean they will eat. They are wild, live to grow well over 20”, see flies over their heads all day both real and fake,  and see micro drag on your flies as if you were dragging a 2” thick rope over the surface rather than 6X tippet.   They are caught and released dozens of times each in most places and grow wary fast. And the pools are super long and can be like glass, making dry fly fishing even harder. And I love every second, even the occasional skunking. 

The hardest part about the WB is that there can literally be fish everywhere and the seems are tricky to find. Nothing ever really stands out as being a great hole over every other section.

I need to try the Esopus again

[The_Real_TCIII]

29 minutes ago, crappyice said:

The hardest part about the WB is that there can literally be fish everywhere and the seems are tricky to find. Nothing ever really stands out as being a great hole over every other section.

I need to try the Esopus again

It definitely requires a methodical approach, the water is uniform and the fish can be anywhere. I hate it lol but @Chef put me on my best brown ever there

[Chef]

On 3/3/2024 at 8:45 PM, virgil said:

My cousin is coming in from California for opening week of turkey and wants to do some fishing. Interested in opinions on where to go- Roscoe area vs Deposit area?

Hancock/deposit No comparison 

[Chef]

10 hours ago, crappyice said:

By far the greatest hook-set I ever witnessed occurred on the "not 18"er"

Hahahah I laughed out loud reading this as I pictured him flying backwards into the water 

[Chef]

6 hours ago, Bucksnbows said:

As a lifelong fly (nearly 100%) angler and West Branch fanatic, I tell others that if you learn to catch big browns on dries on that river with any consistency, fishing for trout the world over will be easier. It is that difficult most of the time. If you don’t quickly master the reach mend at the end of your cast, don’t bother. But you can do well nymph fishing if dries aren’t your game. Even the perfect drift (after drift, after drift) won’t mean they will eat. They are wild, live to grow well over 20”, see flies over their heads all day both real and fake,  and see micro drag on your flies as if you were dragging a 2” thick rope over the surface rather than 6X tippet.   They are caught and released dozens of times each in most places and grow wary fast. And the pools are super long and can be like glass, making dry fly fishing even harder. And I love every second, even the occasional skunking. 

I would say the biggest difference fishing dries on the west is that you really need to cast at rising fish from 45degrees upstream. The fish are extremely line shy and if you fish then at the same angle you would from a driftboat the hookups will increase 10fold.

 

BTW if you want a quiet place to fish the west. Send me a PM I'm sure you know the pool I'm thinking of but limited parking and usually quiet besides the neighbor and his dogs 

Edited March 5 by Chef
Missing a word for clarity

[Bucksnbows]

35 minutes ago, Chef said:

I would say the biggest difference fishing dries on the west is that you really need to cast at rising fish 45degrees upstream. The fish are extremely line shy and if you fish then at the same angle you would from a driftboat the hookups will increase 10fold.

 

BTW if you want a quiet place to fish the west. Send me a PM I'm sure you know the pool I'm thinking of but limited parking and usually quiet besides the neighbor and his dogs 

I only fish downstream and across on the WBD. I am an aggressive wader and get above the fish so I am in full control of my presentation, even if the water is deep. Then when you make the cast, end on the upstream reach mend and you have 15-20’ minimum drift. Without the reach mend, you have 0-8’ drift.  
 

Thanks for the invite. I’m blessed to have maybe 30 good friends (and their spare bedrooms and drift boats) on the East and West. Many have homes on the river.  I wish I could fish it every day from the last week in April through June. That would get me through my West Branch addiction. 

[Chef]

2 minutes ago, Bucksnbows said:

I only fish downstream and across on the WBD. I am an aggressive wader and get above the fish so I am in full control of my presentation, even if the water is deep. Then when you make the cast, end on the upstream reach mend and you have 15-20’ minimum drift. Without the reach mend, you have 0-8’ drift.  
 

Thanks for the invite. I’m blessed to have maybe 30 good friends (and their spare bedrooms and drift boats) on the East and West. Many have homes on the river.  I wish I could fish it every day from the last week in April through June. That would get me through my West Branch addiction. 

Sorry yes we are in agreement and I kind of typed it weird I was saying you want to be 45degrees upstream from the fish so basically upstream and across.

 

I see guys casting at rising fish from below the Fish and it drives me insane 

[Bucksnbows]

3 minutes ago, Chef said:

 

I see guys casting at rising fish from below the Fish and it drives me insane 

Typically they are not experienced and will give up on the upper D and go back to stocked waters. It’s humbling to fish all day, see trout rising, and not catch a single one. I’ve brought friends that left mumbling under their breath never to come back. But when they are rising, I’m confident I can hook fish. Flush floating flies are key on that water for the most part. I catch more on rusty spinners than probably all other dries I use to match the hatch. Even during the sulphur hatch. For the handful of days the green drakes are hatching, I’ll toss a coffin fly to mimic their spinners. But a regular rusty in 10-18 produces all day, even during the hatch. 

[Chef]

1 minute ago, Bucksnbows said:

Typically they are not experienced and will give up on the upper D and go back to stocked waters. It’s humbling to fish all day, see trout rising, and not catch a single one. I’ve brought friends that left mumbling under their breath never to come back. But when they are rising, I’m confident I can hook fish. Flush floating flies are key on that water for the most part. I catch more on rusty spinners than probably all other dries I use to match the hatch. Even during the sulphur hatch. For the handful of days the green drakes are hatching, I’ll toss a coffin fly to mimic their spinners. But a regular rusty in 10-18 produces all day, even during the hatch. 

I have probably had the most success on that river fishing coffins and small sulphers.

 

the coffins seem to get strikes right at dusk for weeks after the drake hatch is over... that and I can see them better than anything in the dark. 
 

 

[left field]

12 hours ago, Chef said:

Sorry yes we are in agreement and I kind of typed it weird I was saying you want to be 45degrees upstream from the fish so basically upstream and across.

I see guys casting at rising fish from below the Fish and it drives me insane 

Yes. When you see a rising fish, you get upstream a good distance then cast across and down, and past him but still above. Now raise your rod and pull until your fly is in his lane. Relax the rod, let the fly drift and feed slack line to maintain the drift.

This assumes you have the exact size and colour that they are feeding on. If not, you will see fish eating in front, behind and on each side of your fly. 

[crappyice]

At times I feel like fishing dries on the WB is like shooting into a flock of flying geese. Pick one and stay locked on it! If I throw at every rise I see I never get the drift right the first or 5th time but then I get distracted by another rise within reach. Pick 1 fish and fish it with every size and shape and drift until it's caught or you are mentally incapacitated (usually the later!)

[Longbow]

I fish those streams with big stick baits.  BIG browns with bright orange fillets.  

[Bucksnbows]

11 minutes ago, crappyice said:

At times I feel like fishing dries on the WB is like shooting into a flock of flying geese. Pick one and stay locked on it! If I throw at every rise I see I never get the drift right the first or 5th time but then I get distracted by another rise within reach. Pick 1 fish and fish it with every size and shape and drift until it's caught or you are mentally incapacitated (usually the later!)

True. It gets very frustrating when they are wild rainbows feeding because the bows typically swim slowly, picking off bugs as they do. The browns are far more apt to hold in their feeding lane.  When I miss or sting or break off a big brown, I go back the next day and find that same fish in the same place again if they don’t mess with flows.