Freestone · Sandstone Shale · New York

Esopus Creek

Esopus Creek flowing over a rocky streambed with forested mountains in the background, Catskills, New York.

The Catskills' rainbow river — a tumbling freestone famous for hard-fighting wild 'bows, with a hydrology quirk all its own: the Shandaken Portal pipes water through the mountain from the Schoharie watershed and can colour the upper river up with no rain in the sky at all.

Prime · Rainbow Trout
Slate Drake · 10-14
Primelive now
About as good as it gets
River high but settled. Coloured water — fish bigger and deeper, confident takes down the seams.
90% confidence
What moved it
  • Level1.25 mLast reading 5h ago
  • Water temp17.3°C
  • ClarityClearPortal can colour it without rain
Today's fly
SD
Slate Drake10-14
Proven pattern for this period
Conditions on the water
Live gauge
Level
Steady
1.25 m
Last reading 5h ago
Water temp17.3°C
ClarityClear
Weather24°C
WindSW 23 km/h
Pressure1006 hPa
Rain · recent4.2 mm
Rain · ahead0.2 mm

Live readings only. Trends shown where the gauge supports them.

Water temperature for Rainbow Trout
Ideal
17.3°Cideal 10–18°C
0°14°28°
How to fish it · for Rainbow Trout
When
Nymphing can work through most of the day.
Where
Cover mixed depths.
Method
Start with tight-line nymphs and adjust if fish rise or drift higher.
Kit
9 ft #4 rod, floating line, 12 ft tapered leader to 4–5 lb fluoro tippet.
Why this works
Excellent — water temperature is right today, though time of day could be better.
Hatch timeline · todayPeak at 6am

Hatch predictions

Today's headline hatch shown — see all 6 active hatches hour by hour with Pro.

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Sub-surface · on the nymphunder the surface

Hatch predictions

Top nymph shown — see all 2 guilds with Pro.

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Beyond the hatch · worth watchingambient prey

Hatch predictions

Top prey shown — see all 2 with Pro.

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Evidence
ModelledModerate confidence

Modelled from regional ecology — no survey or occurrence data for this water yet.

Through the year
0–3 scale · July highlighted
J
F
M
A
M
J
J
A
S
O
N
D
Trout seasonSeason
1
2
2
2
2
2
2
2
1
Quill GordonHatch
2
2
Blue QuillHatch
2
3
2
HendricksonHatch
2
2
Eastern March BrownHatch
2
2

Numbers are intensity 0 (none) to 3 (peak) — a guide, not a guarantee.

Ranked for today
Rainbow Trout fly box
Local fly shops: Dette Flies·Beaverkill Angler
Permits & access
Permit required — see local rules.
  • General season plus artificial-only extension
  • Verify NY DEC.
What's coming
Plan ahead
5-day outlook
Other water nearby · 4
Neversink River
31 km
Brown trout · Rainbow trout · Brook trout
Willowemoc Creek
47 km
Brown trout · Rainbow trout
Beaverkill
53 km
31
Brown trout · Rainbow trout
Wappinger Creek
55 km
Brown trout · Rainbow trout · Brook trout
Gallery · 2
  1. Esopus Creek flowing over a rocky streambed with forested mountains in the background, Catskills, New York.
    Esopus Creek
  2. Terrain map of the venue
    Terrain map
About this water

The Catskills' rainbow river — a tumbling freestone famous for hard-fighting wild 'bows, with a hydrology quirk all its own: the Shandaken Portal pipes water through the mountain from the Schoharie watershed and can colour the upper river up with no rain in the sky at all. Read the portal, not just the weather, when you judge the water here.

  • Sandstone shale
Water quality · US Clean Water Act
  • Aquatic life: Not assessed
What this classification means

EPA ATTAINS assessment unit 'Esopus Creek, Upper, and minor tribs' (NY1307-0007), 2022 Integrated Report. Aquatic Life use: Insufficient Information. This is a Clean Water Act assessment-unit classification (the US analogue of WFD), not a live reading.

Status is for the Clean Water Act assessment unit covering this reach.

EPA ATTAINS (Clean Water Act) · NY1307-0007

The full read · show the working · for Rainbow Trout · confidence 90%
How the 82 is built — score × weight = contribution
Temperature100 × 28%28.0
Flow80 × 22%17.6
Clarity85 × 18%15.3
Feeding Time60 × 13%7.8
Pressure75 × 7%5.3
Insect activity65 × 12%7.8
Conditions total= 82
Can you trust it?
Water temperaturelive gauge readinggauge
Level / flowon-river gaugeobserved
Prey activitymodelled from regional profilemodelled
What would change the calculation
The dawn and dusk windows score higher than the midday lull.
Directions
Apple MapsGoogle Maps
Seasons & zones
  • Trout1 April → 31 December
Related guides
Euro Nymphingsubsurface methods
Booking & contacts