Where to wet your line?

Where are people wetting a line this weekend? Each week I would like to try to find a few rivers in the Northeast that either give people a thumbs up or thumbs down on where to fish. Check these two out for size, but personally I would fish the Beaverkill of the two.

Beaverkill River, NY
I spoke with Wayne Aldridge from River of Life Outdoor Adventures out in Deposit, NY about the Beaverkill River recently and he said it has typical winter time conditions but recent snow melt bumped flows to 1300ish cfs. Flows are slowly making their way down and are around 800 cfs at the moment. Aldridge said that flows for this time of year are ideally at 300 cfs, however take what you can get. As for flies, tie on some small pheasant tails, midges, or even an egg pattern. Tandem’s might be beneficial with a bigger stone up front while trailing something smaller. With the high flows and water temps in the mid to upper 30 degree temperatures, fish might move on an enticing streamer.

If you have interest in fishing the Beaverkill or another river in NY, get a hold of Aldridge and his crew at www.river-of-life.com or give him a ring at 607-467-4215.

Housatonic, CT
The word is...fish another day. Recent snowmelt flash-flooded the river from about 400-2400 cfs. This river can be tough to fish this time of year because there can be an ice dam build-up of about 15-20
feet of ice before you get to the fishable area. That 15-20 feet can be pretty risky because if you hit a soft spot, you best hope you have your floaties on. If you are feeling risky, Marty Iannone, from Housatonic Meadows Fly Shop, suggested egg patterns, stone flies, and small midges/scuds. If you want to fish something flashy for this time of year try out a prince nymph or a zug bug, but they are not
necessary. Temperatures of the river are about 33 degrees.

During this time of year, this river can offer a great hatch of Iceberg Midges as long as you fish it during the warmest part of the day. If you plan on doing so, try the "Covered Bridge Pool."

To get into some serious fish on the Housatonic, Marty suggested getting in contact with him in early March at http://www.flyfishct.com/ or call him at (860) 672-6064.

There you have it. Maybe it would be better to stay in and tie flies this weekend.
-The Fly Fiend