Things to do / Travel Guide
The thousands of miles of streams, ponds, and lakes in the Catskills and the Hudson Valley region offer some of the best fishing on the East Coast. You'll find plenty of trout, as well as some smallmouth and largemouth bass, walleye, and several other species biting at the bait. While planning a fishing trip in the region, take into consideration that trout, particularly brown-trout, is the most abundant fish in the Catskills and Hudson Valley. Your best chance for catching trout is from the beginning of April until the end of September. The season for smallmouth and largemouth bass begins at the end of June and ends in late November. Walleye, northern pike and pickerel are in season from the beginning of May until mid-March, and panfish, yellow perch, bullhead, and crappie can all be caught year-round.
Worth pointing out is that wooden signs with yellow lettering denote parking areas. The bright yellow and green signs denote public fishing areas. A good amount of the property in the Catskills is privately owned, so if the area in which you plan to fish is not zoned for public fishing, you should ask the landowners for permission and be sure to thank them afterwards. Landowners generally allow fishing.
You don't need a license to fish the streams and rivers, but if your heart is set on fishing at any of the region's reservoirs, you must get a free license from the New York State Department of Environmental Protection (DEC) offices. New York's DEC also plays another important role in fishing in the Catskills. Each year the DEC fish hatcheries stock young fish in the region's waters, particularly in larger streams. This is done to boost recreational fishing and also to return certain native species to water they formerly inhabited. In some of the reservoirs there's a three-fish limit.
The type of fish you catch will also depend on the type of water you're casting a line in. Cold-water lakes, rivers, and streams hold mostly trout (since trout prefer cold water), and can be found in the State Forest Preserve or State Reforestation areas. The deeper lakes yield pickerel, panfish, brown-trout, and rainbow trout. Warmer waters tend to contain largemouth or smallmouth bass, chain pickerel, panfish, yellow perch, bullheads, and crappie.
Hudson Valley Fishing
Many anglers take advantage of the plentiful waters of the Hudson River and its tributaries, but only north of Newburgh. The catches are usually largemouth and smallmouth bass, striped bass, and shad. Bass season runs from the end of June till the end of November, though be aware that the shad season is only three months a year: from April to June. Less common, but still reeled in, are pickerel, northern pike, tiger muskies, and walleye.
If you want to catch the two species of black bass, stay at the lower portions of the Hudson River's tributaries. The other prime catch on the tributaries is trout. In lower altitudes rainbow trout give way to brown trout. These fish most often visit the following tributaries:
- Fishkill Creek, which empties near Beacon
- Sawkill Creek, located opposite Kingston on the other side of the Hudson River
- Wappinger Creek, which empties just south of Poughkeepsie
- The slow-going Henrys Fork of the Snake River (where fly fishing is popular)
- Roeliff Jansen Kill, opposite Saugerties on the eastern side of the Hudson River, is also known for whitewater kayaking.
The lakes and ponds in the Hudson Valley are also good to cast a line into. The best this area has to offer are in Harriman State Park, where you can drive on the aptly-named Seven Lakes Parkway and stop by any of the shores for a few hours of peaceful fishing. Trout season is from April till the end of the summer.
Fishing in the Catskills
Centuries ago, Native Americans and settlers used the Catskills' streams as a means of travel, so many have small roads parallel to them, which allow for easy access to fabulous fishing spots. There are of course many streams and brooks in the Catskills, but these are the most talked-about and agreed-upon best in which to cast your line:
- Rondout Creek and Esopus Creek, both emptying near Kingston - Esopus Creek, with its cascading waters, is one of the most scenic and popular streams for its abundance of trout. It starts near Panther Mountain along County Route 47 and turns east to State Road 28 into Shandaken. Before it empties into the Hudson it enters and exits Ashokan Reservoir, the largest reservoir in the region.
- The Beaverkill, at the Beaverkill Covered Bridge Campsite, several miles north of Livingston Manor on Beaverkill Road. The stream runs through the campsite, and there are stocked and wild browns and native brookies.
- Catskill Creek, emptying into the Hudson River at Saugerties - The stream runs parallel to State Road 145 in North Country and then along State Road 23. Here you'll find brown, rainbow, and brook trout.
- Schoharie Creek - This is a particularly famous fishing stream in the Catskills that starts north of Middleburgh and runs through Schoharie Valley.
Finally, all you fly fishers must know that dry-fly fishing was born along the east and west branches of the Neversink River. These waters support brook, rainbow, and brown trout, and are good all the way down to Port Jervis near the Pennsylvania and New Jersey border.
In the Catskills' reservoirs, such as Pepacton Reservoir, you can find brown trout, smallmouth bass, brown bullhead, rock bass, yellow perch, white sucker, and alewife. In addition, Neversink Reservoir and Ashokan Reservoir are becoming well-known for their trout fishing.
Another great place to fish in the Catskills, are the North-South Lakes. The site of these lakes and the campgrounds near where the Catskill Mountain House used to be. You'll catch brown bullhead, chain pickerel, black crappie, pumpkinseed, and largemouth bass. After fishing, head up to the Mountain House site and be awed by the view of the escarpment.
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