Beaverkill River · access
Catskill Mountains, New York, United States · United States
- Cooks FallsThe classic lower access, with the deepest holding water on the river.
- Cairns Pool (junction pool)Where the Beaverkill meets the Willowemoc; famous, crowded, and worth one visit.
- Horton / ShinhoppleQuieter meadows water upstream where you can find your own fish.
Licence and rules
Licence and rules. New York requires a fishing licence from 16; a one-day or seven-day nonresident licence is available. The Beaverkill is largely stocked put-and-take water with wild fish in the upper reaches, and there are special regulations on the no-kill stretches near Roscoe. Do not fish when the water temperature is above about 20°C — the catch-and-release mortality in warm water here is high enough to be a real problem.
Season
May and June for dry flies; mid-September to November for streamers and olives
Flow
100–400 cfs; low and warm by mid-July, which shuts the fishing down
The Beaverkill has no dam, so it lives and dies by rain. Spring flows are good; by mid-July the river is often down to 150 cfs and above 22°C in the afternoons, at which point the correct decision is to go and fish the Delaware tailwater instead. A heavy June thunderstorm will bring it up and cool it for two or three days — those are the days to be there.