Esopus Creek

The feeder streams are small-stream destinations in their own right, fished under the upstream 'Wild' statewide regulations with a short 2-4 wt. Stony Clove is worth naming for two reasons: it holds wild trout, and it's the single largest source of the sediment that clouds the lower Esopus after rain — when the mainstem is dirty but flows look fine, Stony Clove is usually the culprit. Woodland Valley and Broadstreet Hollow run cold and clear. Ungauged — read them off the mainstem gauges and by eye.

Best for: Native brook trout and small wild rainbow trout on small dries, beetles, and short-line nymphs in tight, brushy quarters.

Medium pocket water with riffles, picking up Birch, Bushnellsville, Fox Hollow, and Peck Hollow creeks over about five miles. This reach sits above the Shandaken Portal, so it's still true freestone — no tunnel cooling — which means it warms in summer and fishes best in spring and after rain. Route 28 pullouts tap a mix of Forest Preserve, DEP, and Public Fishing Rights land.

Best for: Wild rainbow trout on nymphs and dry-dropper rigs through the pockets, plus brook trout up toward the tributaries.

The de-facto tailwater and the reason to fish the Esopus. Below the Shandaken Tunnel outlet the creek runs cold and often clouded — pocket water with riffles and runs widening downstream from Allaben through Mount Pleasant to the Stony Clove confluence at Phoenicia. This is the reach that fishes when the rest of the Catskills is blown out or too warm, and the one most affected by Portal on/off cycles and turbidity. The USGS Allaben gauge (01362200) sits just below the Portal and reflects the tunnel-boosted flow.

Best for: Wild rainbow trout all summer thanks to the cold releases — nymphing stoneflies, swinging a wet Isonychia, and streamers around rock drop-offs and undercut banks.

The headwaters — small, steep pocket water falling fast off the shoulder of Slide Mountain, roughly eight miles of narrow mountain stream along the Route 47 / Oliverea corridor. Access is limited to NYSDEC Forest Preserve land. This is the only reach managed as 'Wild,' where native brook trout and small wild rainbows hold under statewide regulations rather than the special-reg season.

Best for: Native brook trout and small wild rainbow trout on short-line nymphing and small dries — a 2-4 wt, 6-8 ft rod is ideal in the tight quarters.

The big water — the creek widens to a hundred feet with large pools, long runs, and deep pockets over about eight miles down to the reservoir at Boiceville, the most trophy-capable holding water on the river. Stony Clove Creek (the single largest source of the turbidity that dirties the lower creek after storms), Woodland Valley Creek, and Broadstreet Hollow all enter here. The USGS Coldbrook gauge (01362500) just above the reservoir is the mainstem headline. A 5-6 wt earns its keep in this bigger water.

Best for: Larger wild rainbow trout and the river's best shot at a 15"+ brown trout — nymphing deep, streamers through the pools, and dries to pool-tail risers, with the fall pre-spawn brown fishing at its best here.