Reservoir Tailwater · Hudson Highlands Metamorphic · New York, US

East Branch Croton River

East Branch Croton River venue image

The East Branch Croton is one of the most useful non-Catskills trout options for New York metro anglers: small, technical, close enough for a short session, and tied to the complex access/rules reality of the Croton reservoir system.

Poor · Brown Trout
Blue Winged Olive · 18–22
Closed season
Out of season. Try elsewhere.
Closed — confidence not applicable today.
What moved it
  • Level1.03 mLast reading 46 min ago
  • Water temp11.2°C
  • ClarityClear
Today's fly
Blue Winged Olive
Blue Winged Olive18–22
Proven pattern for this period
Conditions on the water
Live gauge
Level
Steady
1.03 m
Last reading 46 min ago
Water temp11.2°C
ClarityClear
Weather13°C
WindN 12 km/h
Pressure1028 hPa
Rain · recent0.0 mm
Rain · ahead0.0 mm

The nearest gauge doesn't record temperatures, so we've estimated it — defer to the river keeper's advice.

Water temperature for Brown Trout
Ideal
11°C est.ideal 10–16°C
0°14°28°
How to fish it · for Brown 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.
Likely species
Mayflies
Chironomids
Gammarids
Hatch timeline · todayPeak at 9pm

Hatch predictions

Today's headline hatch shown — see all 6 active hatches hour by hour as a supporter.

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Sub-surface · on the nymphunder the surface

Hatch predictions

Top nymph shown — see all 4 guilds as a supporter.

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Beyond the hatch · worth watchingambient prey(1)

Hatch predictions

Top prey shown — see all 3 as a supporter.

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Evidence
Records-basedModerate confidence

Based on species-occurrence records, not local invertebrate surveys.

Through the year
0–3 scale · October highlighted
J
F
M
A
M
J
J
A
S
O
N
D
Trout seasonSeason
1
2
2
2
2
2
1
Brown DunHatch
2
3
3
3
3
3
3
2
Quill GordonHatch
2
2
Blue QuillHatch
2
3
2
HendricksonHatch
2
2

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

Ranked for today
Brown Trout fly box
Permits & access
Permit required — see local rules.
  • New York licence required
  • Verify DEC category, access and watershed rules before launch.
What's coming
Plan ahead
5-day outlook
Other water nearby · 5
West Branch Croton River
7.0 km
0
Brown trout · Rainbow trout
Croton Watershed trout streams
12 km
0
Brown trout · Rainbow trout · Brook trout
Fishkill Creek
29 km
0
Brown trout · Rainbow trout
Ramapo River — New York
55 km
0
Brown trout · Rainbow trout · Brook trout
Wappinger Creek
43 km
Brown trout · Rainbow trout · Brook trout
Gallery · 1
  1. Terrain map of the venue
    Terrain map
About this water

The East Branch Croton is one of the most useful non-Catskills trout options for New York metro anglers: small, technical, close enough for a short session, and tied to the complex access/rules reality of the Croton reservoir system. It should be modelled as a legal-access and flow-aware day-trip water rather than a big destination river.

  • Hudson highlands metamorphic
Water quality · US Clean Water Act
  • Aquatic life: Not assessed
What this classification means

EPA ATTAINS assessment unit 'East Branch Croton, Middle, and tribs' (NY1302-0055), 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) · NY1302-0055

The full read · show the working · for Brown Trout · confidence 90%
How the 0 is built — score × weight = contribution
Temperature100 × 28%28.0
Flow80 × 22%17.6
Clarity95 × 18%17.1
Feeding Time70 × 13%9.1
Pressure80 × 7%5.6
Insect activity68 × 12%8.2
Conditions total= 86
Can you trust it?
Water temperatureair-to-water estimateestimated
Level / flowon-river gaugeobserved
Prey activitymodelled from regional profilemodelled
Directions
Apple MapsGoogle Maps
Seasons & zones
  • Trout 1 April → 15 October
Related guides
Euro Nymphingsubsurface methods
Casting instructors near here
Booking & contacts