Fly and Gear ordering and delivery: We can get flies to you within two to three business days from the time you place your order via Priority Mail. If you provide a budget for flies, we will select them to match the budget and get them to you on time for your trip. Please see the bottom of this column for ordering options.
We also have custom Perfect Fly selections in 3 different price ranges for this stream that come with or without fly boxes. They make excellent gifts. Click Here To Order or Call us at 800 594 4726 or email us at sales@perfectflystore.com.
Great Autumn Brown Sedge, size 10, pupa and adults
Slate Drakes, size 10/12/nymphs and spinners
Type of Stream
Tailwater and Freestone
Species
Brown Trout
Brown Trout
Brook Trout
(Wild Trout with some areas
Stocked with Holdovers)
Size
Large
Location
North Eastern New York
Nearest Towns
Wilmington, New York
Weather:
Season
Year-round
Access:
Fair to Good
Non-Resident License
State of New York
Seasons:
Spring:
The best time to fish the West Branch of the Ausable is from the first week in May to the end of June.
Summer:
Fishing continues to be good during the summer because of the many springs and overhanging branches to shade the water which helps keep the water cool. The most famous hatch of all on the Ausable is the Green Drake hatch. This is followed by good hatches of Sulphurs and Tricos.
Fall:
Streamers are also very effective during the fall season, especially those that imitate sculpin.
Winter:
Although you can fish during the winter, most days are too cold to be very productive; however, It is possible to catch trout especially if your using imitations of midge larvae and pupae.
Recommended Tackle & Gear
Fly Line:
5 or 6 weight
Leaders:
Dry fly: 9 & 12 ft., 5 or 6X, Nymphing:
71/2 ft., 3 or 4X, Streamers 0-2X
Tippets:
Dry fly: 5 or 6X, Nymphing: 3 or 4X,
Streamer 0-2X
Best Fly Rods:
Perfect Fly Superb Five or Ultimate Six
Fly Reels:
For 5/6 fly line
Fly Floatants and Misc Items:
Floatants, KISS Strike Indicators
Tools & Accessories:
Nippers, forceps, retractors, etc.
Fly and Gear ordering and delivery:
Email us at (sales@perfectflystore.com) with the dates you will be fishing and we will send you a list of our fly recommendations. We can get flies and gear to you within two to three business days from the time you place your order via Priority Mail. If you provide a budget for flies, we will select them to match the budget and get them to you on time for your trip. Your can also call us at 800-594-4726 and we will help you decide what flies and gear to use. All orders are shipped free in the U.S. If under a $100 order requiring Priority mail is a charge of only $8.10. Orders over a $100 are shipped free via Priority Mail.
Copyright 2013 James Marsh
West Branch of the Ausable River New York-Fishing Report – November 17, 2024
The stream is still flowing below a normal level and clear. Very good hatches are taking place. We received a good report from a customer fishing this past week.
Stream Conditions:
Rate: 275 ft Height: 1.43 ft.
Afternoon Water Temperature: 55
Clarity: clear
USGS Real-Time Stream Flow Data Near Ausable Forks
Weather Forecast:
Recommended Trout Flies:
Recommended Trout Flies:
Brown Sculpin and White Belly Sculpin and Articulated streamers, size 6/4
Black Matuka and Olive Matuka Sculpin, size 4/6
Blue-winged Olives: size 16, 18 nymph, emergers, duns and spinners
Aquatic Worms, size 12, pink, red, and others
Midges: Cream and Red (Blood) midges sizes 20/22, larva, pupa and adult. Our larva and pupa midge flies, pre-rigged in tandem, are very popular here. You can fish them under a strike indicator keeping the larva fly near the bottom. https://perfectflystore.com/product/pre-rigged-tandem-midge-larva-pupa-tippet
Cinnamon Caddis; 16, pupa and adults
Little Sister Caddis; 18, pupa and adults
Mahogany Duns, size 18, nymphs, emergers, duns and spinners
Great Autumn Brown sedge; 10, pupa and adults
Perfect Flies are designed and tied to to imitate and behave like the natural foods the trout rely on to survive as much as possible. The more your fly looks like and moves through and on the surface of the water like the real things, the higher your odds of success.
The AuSable River consists of three main sections including the East Branch, the West Branch and the Main branch. It’s the West Branch that is known for the large trout. The West Branch of the Ausable River is located in the Northeastern part of New York in the Adirondack Mountains. It’s one of the best trout streams in the entire Eastern United States. There are plenty of anglers that will argue that it’s the best stream in New York but that would also get a quick response from other anglers who would disagree. It has some very nice trout that range from ten to seventeen inches and a few even larger There’s one thing for sure. It’s one of the most beautiful streams in the East. South Meadow Brook and March Brook flow from Mount March and merge to form the West Branch of the Ausable River. It’s joined by several other small streams as it flows through meadows for a distance of about five miles. The water is slow to moderate in this section as it twist and turns through the meadows. Below the bridge at Route 86, the stream changes to a faster flowing river with some pocket water and a more typical pool, run, riffle configuration. The river gains even more strength below Wilmington Notch. There’s a hundred foot high waterfall, appropriately named High Falls, in this section. The river finally settles down some with a series of pools with more moderate flowing water but not for long. Yet another set of high waterfalls, the Flume Falls, exist farther downstream. It’s about a mile below the Flume Falls before the river begins to settle down again but only because it is dammed farther downstream in Wilmington. This section is technically a lake but it’s more like a wide, slow flowing river. Fly fishing the Ausable River in this section is tough due to the deep water. The tailwater below the dam provides some of the best fly fishing waters the West Branch of the Ausable has to offer. It appears more like a freestone stream than a tailwater in some respects. The river falls at a moderately steep decline. Three are large boulders and plenty of prime pocket water. Fly fishing Ausable River in this section isn’t so easy though. There is a section of the river about two miles long that lies below the Lewis Bridge just downstream of Wilmington that cannot be accessed for fishing purposes. Below Black Brook, a small tributary stream, the fishing is usually very good. About seven miles of the river can be fished before the next dam at Ausable Forks. It too has a decent tailwater section about a mile long. Just below the short section of tailwater, the river converges with the East Branch to form the Main Branch of the Ausable River.
Fly Fishing Guide: The water in the West Branch is often tannic acid water the color of tea. It can be difficult to see the bottom, so wading can be dangerous due to holes in the bottom of the stream. A wading staff is recommended to provide additional stability. From a mile above the Rt. 86 bridge at Holcomb Pond Outlet, down to the Wilmington Notch, is a five mile long catch and release section. From this section down past the Wilmington Notch State Campground to the small lake in Wilmington is a section that usually holds some very large trout. It is best fished from a canoe or boat. There is a small catch and release section is this area as well. The next ten miles of tailater below the dam consists of fast pocket water. This section is known for its excellent dry fly fishing. Continuing downstream to Ausable Forks is a section known as “Bush Country” which is more remote but can be accessed from the lower end of Ausable Forks. Some of this section is private property and is posted. Some sections of the Ausable River is top notch dry fly water and some would favor nymph fishing. It all depends on the section you choose to fish. The abundant hatches of mayflies caddisflies and stoneflies support healthy population of trout.
Hatches and Trout Flies for the West Branch Ausable River: Our information on aquatic insects is based on our stream samples of larvae and nymphs, not guess work. We base fly suggestions on imitating the most plentiful and most available insects and other foods at the particular time you are fishing. Unlike the generic fly shop trout flies, we have specific imitations of all the insects in the West Branch Ausable and in all stages of life that are applicable to fishing. If you want to fish better, more realistic trout flies, have a much higher degree of success, give us a call. We not only will help you with selections, you will learn why, after trying Perfect Flies, 92% of the thousands of our customers will use nothing else. 1-800-594-4726.
The flies you need to fish the West Branch of the Ausable River depends on the particular section you plan on fishing. The stocked trout are fairly easy to catch and can be caught on just about any fly for a short time after they are stocked. To catch one of the larger holdover trout, or one of the few wild brown trout there, requires skill and a lot of luck. Streamers fished during very low light conditions sometimes pays off. Other than that, mayfly nymphs and caddisfly larva and pupa imitations fished near the bottom produce most of the wild and holdover brown trout. One thing you should not overlook is the terrestrials. Again, the low light situations provide the best opportunity. Beetles, ants and hoppers all three work at times. Just don’t expect to catch one every few cast. A larger wild brown trout or even a year, or two year old holdover brown trout, should be considered a very good catch. Hendricksons hatch in May and early June followed by March Browns and Light Cahills. If you are fishing during the early spring, you may encounter some good hatches, the most famous of which is the Green Drake. Sulphurs follow and then it is Trico time. The Green Drakes hatch in early June, then Tricos in late July, August and September. Starting in the last week of August until mid October the Slate Drake hatches will be occurring. There are even some Little Brown Stoneflies hatch in the early part of the season. If you do run into a hatch of any aquatic insect, by all means fish it. Be prepared to fish subsurface most of the time. There are plenty of caddisflies and all in all, they provide the best dry fly fishing opportunity. The Cinnamon caddis hatch most of the late spring and summer. There is a decent Little Sister caddisfly hatch. Green Sedges and Short-horned Sedges make up most of the balance of the caddisfly population. Be sure to have plenty of “Rock Worms” (larva stage of the Green Sedge) on hand. They work very well most of the season. If you stick with the caddisflies, midges and nymphs fished deep and you are likely to be successful. Don’t forget about the midge. It usually becomes the most important insect to try to match in colder weather. I would have plenty of them in hook sizes 20 and 22. Terrestrial insects become a choice about the middle of June. Imitations of inch worms, beetles, grass hoppers and ants will catch trout until the first frost appears. We always recommend “Perfect Flies”. They are the most realistic and most effective imitations that are commercially available. You will find our caddisfly imitations work great for this stream. We hope you give them a try.