Battenkill River Fishing Report
River conditions, guide insight, and what to fish now
Weekly Fishing Outlook by Andrew Walker
Updated Friday April 17,8:30am
The hendrickson hatch is on. I caught a number of hendrickson duns on the Battenkill yesterday, April 16, and with water temperatures sitting in that productive hatch zone, the next couple of days should offer a real shot at seeing good bug activity in the early to mid afternoon. Arlington is forecasted to stay relatively mild through Saturday before a colder turn arrives Sunday into Monday, so the near-term window looks like the better bet before things cool off early next week.
This is the kind of moment in the season where it pays to pay close attention. There is food in the water right now, with hendricksons leading the conversation and blue-winged olives, midges, and the occasional caddis still in the mix. Fish should be getting more active, but do not be surprised if you see bugs on the water without a lot of heads popping up. The trout are there, they just may not be fully committed to looking up yet.
My approach right now would be to focus on the early to mid afternoon window and fish subsurface first with nymphs and emergers, especially in good seams, softer current edges, and moderate holding water. Even with the hatch underway, that is still likely to be the most consistent overall approach unless you are clearly seeing fish rise. If you do come across rising fish, be ready to switch over to a dry fly presentation. The next couple of days look especially promising, while next week’s cold snap could slow things down a bit before conditions begin to stabilize again later in the week.
The Hatch
Hendricksons are the story right now.
With water temperatures in the right range and solid afternoon conditions in place through the next couple of days, this is a good time to be watching for early to mid afternoon hatch activity.
What to watch for:
Hendricksons
Blue quills
Blue-winged olives
Little yellow stoneflies
The occasional caddis
Do not assume that bugs on the water will automatically mean steady surface feeding. You may see a good number of duns and still find that fish are feeding just under the surface on emergers, nymphs, or drifting insects that have not fully made it off the water. Stay observant, fish the likely water carefully, and be ready to adjust if you start seeing noses.
The Fly Box
The Fly Box
Right now I would build the box around hendricksons first, with enough subsurface options to cover fish that are feeding below the film, plus a few backup patterns for the other bugs still around.
Nymphs
Stonefly nymphs, size 8 to 12
Pheasant Tails, size 14 to 18
Hare’s Ears, size 14 to 18
Blue quill and blue-winged olive nymphs, size 16 to 18
Zebra Midges
Dry flies and emergers
Hendrickson duns and spinners, size 14 to 16
Blue Quill dries, size 16 to 18
Blue-winged olive dries and emergers, size 18 to 20
Elk Hair Caddis, size 14 to 16
Streamers
Woolly Buggers, size 4 to 8, in olive, black, and white
Zonker patterns, size 4 to 8, in white or olive
Articulated streamers, size 2 to 6, in olive, grey, white, and baitfish colors
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