Opening day of trout season on the Upper Delaware River

New York – April 1, Pennsylvania – April 3
Opening day of trout season on the Upper Delaware River (UDR) is:

New York – April 1

Pennsylvania – April 3

The Friends of the Upper Delaware urge everybody to continue to exercise caution and we hope you all have an enjoyable recreational season on the UDR this year!

Here’s an update on recent changes in UDR angling regulations for 2021:

The new NYS Trout Plan regulations have been enacted and are in effect for the 2021 fishing season.

Here are the highlights:

The East Branch, West Branch, and Main Stem of the UDR tailwaters are now categorized as a “Wild Premier” NY trout fishery and receive the highest levels of protection. Publicly accessible UDR tailwater tributaries are categorized as either “Wild” or “Wild Quality” fisheries. The Beaverkill, Willowemoc, and Oquaga Creek are categorized as “stocked” fisheries.
The existing catch and release sections of the West Branch, Beaverkill, and Willowemoc remain in place and have not been modified by the new regulations.

The new harvest rate for the UDR Wild Premier stretches is 1 trout per day, any size, for the entire tailwater system. This new management approach appropriately recognizes the UDR tailwaters as one river system, not three. Harvest rates for other UDR stream categories remain unchanged.
The introduction of stocked fish to UDR Wild Premier stretches has been eliminated in NY waters.

The stretch of UDR Main Stem from Lordville to Callicoon will not be designated as “Wild Premier” but will receive Wild Premier protections because of the high quality characteristics of this section of the UDR.

The entire UDR tailwaters, including their tributaries, are now open for fishing on a year-round basis with catch and release/artificials only restrictions from October 15 through April 1. The NYSDEC, FUDR, Trout Unlimited, and members of the UDR angling community are working together to develop a 3-year impact study in two reaches of the UDR tailwaters to determine if the expanded year round angling will have detrimental impacts on the fishery.

For the PA/NY UDR border waters, there are ongoing discussions between the Pennsylvania Fish and Boat Commission, the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation, and the UDR angling community about the need to harmonize UDR fishing regulations. This is most important for harvest rates on the West Branch border waters (2 fish limit in PA versus 1 fish limit in NY) and size restrictions on the West Branch and Main Stem (Minimum 14 inches in PA versus any size in NY).

For more information on the NYSDEC Trout Stream Management Plan click here.

For more information on the Strategic Plan for Management of Trout Fisheries in PA, click here.