The Esopus is a freestone stream that originates at Winnisook Lake and eventually meets the Hudson in Saugerties NY. Cold water from tributaries and controlled releases from the Shandaken Tunnel keep the river habitable and sustainable to maintain a healthy population of brown and rainbow trout. Brook trout can be found in the tributaries and headwaters of the Espous. The river hosts two migrations of spawning fish; fall for brown trout and and rainbow trout in the spring both venturing up from the Ashokan Reservoir to spawn in the tributaries. Trophy fish can be caught during these times but the tributaries are closed due to spawning activity. Please check with the DEP for river closure and specific rules related to the Esopus.

The Esopus Creek is considered the birthplace of modern American dry fly fishing and popularized by such Catskill legends as Art Flick, Lee Wulff, and Theodore Gordon, considered the father of American dry-fly fishing. Theodore Gordon did most of his angling in the Beaver Kill, Willowemoc Creek, the Neversink River and other streams of Sullivan County, south of the Esopus watershed. But in 1913, he wrote the construction of the reservoir would give the Esopus "the finest trout fishing in America, if properly treated ... It will be stocked naturally from the Esopus with the rainbow and European trout of the finest quality."

Today the river enjoys some of the most colorful and best fighting fish in the Catskills. The Esopus Creek is now a year round fishery.