Captain Pete Longo is taking his boat out for a fishing charter on the waters of Lower Esopus Creek leading out to the Hudson River. He didn’t know if he would have a fishing season this year.

“Early in the season, it was really brown, like chocolate milk. And we couldn't get bait in mid-April. So, it was tough to run our charters, you know? Now, it's not so bad. I got the bait pretty quick today,” says Longo.

That’s because when the season began, New York City started releasing muddy water into the creek from the Ashokan Reservoir. This hindered his ability to catch herring, which he uses as bait for his customers. Because the water is so cloudy, the fish cannot see the lures used to catch them.

What You Need To Know

  • Since 2011, the New York City Department of Environmental Protection has been allowed by the state to discharge up to 600 million gallons a day of muddy overflow water from the Ashokan Reservoir into the Esopus Creek

  • This fishing season, Captain Pete Longo had to cancel five charters because of the muddy water being released into Lower Esopus Creek, losing $500 to $750 a trip

  • Wildlife such as bald eagles can no longer be seen in the area because of the muddy water

“We have to catch them on a rod and reel now. We used to be able to net them. So for them to hit the rod, reel, they have to be able to see what we're putting in front of them,” says Longo. 

This season, he had to cancel five of his charters because he was unable to catch bait for the trips, costing him $500 to $750 dollars per trip.

Longo says, “People still want a charter. The problem is getting bait. The herring come up the creek, and when it's all dirty and turbid, they won't rush all the way up the creek.”

Esopus Creek lets out into the Hudson in Saugerties, and some of the muddy water sent downstream from the reservoir makes its way into the river. For fishing enthusiasts Ken Edwards and his son Hunter, who traveled down from Massachusetts, they can see a difference in the water condition.

“Used to be able to see a little bit down, when you hook a fish, you can see a little bit deeper,” says Edwards. “This year, with the river overflowing up above, it really was a disaster. Just a big cloud. It's got to take affect on the species of fish that we're fishing for: water clarity, oxygen, and all that stuff, temperature. All, all factor on all these fish being here.”

The release of the muddy water is not only affecting Longo’s business, but it is also affecting wildlife in the area.

"We used to see a lot more eagles and just life in general in here than we do now in early spring. When they're releasing in that water, it's like dead, there's nothing down here,” says Longo.

The change in water clarity is also impacting other businesses along the creek, as well.

“I’m sure it affects not just us, the Airbnb business along the creek,” says Longo. “It's not a pretty creek when it's all brown and the wildlife isn't in it. That's what people like. They want to come see that, and same for marina owners and people like that that rent boats. And who wants to kayak on a muddy creek, you know?”

He says the portal where the water is released should have a filter, so the silt and dirt can be filtered out, but until then, he hopes one day, they will stop releasing the water altogether, or at least stop from April through June.

Longo says he’s spent the last 30 years on lower Esopus Creek and he’s never seen it this muddy at the start of striper season.