Angler 119's Delaware River Fishing Report

See You In April!

Spent a fruitless couple of hours searching for a lost fly box, asking  anglers fishing the pool where I last used it and checking fly shops  to see if it might have been turned in - no luck. By the time I finished, the best Beaverkill pools were all filled with  multiple fishermen. Drove up and down the stream using the "three rise  rule" in deciding where to fish. Found a pool with six or eight fish n going, although when I got down to the stream the only things I was  able to see on the water were one black midge and one large flying  ant.  First cast hooked a nice rainbow that tore around the pool  apparently warning all the other fish because I never got to cast at  another fish in the pool.  Had the same experience in the other two  pools I tried.  The water is so low and clear that one hooked fish  spooks the other fish and they stopped feeding. Tuesday and Wednesday I fished pools that normally (today for e...

It wasn't pseudo weather but with the temperature pushing up towards  80 degrees, it was a beautiful day to be on the water. Fished the big river, the big EB and the Beaverkill.  Didn't see  twenty mayflies all afternoon.  There were caddis (both brown and  black) in the air. Those little black midges the trout were on  yesterday? Never made an appearance.  At least I now have a half dozen  in my fly box should they ever return. The fishing?  Had rising trout (good ones) from three thirty until six  thirty.  What were they eating?  Not my fly.  There was a good hatch  of the tiny midges that are the bane of Delaware River fishermen. They are far too small to imitate and the trout lock in on them and  eat nothing else. That said, I fished three hours with every cast aimed at a rising  fish.  Hooked six and landed four with a nice eighteen inch rainbow  being the "fish of the day". Fall fishing is di...

This is my third trip down to the fishing camp since my September 30th  report. The other two were nothing to write home about - so I didn't.. The high, muddy and warm (yes, warm) water being released from  Cannonsville has adversly affected the fishing.  So has the low, clear  and until the last few days, warm water in the East Branch. Has all  that changed?  No!. The WB is still high, dirty and warm. The EB half  of the system is still low and clear but has cooled down. The fall pseudos like cold water.  The trout like to eat them in the  tailouts of slow moving pools. There is too much warm water in the WB  for pseudo fishing.  Throw streamers and count the swirls trout make  as they refuse your fly. The EB and Beaverkill are getting close. There are fish in the big EB  again even if there are no pseudos.  Saw a good number of fish eating  black midges in an EB pool. Hooked three and then it stopped. Drove up...

Well, I finally got my rainy day. It was a perfect "olive kind of  day", starting with a foggy mist and then a light rain on and off all  day.  I was on the river by  nine thirty  and pretty much fished all  day. The DEP had dropped the WB flow to 300 cfs in anticipation of the  predicted rain so I fished several places in the lower WB as well as  two places on the big river. How'd I due?  Not well.  Except for the perpetual risers at junction  pool, I saw a grand total of three fish take something other than my  fly on the surface. Of the three, I hooked one and lost it.  The rest  of the day was spent blind casting an assortment of olives, isos and  caddis. On the big river I rose nine fish, had four takes and landed two.  On  the WB I rose seven fish hooked three and landed two. If we get the rain they are predicting the rivers will freshen and the  browns will head to their spawning grounds eit...

With all of the weather forecasts calling for substantial rain this  week both the DEP and I took action.  DEP cut the WB flow down below  300 cfs and I (with a good many items crossed off my "Honey do"  list  at home) headed back down to the river. It didn't rain.  Not even one drop. As I write this (at 6:45 am ), it  still hasn't rained.  Everyone else knew it wasn't going to rain or  they would have been here.  On the EB I saw one angler fishing jaws, two cars at long flat, and  one at the power line pool. There was  no one on the WB. The bugs?  They were unimpressed with the cloudy skies and stayed  where they were.  The fish on the upper east ate midges and the  occasional pseudo that ventured forth.  Like last week most of the  fish were small.  It was a fun afternoon (four to seven) but not "exciting". If the rain ever does show up in the amount predicted it will  reinvigorate the ...

No, the fat lady isn't getting ready to sing.  BUT, there have been  far too many hot, dry and sunny days this late summer/ early fall. Today my heart just wasn't in it.  I've caught fish this week but the  places where I can, under these conditions, (see yesterdays report)  can be counted on one hand without using the thumb. So I set out on a  journey, doomed to failure, to confirm what I already knew. Drove the length of the  Beaverkill from jaws to Roscoe without seeing  one fisherman. Tried three spots out of perversity and was rewarded  with one refusal. Tried three riff/pools on the lower end of the big east to see if the  cooler water had enticed any fish up.  Reward, one refusal. Fished a pool on the big river where there were three fishermen Monday  and four Tuesday  just to see if they knew something I didn't.  They  didn't. My reward?  A third and last refusal. Going home tomorrow  to do, as ...

What does this mean? You have less time to fish.  I've been heading home by seven fifteen each day this week. If it's a dry year, (for sure this one is) you have less water to  fish. The WB is high and muddy, the big east is low and fishless, the  big river below Buckingham has very few fish and the upper East Branch  is at around one hundred ten cfs ( take one step and your wake puts  the fish down. The only water worth fishing is the big river from junction to Buckingham and from Warners down that to is iffy. Fished the big river below junction this evening and rose six fish.  Hooked three and landed one. There were almost no bugs, risers, boats  or fishermen on the water. If you want to fish the Delaware system this fall, there are several  things you should do. 1- Pray for rain. 2- Wait for a cloudy rainy day. 3-Make sure you buy a new license.

If you are going to give advice on where to fish you should follow it,  right?  Well that's what I set out to do.  It was too cold for Trico  fishing in the morning so I tried a spot on the lower EB just to see  if the fish have started moving back up from junction pool.  They  haven't. This afternoon I headed for the big river.  Crossed the bridge at  Lordville  (four fishermen) and headed up the Pa side.  Three  fishermen in the water at Buckingham and seven trailers in the parking  lot. Three fishermen at the Knight farm, seven cars and one trailer at  Stockport and fishermen and boats in the water from the "braids" up through Junction Pool. Couldn't get a good look at the Junction Pool  parking lot but there were too many cars to count Drove over the high and muddy WB  on the 191 bridge, got on route 17  and headed for the upper east. There were zero cars from the Sunoco  station to Shinhopple ...

It's always the question on the Delaware system and after two weeks away touring the western part of the country, I didn't have a clue. Opened up the camp and was ready to fish a little after three. The West branch is high, off color and full of weeds.  NOTE - There have been reports of a bear that has been following anglers in the game lands area. I don't know if it has been fed and is  looking for handouts or if there are other problems,  best to avoid the area for now. The East Branch at Harvard is "running" at 108 cfs.  That makes for tough fishing.  If you go up there and see a car or someone else fishing GO SOMEWHERE ELSE.  It's far too skinny to share a pool. I haven't looked at the lower EB yet, but read below, it's probably still too early. I drove by Buckingham and after counting seven trailers ,decided to try farther downstream.  Found a mix of bugs (mostly Heebies) and a few risers.  Hooked and landed a nice rainbow that was just ...

With the West Branch being bumped up another seventy five cfs to meet  minimum flow requirements there is little likelihood of  good surface  activity again today.  To add insult to injury the weatherman is  predicting ninety degree temps for the area on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday.  I fished an olive in a good run on the WB yesterday just before the  cloud cover disappeared. Saw a couple olives hatch along with half a  dozen stenos.  Never saw a fish rise to a natural or to my fly.  A  guide with two sports was anchored above me throwing bobbers in all  directions with the same result. The last few days of the DRC daily reports show pictures of mayflies  and river graphs in lieu of "angler with fish" pictures (never a good  sign). I have closed the camp for the next two weeks and am taking a trip out  west  with my bride to drive up the west coast, see the red woods and  listen to the elk bugle ...

Next to summer sulfurs, the tricos are probably the most consistent  hatch on the river. During the month of August if it doesn't rain hard  all night and if the wind isn't blowing a gale, there will be a trico spinner fall when the temperature "approaches" sixty nine degrees and the fish will be up eating them. Yesterday they didn't wait for me to arrive. There were a half dozen pods of fish in the pool sipping spinners. Today I was there on time. I watched the numbers of spinners on the water increase until there  was one every six or eight inches.  The fish?  They weren't impressed. At times a pod or two would come up and eat a few.  At other times you couldn't see a rise the entire length of the pool.  Most of the morning single fish were coming up and taking one or two before disappearing again. If you've been watching the Hale Eddy gauge you will have noticed the many fluctuations in the water level recently.  The River Master is calling ...

I know trico spinners fall at sixty nine degrees.  Yesterday it was  foggy and sixty one when I got up.  Two hours later it was still foggy  and sixty one.  Got in the car and drove to a trico pool where it was  sixty one degrees and sat for an hour watching the mass of tricos go  up and down thirty feet above the water while the waxwings had them for breakfast . Today it was foggy and sixty four when I got up. Had breakfast and  left for another trico pool with the car saying it was still only  sixty four. When I arrived the car said it was up to sixty five. I  could just see the sun through the fog.  Looked out on the pool and  the fish were going every where.  Put on my waders and walked out into  a pool covered with fallen tricos. The action was hot and heavy for an  hour (three hours yesterday) and then it was over. They must have  gotten the tricos to quit flying early. With the bright sun and hot humi...

With the lawn mower fixed and the lawn cut, There was no excuse for not taking a trico trip. So I did. It wasn't cold but there was heavy fog and until it burned off the temp hung in the low 60's.  This was enough to keep the little rascals pumping their wings and staying aloft. When the fog burned off the temp skyrocketed and the tricos crashed. The trout were ready and waiting. They paused only when the resident eagle flew up or down the river. They gulped trico spinners from ten 'til one. Enough of them made bad decisions to make it a fun and productive morning / early afternoon. The rest of the afternoon was spent replacing lost tricos. Went out again about five with the temp still well up in the eighties. Fished a run on the upper east that I haven't fished all year. Perhaps I got there too late as there were fish going when I arrived.I hooked and landed the "fish of the day" (see below) and another nice fish rig...

Had to forego my trico fishing this morning and attempt to fix the  lawn mower. Monday  when I was cutting the grass a tree root I have  mowed over for twenty years took revenge and bent both blades. The job  went better  than expected.  Got the blades off and was able to get  new ones at a mower repair shop in town (even got an invitation to  park at the shop and fish the pool).  Put the new blades on right side  up the first time, finished the lawn and was ready to go fishing. Then the trouble began.  I decided to try a pool on the upper East  that I hadn't fished since Hendrickson's.  There was no one in the  pool but the trail down the hill to the pool showed heavy use. There  were a few olives hatching and I saw several fish working (until I got  in the water). Before I made one cast all was still.  These fish, and  there were some good ones, were smart. I had every pocket of my vest  unz...

They increased the release from Cannonsville last night by one hundred  cfs, presumably to meet minimum flow at Montague.  The water beneath  the thermocline has been depleted (in part because of the three weeks  of 1,500 cfs during the drawdown).  This is causing the "gray water"  lying above the thermocline to color  the WB. The water is a little  warmer than under the thermocline but not a threat to the trout.  Both the sulfur and olive hatches appear to be waning.  There has been heavy fishing pressure (for August) on the West Branch  and upper main stem.  The fish have been beaten up any are very hard  to fool (at least on my dry flies).  The Lower EB remains unfishable due to high water temps and absence of fish. The main stem below Stockport has at times been fishable but the fish  that were present in good numbers during the drawdown have either left the river or have gone to thermal refuges, leaving only...

Was uploading pictures from my camera and putting them in the "2015 trout" file when I saw a familiar face. The brown in the top picture ate the wrong olive on August 21st. He ate the wrong steno back on August 11th (bottom picture). I guess it's a good thing he lives in the no kill. (If you have any doubts about it being the same fish,compare the spots on the gill cover). This morning I opted for solitude.  With the water temp in the low sixties I fished a two riff stretch of the big river. In four hours of fishing I saw an eagle, a doe and her fawn, one kayaker who was paddling upstream, and a aluminum boat powered by an electric motor with an elderly couple in it moving downstream. Was tempted to holler at the kayaker that it would be easier going downstream but neither of us seemed to want to break the silence.  We both waved at the same time and he was on his way. The fishing?  Never saw a rise except to my fly. ...

It's been three weeks since the flow was cut back to five hundred in the WB and one hundred forty in the EB.  Flows have stabilized, hatches have become predictable and fishermen have learned to be in the right place at the right time. The fish? They have taken a beating, their mouths are cut up and sore. They fight like a punch drunk fighter in the fifteenth round of a fight he doesn't want to be in. They have developed stomach ulcers from worrying about what to eat and have become very hard to catch. Refusals have become the norm, takes the exception. On September first I believe the water releases from both reservoirs will be reduced. While this will concentrate the fish, it will also change where they hold and feed.  It will also have an effect on the timing and quantity of the hatches. Hopefully it will give the battered trout a few days to rest and heal while the anglers figure things out. The best thing th...

No there wasn't a frost.  It wasn't really that cold (53 here), but  the sun took it's sweet time burning through the fog and when it did  it didn't do much of a job warming things up. My trico fishing which  one day last week started at seven am, didn't get going until after  ten ( most of the spinners don't fall until the temp approaches  seventy) and it lasted until almost two. I was in deep water for over  three hours and drove home with the heater on. This evening I was undecided about where to go.  The WB has been  fished hard and the fish look at every fly carefully  before eating.  The big river is where I want to fish but warm water temps limit the  options there. Drove in to junction pool and with only two anglers in  the water, was tempted to fish there. Decided to look at the WB first and ."maybe" come back.  I never did. Saw olives and rising fish in a  down river pool and fished there. Had countless...

The weatherman is calling for no rain over the next ten days with  temps climbing into the high eighties early next week.The tributaries  are very low and the two year classes of trout residing in them are at  increased risk from predators. Humphrey's  Brook has gone underground  in places trapping fingerlings and yearling trout. Herons and  kingfishers have moved in and are dining on the trout trapped in  shallow pools. Many of the other tributaries are in the same condition  as huge amounts of gravel were carried downstream in the flood years.  When the flow is reduced the remaining water seeps through the loose  gravel near the mouth of the stream and the stream bed goes dry in  places. How's the fishing?  Well it sure isn't easy. Today I fished a good  trico hatch and cast to rising trout for four hours. Did fairly well  on the yearlings but the big fish ignored my flies until the spinner  fall was almost o...

When I was in college I worked summers at the Syracuse DPW. One of the office workers (who has long since left this world) was a trout fisherman and a commercial fly tyer.  For some reason he took a liking to me and kept me well stocked with flies. On Monday morning he always wanted to know how I  did with the flies he had tied. Very often our fishing results were much the same. When we both had a poor weekend fishing he would say " Isn't it funny, sometimes they just can't seem to get that fly in their mouth".   If you haven't already guessed, today was one of those days. I had  rising fish in front of me from three 'til seven thirty. Had between  ten and twenty fish come up to the fly and say no. At eight o'clock,  on a blind cast a fourteen inch rainbow ate my fly and became "fish of the day".   If you see Dave at the Troutfitter ask him how he did.  I'll bet he'll say  "they couldn't seem to get the fly in their mouth" ...

t rained last night.  Got up this morning and looked at the Harvard gage.  It had peaked at three hundred and was on the way down. With nothing else to due I got in the car and drove up to Harvard.  Put on my waders and walked down to the stream.  It was high and muddy. Drove home and looked at the gage again.  Sure enough it had started down then went straight up to over five hundred, game over. Fished the no kill in the afternoon in a hatch that was good enough to get trout up occasionally, but not steady.  Did land a couple of nice ones but spent a lot of time trying to fool some others that were smarter than me. Retreated to the lower WB around 6:30  and found fish willing to look at my offerings, some even ate. If you are going to the Delaware this weekend the WB is the only fishable part of the system. Everything else is either too warm or too muddy.

With rain overnight and wind in the morning the outlook for trico  fishing wasn't great to begin with.  When I got up at  six thirty  the  temp was seventy one, tricos run out of gas and fall when the temp is around sixty nine. Grabbed two pieces of toast, a cup of coffee and headed for the river. When I arrived there were tricos on the water and in the air. There were pods of fish up and eating. How long the spinners had been on the water I don't know but  it was over almost two hours earlier than yesterday. How'd I do? 0!  Caught several of the nine inchers, had two twelve inchers within reach of  the net when they came unstuck and had several indignant refusals from quality  fish.   Beat the rain mowing the lawn and tied some new (hopefully better) trico spinners and was about to head out when the first rain came. When the rain let up I went out looking for (what else ) olives. There weren't any. Spent two hours blind casting and hook...

The trico hatch is in full swing and pods of as many as fifty fish are up eating them. But wait.  Before you call in sick and head for the river know that the pods are made up mostly of nine to ten inch fish. There are big fish eating them but they know the game and don't get fooled often.  As a matter of fact even the yearlings are hard to fool. The ants?  Haven't seen any yet but they are about due. There have been reports of sightings  and I talked with a fisherman at junction pool last night who said he saw some earlier in the day but nothing was eating them. Seven X?  Fishing is a unique sport in that you can change the rules to make it as easy or difficult as you want. One rational for fishing seven X is that it allows you to present the fly better, it's thinner, more flexible and therefore allows you to present the fly in a more natural manner (less of the dreaded drag). Trust me on this one, you can catch fish on tricos and ants using six X. However, usi...

After three days off for our anniversary weekend I returned to the river hoping to make up for lost time. It didn't work out that way. The day started out hot and humid and from a cloudless sky thunderheads suddenly appeared. The thunderstorms that followed cut short my attempt to fish on the way down and then kept me pinned in the camp (without power) 'til after three. It didn't matter, the WB up river sulfurs didn't amount to much and the only fish I had to throw at were the nine/ten inchers that seem to be everywhere and even those were difficult to catch. Tried around Deposit and again above Hale Eddy with the same results. At about seven, I reeled in and headed for Junction Pool.  There were three fishermen upstream and none down so I tried it at the tailout.  Hooked three fish and avoided a shout out by landing a nice brown and rainbow. May again try Tricos in the morning.

It's days like this, with the temp pushing ninety and a bright sun burning down, that you gotta love tailwaters. Five hundred cfs of forty one degree water pouring out of Cannonsville, cooling off wade fishermen, stimulating the bug hatch and sending the trout into a day long feeding frenzy. What?  Not where you were? Well, not where I was that's for sure. It being Friday  afternoon I elected to fish downstream to avoid the crowds. For starters ten boats went past me. Then little  pool I was saving for the late evening feeding frenzy was filled first by one, then three anglers (who came in three cars all from different states). I was boxed in, had no risers AND couldn't even raise a fish blind casting. When I am fishing, I never sit down. Today I sat down. I watched an osprey defend its turf when each of the ten boats went by. A little green heron flew off the grass island I was sitting on and kept scolding me from an unseen branch on shore. When the sun went behind the h...