Angler 119's Delaware River Fishing Report

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 for w

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 humid conditions your afternoons are  better spent tying flies in an air conditione

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 right off the bat. Then things quieted down, t

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  unzipped by the time I quit. Almost all of my casts were ignored (I  think they were eati

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 a few fish  populating most pools and riffs. The flow on the  u