Angler 119's Delaware River Fishing Report

As I mentioned in an earlier post PPL has scheduled a draw down of Wallenpaupak starting tomorrow. If this happens there will be a corresponding cut back in the release from Cannonsville. At present levels most of the WB is not safe to wade. The big river is at about 1650 CFS and can be waded. Both can be floated. Fished the big river downstream from Stockport and again found a few fish. There were no bugs hatching whatsoever and only a handful of olive spinners. Saw three rises got a refusal from one and the other two ate. I also hooked one blind casting. Landed the big one and the little one and lost the one in between. Without bugs on the water it's really hard to say how many fish there are in a particular place. At present I don't think there are very many below Buckingham. I certainly wouldn't sign up for a float to Long Eddy just yet. If the water is shut down (at 8:30 pm it has not been) it will be interesting to see where the fish are and if they will ...

Called the Troutfitter this morning at 10:30 to give them an update on the Delaware and learned that it was cloudy, cool and raining in Syracuse. In East Branch where I was, it was 75 and sunny. The front finally came through this afternoon with a brisk wind and cooler temps but not a drop of rain. It's been hot and humid for sure, but the watershed can't buy an inch of rain. Tried the Beaverkill this morning. It's very low, clear and this morning, bugless. At least the water temp was OK. Saw fresh iso husks on the rocks but no flies or fish. This evening I decided to try the big river below Stockport again. It was cloudy and breezy with the temp was down to the mid 70's. Didn't start fishing until 5:30 and was back in the car at 7:35. In that time I saw a few olives, a handful of Cahills and no Isos. The fishing? Surprisingly good. In the two hours, I rose eight fish, four of which ate. I landed three of them. I saw about a half dozen rises that w...

Didn't start my day until almost three. Yesterday in the bright sun, nothing happened until the sun went behind the hills so I had no urge to rush. Was riding around "just looking" when I drove into Balls Eddy to see if there were any bugs on the water (no) and to count trailers (0). There were two fishermen sitting in waders by a drift boat bobbing in the water. They flagged me down and explained the situation. They had ordered a shuttle that was to drop off their truck at Balls Eddy by 2:00. It was now 2:45 and no shuttle. I ended up driving one of them up to Hale Eddy (no truck there) and then to Barking Dog where they had left it. There it sat right where they left it. I was happy for the delay as I still spent over an hour casting at nothing in the bright sun. The two anglers had spent the day casting streamers and had caught one nice fish. They said they had lots of swirls but no other takes. The water in the WB is getting dirtier every day as the silt that ...

The crisp, dry air felt nice, mid forties last night cooled the rivers and there was "space behind the hills" for the first time in two months. The bright sun was still with us, however, and the frontal system didn't bring enough rain to fill a tea cup. As promised I tried the Lordville riff this afternoon. The bright sun probably didn't help - then again it might not have mattered- never saw a fish. If they have moved back they sure don't want anyone to know about it. If anyone tries to get you to float from Buckingham to Long Eddy this week - don't go. Stopped at junction pool and watched two guys in pontoon boats casting into the foam line. Saw no risers. Then drove up to Deposit and watched some Yellow Drakes float unmolested the length of the Men's Club pool, never saw a rise or a fisherman. Went down to the gamelands where two empty parking lots were to much to resist. Fished for two hours without even seeing a rise then rose and hooked two...

For the first time since last June I needed a fire this morning. Temp outside was 46 and in here it was 64. The front went through yesterday and hopefully took all that hot muggy weather we've been having and dumped it somewhere out in the ocean. For the first time in months all of the rivers are OK to fish temp wise. Of course there will be few if any fish in the big east which has been well over 70 for months. The front gave us only a few sprinkles and we will need a good rain before the fish migrate back up the EB. I had planned on fishing the big river below Stockport yesterday but the winds that came along with the front nixed that idea. Went to the upper east late and got out of the wind but could have caught as many fish in my back yard. No bugs, no rises and no fish. Will fish the big river today.