Angler 119's Delaware River Fishing Report

Its accepted by anglers almost everywhere that the first day of a high pressure system is a poor day to fish.  Well, this week we had two of  'em.  Monday's got rid of Sundays rain with a wind that exceeded 20 mph not counting gusts.   I drove around  all afternoon and saw nary a riser. Today started out much warmer than the forecast high of seventy degrees and by 3:30 it had reached 85.  I was doing work around the camp and was surprised when I got in the car for the evening fishing to find the temp down to 73.  In the hour I drove around looking for bugs and rising fish (saw neither) the wind increased and the temp decreased.  When I called it a day at 8:00 pm the temp was 60 and the wind was still blowing.  Never put on my waders. If you are coming this weekend all streams are now wade able with the big river being the diciest. As stated in my earlier note today the releases have been cut back and unless that changes or there are heavy...

At midnight last night NYC reduced the flow from its reservoirs.  This will make wading easier but it will result in warmer water temps since the bulk of the water  coming from the reservoirs is now overflow off the top which has been warmed by the recent hot weather. At present this poses no threat to the fish, however, unless we get cool cloudy rainy days the bug activity and fishing will be concentrated in the hour before dark.  The timing couldn't be worse as we are on the cusp of the "big bug" hatches that anglers wait all year for. Hopefully pressure can be applied and the releases increased.

Fished the WB in the morning hoping to beat the heat and find some fish eating leftover spinners.  The water is now at a level where the WB can be waded (with care).  At noon when I headed back to mow the lawn there were nine cars in the upper gamelands lot.  There were spinners on the water when I got there (paraleps, hendricksons and caddis) and there were fish up feeding.  With no wind (yet) the casting was easy and I got several to eat. With the 90 degree heat and high gusty winds the afternoon  was time better spent mowing the lawn. The evening fishing (at least on the UEB)  was very good.  As soon as the sun went behind the hills and the wind died down the fish began feeding on the flies that were hatching.  The last 45 minutes before dark the spinners hit the water and there were fish up everywhere. I don't know how long the spinner falls will continue but try to get here and enjoy the fun!

They said it was going to be hot and sunny and it was.  My car thermometer registered 90 most of the afternoon. Went out early to beat the heat and hooked and lost two more rainbows. Took the middle of the day off and returned in time to catch a apple caddis/hendrickson hatch.   Stopped at the first empty pool with risers and promptly lost the first two fish I hooked.  Was fast to a nice brown when I heard a car door slam and ten minutes later was joined by an angler who had been on the BK and hadn't seen a fish caught.  A boat soon joined us leaving me wedged in the middle.  When three teenage boys came downriver in kayaks screaming profanities and slapping their paddles against the water trying to "scare the beaver".  I left. With the bright sun and high temp there was little action until the sun went behind the hills.  Found a pool with "only" two other anglers,  (quite an achievement in itself) and rising fish.  The fish were nobody's...

Fished the BE, BK and the UEB today.  Found rainbows lunching on a hatch of small caddis just after noon.  Had no problem getting them to eat my flies, landing them, however, was another story.  Three left wearing an Angler119 fly as a remembrance of the occasion. Managed to get only one of the six that I hooked into the net. Mid afternoon I headed for the UEB in search of Hendricksons.  Found enough duns to get some fish up and feeding which kept me busy.  When the spinners came during the latter part of the hatch the action picked up as fish were none to fussy about what they ate. Once again the bulk of the feeding fish were two and three year olds.  Full of fight to be sure but the absence of big fish for me has been a little disappointing. In my travels I never saw a march brown.  There were considerably more anglers on the water today than yesterday.  The water is dropping ever so slowly and hooking into a bow on the big river  sti...

From the 5th to the 11th of this month whenever I was able to get into the water on the WB and the UEB I found myself in the midst of epic hatches of paraleps and Hendricksons.  Wading was limited but the fishing was very good.  Last Thursday and Friday there was a marked decline in the hatches. (The fishing was better as you had a better chance of getting a rising fish to look at your fly.) I don't usually fish on the weekends but reports from Troutfitter regulars indicated a further decline in the Hendrickson hatch.  Came down today and spent the afternoon driving along both streams. Sat by the WB above the gamelands at 2:45 and never saw a bug or a rise.  The wind was blowing downstream about 20mph and it was not hard to get back in the car and head for the more sheltered UEB. The water was up a bit from last Friday but fishable.  Studied several pools that were somewhat protected and saw a few hendricksons.  Never saw a fish rise. The boats with a...