Angler 119's Delaware River Fishing Report

Split the day between the BR and the UEB.  Fished noon 'til four on the BR just below a take out where there were three trailers parked.  There was one drift boat in the area I fished.  They put in at the take out above me and floated past me shortly after I started.  They were the only fishermen I saw on the BR.  At about four thirty I drove from Hankins to Roscoe and then down the Beaverkill.  EVERY pool on the BK had anglers.  The parking lots of the named pools had multiple cars.  Even the "no name" pools had fishermen (it is Memorial Day Weekend you know). At Jaws I turned up Route 30 along the UEB and the fishermen disappeared.  The Hendrickson's are over, the Drakes have yet to begin, the water is at two hundred cfs, the river is in the doldrums and everyone knows it. If I was looking for march browns, sulfurs, gray foxes and green drakes I was in the wrong place all day.  If I was looking for solitude I found it in both places. ...

Decided to give the BR a try down at Callicoon.  Fished it years ago whenever water levels permitted.  In the past few years there have been so many boats floating the lower river that I have found other places more enjoyable. This year with the extreme high water and now the doldrums the lower river has been lightly fished.  Once the bugs start you can count on an armada fishing down there. The bugs?   Hardly any.  Saw a few sulfurs on the water late.  If march browns and gray foxes hatched it was earlier in the day.  No sign of drakes. The fishing?   Didn't arrive until 6:30 and found one angler above the bridge and one boat anchored below it.  Drove up river about a mile and watched as another boat with spin fishermen rowed past.   There was very little surface activity so I ended up blind casting a gray fox.  Hooked and landed a small brown and hooked two large 'bows.  Landed the first and lost the second when it got ...

Grackles were lined up along a gravel bar in the Beaverkill today eating Dragonfly nymphs as they crawled up on rocks to hatch. The Dragonflies hatch just before the stone fly and drake hatches and feed on the duns.  You can see them darting around over the water catching and eating the mayflies.  Wings and other uneaten body parts often cover the water. Ragged Robin, long the precursor of the Green Drake hatch, is in full bloom in roadside ditches from East Branch to Hancock. The grass along the banks of the river, ( where left ungrazed by the geese) is now knee high.  This is the height it reaches when the stone fly hatch occurs. Today's fishing? Same old, same old.  The march browns hatched in modest numbers all afternoon long.  In places where there has been fishing pressure the duns float along untouched.  Subsurface boils marked fish locations as they ate only the nymphs. In the few places where the fish have been left alone, the duns are being ...

Well, lets be up front about it - I didn't go to the big river today.  I know I said I was going there but it turned out to be a beautiful day.  Bright sunshine with a cool and refreshing breeze are not the best weather for a fun day on the big river.  Add to that about a dozen trailers at Buckingham and I found myself less enthusiastic about fishing the big river. I saw sulfurs on the BE on Monday and none on the BR last night.  Convinced myself that the BE was ahead of the BR, so off I went.  Fished three different places on the BE.  One in the wind, two out of the wind.  Saw very few bugs of any kind (caddis near dark).  Risers?  Saw hard boils at all three places, but never saw a fish take a dun (there weren't any). How'd I do?  Funny you should ask.  Hooked the same number of fish, landed the same number of fish and lost the same number of fish as yesterday. Boats and fishermen?  Today was the clear winner.  Saw...

To me the Big River is a special place.  Parts of it go through remote areas where seeing bears, rattle snakes, eagles and deer are as likely as not.  It can be intimidating to wade anglers and often times being able to reach a rising fish tests your courage, and both your wading and casting ability.  It is the reason I fly fish. Sadly, drift boats have changed the experience of fishing the big river for every one.  Those in a drift boat have little to fear from rattle snakes, bears are just another photo op and the depth of the water and strength of the current never enter into the equation when casting to a rising fish from the bow of a drift boat. The wade angler who makes the long walk along the railroad tracks to his favorite spot now faces the distinct possibility that three drift boats will already be anchored there. This year the big river has been too high to safely wade until just the past few days.  Hendricksons, apple caddis and grannoms have c...

I fished my way downriver today as I usually do on my return  from the weekend spent at home with my wife.  It was a gray overcast day with scattered showers (some heavy - like the one when I was ready to leave BJ's with a basket of food and no raincoat or umbrella). The WB had bugs at three.  I saw tiny olives and  small hendricksons.  There were also spinners of various sizes but a dearth of risers.  Two hours of fishing resulted in two refusals,  a blind cast take (that I might have struck a bit too hard on)  and a nice 19 inch rainbow that willingly ate my fly. On the BEB, I saw march browns and sulfurs, neither in significant enough numbers to get the fish excited.  I rose 6 fish blind casting, getting two refusals and four takes (all from two and three year old fish). During the hour and a half I spent there I saw only one rise that wasn't to my fly.  I saw no boats or other anglers. The BR continues to be in the doldrums. ...

At home on the weekend I took the time to reorganize my fishing vest.  I added march browns to the arsenal already in the vest just last week.  You don't dare take the hendricksons or grannoms out just yet and now I need to add sulfurs, green drakes and isos.  About the only flies not in the vest are tricos and epherons. It's an exciting time to be a fly fisherman as it will all happen sometime in the next two weeks.  Quite often the fishing doesn't live up to the hype what with crowds of boats and anglers vying for  spots in the best pools.  Patience and good manors are required! It also helps to get some cooperation from old mother nature.  It looks like she is giving us some clouds and rainy days this week.  Its probably too much to ask but maybe she could turn off the wind machine too.