Angler 119's Delaware River Fishing Report

After four days of walking into empty pools and finding fly hatches with trout eagerly feeding on them I was pretty well convinced that if I wasn't the greatest dry fly fisherman in the world I was surely in the top three. Fully expecting that today would continue the "anointed one's" hot streak I rode my fully inflated ego up to Stockport where I was sure that the increased release of cold WB water would have the fish up and happily feeding. The bright sun was no deterrent and I was into a fish within five minutes.  Three hours and over a dozen refusals later I landed my second (and last) 12 incher).  There were some fish feeding (all splashy rises which would normally signal caddis as a prime suspect) but I never figured out on what until, when walking to shore I looked down at the twenty black caddis on my waders. The Hsssss you hear if you listen is the leak in my ego. Worked around camp right through the sulfur hatch (haven't I proved the hatches will app...

Got a late start today and didn't get on the river until 3:00.  Fished a pool on the UEB which had pitched a shutout against me all three times I fished it this year.  Last year it was full of 15 to 17 inch fish. Saw fish rising from the road but when I got to the spot where they were rising  - nothing.  My wake had put them all down.  It took about fifteen minutes for them to start up again and I then had rising fish until a thunderstorm hit.  Had to retreat to the car for my raincoat and sat on the bank for about an hour before the rain stopped and the fish started up again.  It wasn't the same.  The olives that had started hatching shortly after my arrival never got going again.  I decided to stay and wait things out, maybe sulfurs late or for sure a spinner fall.  There were a few fish eating subsurface, I got some looks and a few takes on a variety of flies but I never saw any sulfurs or spinners . Perhaps the heavy fog that envel...

Drove over to the UEB this morning to see if the tricos were going yet.  They aren't. After yesterday's stint  in the "sulfur zone", I opted for the quiet and solitude of the UEB.  It's low and clear and if there are two anglers in a pool no one catches any fish.  I didn't have to worry, the only angler I saw was sitting on a fold up chair streamside smoking a cigar. There were a few fish feeding on a modest mix of olives and sulfurs when I arrived about 2:00.  The feeding seemed to intensify for about a couple of hours then both the bugs and fish called it a day.  It's fussy fishing for trout that are mostly between 10 and 12 inches long.  They run and jump like their big brothers and their colors are something an artist can only dream of duplicating. Did you notice the word "mostly" in the last paragraph?  Well if you keep your eyes open, are quiet and send out no wakes, sometimes big brother will drop in to snack on a few tasty flies. ...

The sulfur zone - Hot sun and warm water from the tribs MAY have started the sulfurs early. There were bugs and fish going when I arrived at 1:30 and it was over at 3:45. The hatch was poor at best but the fish did get going for about 45 minutes. Make no mistake, the fish do not suffer fools.  Change flies often.  Never throw the same fly back at a fish that "missed it". If you put the fly over a fish, he saw it.  Wait 'til he rises again before going back to him.  Tippet is cheap, best to show him a different fly. The dead period- With the sulfurs over before four and a hot sun beating down, the dead period was dead. Did have a nice fish rise right in front of me. She took a couple of somethings but refused two different offerings from me. When she came up again it was to a size 20 olive which stuck in the corner of her mouth. She took me down through a riff before being netted.  It was the only fish I saw rise from 3:45 until after sunset. The evening "...

The day turned out to be a microcosm of the season.  Weather (high water, muddy water, thunderstorms, wind) has limited the opportunities for everyone trying to fish northeastern rivers this year.  When conditions are favorable the fishing on the Delaware has been quite good, however, there have been far too many days when we just couldn't play the game. Today I arrived about two and under threatening skies, decided to fish close to the car.  Good plan but the sky cleared in the west and I ventured upstream farther than I intended.  From over the hill and out of the south came big black clouds, thunder rumbled, lightning flashed and I headed to shore where I sat while Thor sent bolts of lightning in my direction. On my second stop in Deposit I got in five minutes of fishing before the wind blew the thunder began to rumble and the rain came down. Drove to the UEB where I had time to hook two eight inchers before being blown off the river.  Three strikes and...