Angler 119's Delaware River Fishing Report

With an overcast sky and a promise of rain, I skipped the morning fishing hoping to find afternoon olives or isos. I found neither.  The first bugs I saw were isos that showed up in a heavy rain about 8:15. My first stop was on the big river where it seemed that I wasn't the only one looking for bugs.  The fish were more than happy to eat my fly on blind casts.  Most of the fish I rose were yearlings (now between 9 and 10 inches long) but I did land a couple of nice ones. Second (and last) stop was farther up river where the fish have been fished to.  They were much harder to fool.  Threw at three fish that rose in the afternoon and never got a look. Crossed the river and moved away from the parking area and things improved.  Fish came to the fly and ate. My only problem seemed to be landing them once they were hooked.  Big, medium, even small, it didn't matter I lost them all (actually 1 for 7 during my slump).  Just before dark some isos and caddis came and the fish rose.

With water temps in the low 60's I tried a riff/run in the big river this morning.  Shared the pool with a doe, fawn and probably last years doe fawn.  An eagle watched me fish for a while and then flew off knowing he was better at it than I was.  Started by hooking and landing a nice 18 inch rainbow in the first ten minutes.  Then fished three more hours to land a 14 incher.  Just don't seem to be many fish in the lower river as yet.  It was a long walk back to the car in the midday sun. Set out this evening undecided about where to go.  The last three trips had been big water, big flies and big fish.  With the fishermen the lower WB and upper BR attracted yesterday and the warmer water temps today, I opted for the finesse fishing  and solitude of the UEB.  Never saw an angler from the Sunoco station in East Branch all the way to Harvard.  From Harvard to Shinhopple there were two anglers, one in each of the two pools I planned on fishing.  Drove a little further and stopped

Despite the sulfurs and olives still hatching in the sulfur zone up in Deposit I've decided to play the game elsewhere.  Simply stated there are too few fish, too many anglers and the fish that are there won't eat my flies. This morning I fished a run on the lower WB from 9:30 until 1:00.  I never saw another angler.  Saw two fish rise (they never gave my fly a look). Saw exactly one mayfly and no caddis.  And now the rest of the story:  threw attractor flies all morning, rose 18 fish, almost half of which refused the fly, the rest of them ate, (they were good ones to). After yard work and a power nap I set out about 6:30 to fish the big river.  So did everybody else!  Lordville had the same angler I saw there yesterday.  Buckingham  (a ghost town for the last 6 weeks) had four cars and a trailer.  Stockport had too many cars and trailers to count without stopping (9 and 3) I think.  Shinhopple had three trailers and half a dozen cars.  It wasn't until I got to Balls Ed

After losing a battle with a scalpel wielding dermatologist yesterday morning I spent the rest of the day on the recliner with an ice pack for company.  For those who were able to fish it was the kind of day you hope for and dream about.  An all day rain with cool enough temps to have the water covered with olives.  Hope your day was better than mine. Set out from home today with the intent of fishing the trico hatch.  The 61 degree temp when I left home had warmed up to 66 by Binghamton.  Not a good sign.  When I turned onto 17 the cloud cover increased and the temp dropped back to 64.  Arrived streamside at 66 degrees and set out on a rather lengthy walk to my fishing spot.  It was midway between the two places where I had found tricos last week and I was sure there would be a good spinner fall.  Never saw a trico or a fish.  Later heard the same report from someone who was there Monday. You never know 'til you go. On the way back to the camp I tried a couple of little places