Angler 119's Delaware River Fishing Report

Stopped by the Troutfitter yesterday and talked with one of the regulars who gets down to the Delaware more often than most.  Lately he has found fish in the UEB  rising to olives and cahills.  Said it was hard to get around in the high water and that he was the only wade fisherman on the river.  Saw four boats go by the last time he was there. With both reservoirs running at maximum release it only takes a modest amount of runoff to make the whole system unwadeable. The Beaverkill was actually getting down to a reasonably good fishing level yesterday.  Then it rained.  As of 3:30 today (Thursday) all rivers are rising and will once again be too high to wade . On a positive note, the tribs all have good flows which will allow browns easy access to their spawning grounds.  If you see redds  (areas of  lighter colored gravel in riffs) avoid them so as not to disturb the eggs and do not fish for actively spawning trout.  The upper WB an...

It's now been a month since I posted the picture of the twenty inch brown that ate a cahill on the Big River.  Haven't caught another fish in the big river since.  In fact I haven't been able to get into the big river or almost any other part of the Delaware system for the last month.  Right now you can wade some of the Bk and a few spots in the BEB. My plans for tomorrow are to drive down to camp for the sole purpose of trying  to cut my lawn (it's been 17 days).  I washed my fishing vest last night and may not put it on again this season.  I'm a dry fly guy and the thought of putting everything back in the vest to fish pseudos on the BK or UEB at current levels is not a compelling one. As you well know both the WB and EB releases are maxed out.  This coupled with tributary runoff makes both streams virtually unwadeable.  The big river at something around 4,300 CFS is also unsafe for wading by even the most adventuresome anglers.  The BK...

Arrived back home in Syracuse at 9:45 last night from seven days of fishing on the San Juan river in Northern New Mexico.  Made the trip with another Troutfitter regular who had been to the San Juan several times.  His prior experience on the river was a huge help in the adjustment to what proved to be an entirely new and unique fishing experience. Being with a congenial companion also made the "re-hydration hour", meal times and fly-tying sessions a more enjoyable part of the trip. The San Juan is a tailwater  that flowed at between 850 CFS and 500 CFS during the time we were there.  The mile just below the dam is boat free and crowded with wade fishermen. The next three plus miles of river are floated daily by about twenty five drift boats.  They put in at 8:00 AM and take out at 4:00 PM.  I don't know if that is by agreement between the guides or is regulated by the N.M. Dept of Fish and Game.  The four and a half miles of "Quality Water" area is ...

With the Delaware system having been hit hard again by the frontal system that passed through the area yesterday wade fishing is out of the question.  If you want to throw streamers out of a boat into high turbid water be my guest. More rain is forecast for today. If you are in need of a fishing fix you might give thought to driving north to the Salmon River or one of Lake Ontario's other numerous tributaries.  The water level is good even after yesterdays rain and the rivers are full of fresh run salmon. It's sure to be crowded but judging by the number of broken rods being brought back to the Troutfitter for repairs, everyone is into big fish. If you stop at the shop on the way up Dave and Rick will fill you in on the latest reports.  As always they are well stocked with flies and equipment for the fall/winter salmon, brown trout and steelhead season on the lake Ontario tributaries. If all goes as planned by 7:15 am tomorrow morning I'll be on a plane heading for ...

My decision to take a trip out to the San Juan is looking better every minute. NYC has raised the release on the WB from 700 CFS to at least 1200 CFS (further step ups may well be coming).  Mother nature has also gotten into the act by dropping enough rain on the river system as of noon on Tuesday to make the entire system again unwadeable.  It will soon be too muddy to even be worth floating. With rain expected to continue for the rest of the day and more on tap for tomorrow it's time to look elsewhere for your entertainment. There will be no wade fishing before my trip departure on Friday and given the current weather pattern there may be no wade fishing for the foreseeable future. You have only to look back at the DRC blog's "catch of the day" pictures over the past couple of months to get a sense of the fishing.  This is not intended as anything negative about the DRC as they have top notch guides, there has just been too much water!  I haven't had a cha...

With the promise of a pleasant drive along the river and a dinner out, my wife joined me on a Sunday trip to the camp.  She made short work of the lawn mowing while I finished up a stump removal project that I started back when it was 90 in the shade.  The back porch, where I had vacuumed up over 100 Pumpkin (aka October) caddis  a little over a week ago was again littered with them.  I've never seen so many! When the yard work was finished we drove up along the still swollen (4200 CFS) Big River.  Stopped at the Buckingham Launch sight (three trailers) and watched a trout 200 feet out in front of the ramp eating olives.  Further upstream in the flatwater half a dozen fish were rising.  Drove upstream , through town and into the Junction Pool lot.  There was a lone wade fisherman downstream standing in about three feet of water fast moving water  looking for rising fish.  Never saw him cast and never saw a rising fish.  Did see so...

Nobody enjoys fly fishing anymore than I do and not many people fish as much as I do -  most years.  This one is different -  way different.  There was too much water to wade comfortably until May 15th.  We then had good water levels and good fishing for a six week period that ended the the first week of July when the arrival of the first of four heat waves shut things down.  The last week of July the rains came and they haven't let up since. The reservoirs filled and overflowed.  NYC was forced to maximize the releases which made wading difficult even when it didn't rain.  The downpours have resulted in a Hazmat trail derailment and an unending flow of muddy water from the tributaries. With the threat of Florence having gone by NYC had begun the systematic reduction of the release from Cannonsville and this weekend offered the promise of at least a chance to fish the West Branch. (The release from Pepacton has remained unchanged at 700 CFS). ...

The rivers are coming down SLOWLY.  The Beaverkill, Upper East Branch (above Jaws), the East Branch and the Big River are all still too high to wade.  NYC has yet to begin cutting back the release from Pepacton. The West Branch looks to be the first stream that will be available for wade fishermen.  NYC has stepped down the release by about 200 CFS each of the last two days.  At it's present level the WB has very limited wading opportunities but if the flow reductions are continued at their present pace there will be wading opportunities by the weekend. The Cannonsville release is laden with silt that was suspended above the thermocline.  The farther downstream you go the clearer the water will be.  The current water temps in the 60's will reduce mid day hatching activity with the olive and iso activity more likely to occur late in the day. I currently plan to return to the river Sunday for a couple days of fishing before heading to the San Juan for a...

You don't need me to tell you, all you have to do is look at the river flows.  It's Tuesday morning at 11:00 am and they are still going straight up.  High, warm and muddy water abounds throughout the system.  With the ground saturated and the tribs gushing mud it will be a good many days before things clear and become fishable. IF (and it's a big IF) - (See what I did there?)  NYC cuts back the releases to more normal levels, it will speed up the return to fishable flows.  The warm water is not a problem for the fish but it has a negative impact on daytime bug hatches.  A good cold front  that cools the water in Cannonsville would  help.  The mud from the rains will clear as the tribs subside but the silt from Cannonsville is likely to worsen. What to do?  I'll take a closer look, probably this weekend (the camp lawn needs mowing)  but I'm not expecting to be able to fish.  Just this morning I booked a flight to the San Ju...

Just so you know -  both reservoir releases have been stepped up and are at or just below their maximum flow in anticipation of the arrival of Florence on Monday and Tuesday.  The increased flow from the releases coupled with the recent rains have raised all rivers in the system above safe and comfortable wading levels. Waders - -  Stay home and wait for Florence to go by.  As the runoff subsides, NYC will in all probability cut back on releases and perhaps wade fishermen will get safely on the rivers by next weekend. Boaters - -  The river system is yours.

 Driving back from the Neversink yesterday afternoon, I was surprised by my first glimpse of the Beaverkill.  Muddy water was pouring into it from a small trib.  Each successive view showed higher and muddier water.  At East Branch I drove into heavy rain, (there was none on the Neversink).  A check of stream levels this morning shows that all but the WB are unwadable.  The WB came up a bit and is only wadeable in a few areas. The most recent forecasts now predict that hurricane Florence will wander through northern PA and southern NY sometime early next week.  NYC has continued their unprecedented release of water from both Cannonsville and Pepacton.  It has resulted in both reservoirs having a 8% to10 %  void which will provide a buffer against any flooding from Florence. As long as the big releases continue, wading will remain difficult.  Each rain storm raises the rivers above comfortable wading levels.  It has been a frustr...

Last week I sat on the bank of the big river talking to another angler.  We were talking about where we had been fishing and he mentioned the Neversink.  Said he had done well there on isos.  Kind of filed the information away as the BR was wadeable and fishing well and I wasn't interested in fishing anywhere else.  A week later, with the entire Delaware system too high to fish safely and only a few places wadeable at all, I took a look at the flows on the Neversink.  The release was 200 CFS and the flow at the next gauge was 450 CFS.  On the hope of finding some isos and wading that was less of an ordeal, I headed east on 17. Started at one of the DEC "Angler Park Here" signs up near the dam and  did nothing and saw nothing.  At the next parking area I saw flying ants, lots of them.  Also saw rising fish but the pool is too deep to wade.  Then took a torturous drive downstream (none of the roads follow the stream) until I came to a ...

It has been an overcast day with a mist/light rain all afternoon.  It might have produced a good olive hatch somewhere but I didn't see it.  Fished two places in the UEB and did nor fare well.  First place had a few olives in water that was ice cold and difficult to wade.  Saw a few splashy rises and got three fish to come to the fly. Two ate one said no thanks.  Tried lower down the UEB in a pool where I could see a pod of rising fish through the heavy fog.  They were feeding on ants but paid no attention to my offerings.  To add insult to injury the pod consumed half a dozen olives while just moving out of the way of the one I floated by them. Looked at a pool on the BK that was also covered with ants - saw nary a rise.  Two stops on the EB also failed to produce a rising fish although I did see a few olives at both places. Last stop was at Junction Pool where the fog was so heavy I could barely see across the river.  There were no ri...

Well, as of 8:30 Monday night it's not the disaster it might have been.  It has been relatively dry for the the past two weeks.  The current rain, while steady has not been the "gully washer" type.  A lot soaked into the ground. NYC has continued to release large amounts of water from the reservoirs.  This has created a void meant to cushion the effects of heavy rains during hurricane season.  If this was a one and done event we'd be back fishing within two or three days. But there is Florence waiting in the wings to make land fall  and it is predicted to probably come our way later in the week. What does it all mean for Delaware River anglers? It's hard to say.  The entire system is currently high and unwadeable.  If you enjoy floating it's an option.  The WB is sure to be very muddy from Oquaga down, at least tomorrow.  The BR at over 8,000 CFS will be muddy and too high to safely float except for experienced oarsmen.  The eas...

The rain yesterday caused the Big River to rise over 900 CFS while all the other rivers in the system remained virtually unchanged.  I've enjoyed three good days on the BR this week plus yesterdays near rainout.  Decided it was time to play on another field. The Big East has good iso hatches and most places can be waded at 1,100 CFS.  Left in time for the iso hatch and headed for a riff in the middle section of the BE.  I've seen good iso hatches there in the past and the river there is easily waded at current levels.   I wasn't there twenty minutes when the first isos started hatching. I was there forty-five minutes, however, before I saw a fish rise.  Had fun casting to fish that were nosed up into a riff eating both iso nymphs and duns.  Unfortunately the fun was short lived as there weren't more than a handful of fish in the riff.  When the BE fish population is up and the riff is fully populated with iso eating fish, I've seen 50 or mo...

Spent over an hour in the early afternoon tying iso duns and emergers for a renewed assault on the big river 'bows.  Just as I was finishing up at the tying bench, a bolt of lightning and clap of thunder put my plans on hold.  The grounds crew was quick to roll out the tarps so the infield is dry.  If it stops raining we'll try to get the game in. 3:00 pm.  The weather radar doesn't look good and the current prediction is for the rain to continue until eight thirty tonight. 5:45 pm. When the thunder and lightning were but a memory it continued to rain - hard.  It wasn't until after six that the rain let up enough for me to drive down to the river for a look.  The river was up but clear.  The fog was too thick to see anything from shore so I suited up and waded out.  The isos  must have waited for the rain to let up as there were a good many on the water  long after the hatch should have been over.  The fish on the far side of t...

I'm not asking for snow, but enough of this heat and humidity.  Came in soaking wet from cutting the lawn (on a riding mower). Spent a couple of hours repairing some flies that were injured in battle and tying new ones to replace those that were beyond repair or that went MIA in the knot weed and other shoreline vegetation on my errant backcasts. By one o'clock I was ready to go, but with the temp in the nineties I managed to find things to do out of the sun until almost three.  It was still way too early.  The hot sun and the warmer water coming down the WB pushed the big river iso hatch back until almost four. Was joined on the big river by a veteran Delaware angler.  We shared what turned out to be a very good afternoon/evening of fishing.  It wasn't that the hatch was great, it was more that the fish wanted to eat.  The bugs were coming off the water quickly in the hot sun and the fish tried hard not to miss any. In their eagerness they ingested m...

It was clearly not a Big River day with bright sun and mid summer temperatures.  Buckingham parking area had 0 boat trailers and 0 cars at 2:00 pm..  For a guide to float his sports on the BR on a day like today requires either sports who are willing to take a scenic ride with the hope of catching fish or or a guide willing to throw his tip out with the trash if his hunch is wrong. Two boats put in at Buckingham and went by me heading for Long Eddy at about three o'clock with four anglers still casting with great enthusiasm.  When I got back to my car at 6:30 there was but one trailer in the lot, awaiting someone who had dared to fish  the BR from somewhere up river  down to Buckingham.  Hope they all did well and no guides were shot. For wade fishermen (now that the water has dropped enough to get into the river)  the risk is not so great.  You park your car, walk down to the river and fish until you realize that it's the wrong time, place or...

With NYC continuing a 100 CFS a day stepdown of the releases, there are now good wading opportunities throughout the system. The releasing of 1,500 CFS from Cannonsville for the past several weeks has resulted in the depletion of the cold water below the thermocline.  Water temps at Stilesville which have been around 44 degrees all summer are now above 50.  This late in the year (even with the current heat advisory) it's not a threat to the fish but it will affect hatch times of the bugs. Drove down early to avoid the Labor Day traffic, emptied the car and got ready to go fishing.  A trio of fellow Lordville anglers stopped by to say hello.  They said they had been fishing for four days.  They had found the big river bugless and were concentrating on the  WB where they had good olives and rising fish.  Their report did nothing to dampen my enthusiasm for fishing the big river.  When it's cold enough for the fish and low enough to wade, it's wh...

Hope everyone who fished the last two days did well.  After six days battling the high water, diminishing  hatches and the absence of adult fish feeding on top, I took the last two days off. Looked at the flows this morning expecting them to be cut back.  Cannonsville was reduced by 100 CFS yesterday but remained at about 1400 today.  Pepacton held steady just under 700 CFS.  It's 7:30 pm on Saturday evening and I just looked at Cannonsville and they have dropped it another 100 CFS. The 200 CFS drop is not enough to open up the WB and BR to wading but it is a start.  The gradual (stepped down) reduction will give the nymphs and other stream life time to relocate.  Assuming (always dangerous) that the flow reduction will continue on a  slow and gradual basis, wading opportunities will increase daily. Will a 200 CFS reduction get me in the car tomorrow?  Probably not.  I don't want to battle Mondays holiday weekend traffic so my retu...

If you're thinking of fishing Thursday or Friday - think again.  The last two days have been dreadful. The wading is difficult (haven't seen another wade fisherman in the water), the bug hatch is declining and the bigger fish are not rising. I've been fishing since last Friday and had four relatively good days but with the high water wading opportunities are limited and I've had to fish most places a second time.  In each case there were fewer bugs, fewer risers and more refusers. Last Saturday over 20 boats floated past me.  Today in the same place there were two.  I have seen one angler hook a fish from a boat all week (he lost it).  Those in boats that I talked to were not setting the world on fire (some were having trouble even getting the kindling to burn). Why?  Beats me.  It was hot and humid the last two days but the water temps (except for the BK) were ideal.  Bright sun has never bothered fish in the sulfur zone and with all the co...

Planned on taking a long walk to a place where I could wade the WB at 1750 CFS.  After working in the yard for three hours in the hot sun, that plan was saved for a cooler day. Decided to fish the UEB and EB.  I've seen no one wade fishing there and only a very few boats.  Now I know why.  Saw no bugs or rising fish above Shinhopple, a few bugs and small fish rising between Shinhopple and Harvard and nothing below Oxbow Campground. Started at the Pleasant Valley pool.  Saw a couple of rising fish.  The first fish ate my fly but it came out of his mouth when I hooked.  Worked up to the second fish and he ate the third cast.  Once again I felt the fish but didn't hook up.  Pulled in the fly to check the barb - and lo - there was a half hitch tied around the bend of the hook.  A blue haze quickly enveloped me.  It's rare after over 60 years of fly fishing that I find a new way to screw up, and this was NOT ONE OF THEM.  I don'...

After a long overdue dump run, I headed back up the UEB.  The ease with which I found bugs and rising fish yesterday left no doubt in my mind that that was the place to go. There was only one boat trailer at Ox Bow Campground and not a single car parked along the river.  At 3:00 pm, roughly the same time I found bugs yesterday, there were none.  Risers, I saw not a one.  Boats, I saw one with a fly fisherwoman in the bow double hauling what appeared to be a streamer right up to the bank on every cast. That told me all I needed to know about bugs farther upstream. Did a u-turn and headed for the WB. Took a long walk upstream (not an easy thing to do after high water bends the shoreline grass downstream).  Held up my vest and tiptoed through a deep area to get to where I wanted to fish.  It was well worth it.  The fish ate my fly like an M&M fresh out of the bag.  As is usually the case this time of year over half of the risers were 1.5 year o...

Four days ago in my "killin' time" posting  I said that with the warm spill water, hatches would be restricted to the last hour before dark.  Also said that any tricos or ants would likely go uneaten at "current water levels" which on the big river was at 8,000CFS. Well, welcome to the Delaware. The spills have stopped, the water is very cold throughout the system and there are olive and steno hatches in the middle of the afternoon.  As for the ants - I don't know if the trout would have come up in 8,000CFS to eat them when I wrote the article but they had no problem slurping them down tonight in 3,500 CFS. After two days of limited wading in the WB, I opted for the "ideal" wading conditions being offered by the BK.  It was like fishing in early May (without the Hendricksons) or any other bugs for that matter.  In about two hours of fishing I never saw a bug or a rise except to my fly.  Rose four fish, hooked two (one a good one) and lost them bo...

It's no secret that August has not been a friend to Delaware River fishermen.  Torrential rains, high muddy water and reservoir spills have kept us off the water.  I normally fish about 20 days a month.  Yesterday was only my fourth day fished and first since the 6th of the month.  On none of those days did I catch 10 fish. Each day I fish I have a contest with the fish.  The rules are pretty simple.  If I catch 10 fish, I win. If  I don't, the fish win.  On a normal five day week "we" play a five game series.  This year the trout built up an early lead with the late hatches and cold weather in April and early May.  I kicked butt in late May and all of June.  The trout won a hotly contested July and have pitched a shutout in August. Left camp at about 2:00 drove up the PA side and stopped for a look at Buckingham.  Five trailers in the lot and a few bugs sailing by on 4,000 CFS of water.  Drove up to the middle section...

It has been 6 days since I've fished and 18 days since I made a cast in the Delaware. Drove down to mow the lawn and "take a look".  Saw two boats anchored below the 17 bridge in Deposit  so I exited  17 and drove into town.  Stopped to chat with Lloyd Hornbeck who said he had not heard of any wash overs being caught since the spills began.  Drove down along the river and saw bugs (some) hatching. Saw a fish rise along the bank of the island just below the 17 bridge. Crossed the Hale Eddy bridge and saw 4 drift boats.  Picked one of the wider places in the river, donned gear and waded (carefully) out.  If you look at prior posts, you will see where I said that if/when the water ever comes down the fish will be easier to catch.  Well, no one told that to the fish.  Had five refusals (three by one fish) before one in the back row ate my fly.  With the water over 2,000 CFS every fish you hook is an adventure.  The fish today were ...

The water temps throughout the system are now ok for trout fishing. Why?  All right, I'm only guessing but the ratio of bottom release to spill is improving daily.  Another factor is the wind that has blown the past two days.  This has probably mixed some of the hot surface water in the reservoirs with cooler water lying just below the surface.  Temps are now in the sixties and the trout are back in a reasonably comfortable zone. The bugs?  I'm not there, which alone says something, but the warm water will surely shut off mid day activity in the sulfur zone  (probably for the year). Any hatching at current water temps will most likely be restricted to an hour before dark.  There is a possibility of  a trico hatch or and ant flight but I doubt the trout will come up through current water levels to feed on them. Wading? At current levels - out of the question.  The BK was getting close and then shot up again with today's rain. Drift boa...

Arrived back in Syracuse from the South Holston at noon today.  Ended up leaving at 5:00  PM Sunday after it became obvious that Saturday night's pyrotechnic display was not put on by NASCAR at the Bristol track and that it came with locally heavy rains which turned several So Ho tribs into Tennessee's version of Oquaga Creek.  They blew out the South Holston. It could be said that I was unlucky and lost a day of fishing if it weren't for the fact that we sat in my friends house in Abingdon (20 miles north of the river) on Saturday morning and watched over three inches of rain fall in about three hours.  Both of us were sure Saturday's rain would blow out the river.  A call from my host's streamside friend, however, assured us that although it had rained there, the river was clear and that the bugs were starting to hatch.  Saturday afternoon/evening turned out to be a great six hours of dry fly fishing. So I got in two super days of dry fly fishing with...

You don't have to be there to know.  The entire system is blown out and even without additional rain it will remain unfishable for the near future. Why? Both reservoirs are spilling hot water into the two branches. Water is flowing into the reservoirs at a faster rate than it can be released, thus insuring that the warm water spill will continue to make the  branches both warm and dangerously high. There is no place to wade safely. Drift boating at these levels is unsafe for all but the most experienced oarsmen and then only in areas where water temps are not a threat to the fish and high water is not a threat to the boaters. Find something else to do or better yet somewhere else to fish.  I'm still down in Tennessee and have enjoyed two terrific days of dry fly fishing on the South Holston.  It's a ten hour drive but the number of beautiful wild brown trout eating sulfurs is hard to believe.  If you come bring your sulfurs and olives.  Nascar's...

Stopped at camp yesterday.  All the rivers were much clearer than they were on Wednesday.  That said, they were all too high for wade fishing. Received an invitation from a friend to fish the South Holston and after mowing the camp lawn I drove 9 hours south on 81, bought a Tennessee fishing license and went fishing.  The "SoHo" is a TVA tailwater that is just full of fish from yearlings to fish of over 30 inches.  I've fished it perhaps a dozen times and have yet to catch a fish over 16 inches. There were sulfurs on the water today and I had a quarter mile of the river to myself (except for a constantly squawking Heron who apparently felt I was invading his water.  The river is fished quite heavily and the fish are nobody's fools but there are so many of them most people don't even bother to cast to rises. I fished from about two until eight and lost track of how many fish I caught.  The fish ranged in size from 9.5 to 12.5 inches and the browns are th...

Drove down to the river for a look see.  It wasn't pretty.  Water above Oquaga was high, cold, comparatively clear, but unwadable.  Oquaga was still very high and muddy.  The entire WB was muddy brown from just below Oquaga to it's merger with the EB at junction pool. Now for the bad news. The UEB is very high with water that is, (because of the warm spill) over 70 degrees.  Even with no rain it will probably take a week or more to reduce the flow to a fishable level.  As the spill decreases the river will cool as they are maxing the release at 700 CFS. At present it is both too warm and too high to fish. The EB and the BK are cooler than the UEB but are both high, very muddy and unfishable. The Big River at 11,000 CFS is still orange/brown and unsafe to even float. Without more rain there is a good chance Cannonsville can be kept from spilling.  With the maxed out flow at 1,500 CFS, wading will be very limited even when the tribs subside but...

All rivers in the system are too high to wade safely.  Both reservoirs are maxing out their releases and Pepacton is still spilling.  If the predicted rain amounts (almost another 1.5 inches) arrive both reservoirs will be spilling by Wednesday.  Because they have maxed out the releases, even the water up near the dams is too high to safely wade. Drift boaters are in heaven with no waders to have to go around.  But even drift boaters need to exercise caution at current water levels as the swift currents can lead to tragedy should a boat flip or take on water and sink.  If you're new at handling a drift boat it would be a good idea to leave it on the trailer 'til flows subside.  Fishermen with personal flotation devices should also find something else to do as a dunking in full fishing gear at current water flows would be a life threatening event. Believe me, I am more anxious than most to get back in the river but with a flash flood watch posted again t...

Flash flooding  caused a small culvert running under the railroad tracks just upstream from Hale Eddy to wash out.  This led to the derailment of  four locomotives and an undetermined number of the 63 cars in a west bound train early this morning.  Two of the cars, carrying construction debris are apparently in the river.  The diesel fuel from one of the locomotives  has apparently leaked  into the West Branch via the aforementioned tributary. The diesel fuel has already been detected as far downstream as Lordville.  The river at Lordville crested this morning at 20,000 CFS.  The extremely high water will make recovery of the spilled fuel next to impossible as most of it will soon be carried far downstream by the high waters.  A crane has been dispatched to remove the two cars from the river.  No injuries have been reported.

Lots of bugs are hatching in the Sulfur Zone.  Cold water releases have good temperatures well down the Big River. But the intense rainstorms have washed out any wade fishing possibilities for the near term. The fish are enjoying the break and will big bigger, fatter, well rested and perhaps a little easier to fool when action resumes. Stay tuned.

With yesterdays increases in the reservoir releases (WB to 900 CFS, EB to 700 CFS) added to the already robust flow from the rain swollen tribs, drift boaters were in their glory.  Wade fishermen not so much.  Those who fished were soaking fly boxes and cell phones just trying to get far enough off shore to make a back cast. By 2:20 the Sulfur Zone had bugs (lots of them) all the way down to Hale Eddy. Left Lordville in a thunderstorm which I drove out of half way to 97.  From there to Hale Eddy the road was dry.  The rain started at the 17 rest area and by the time I reached Deposit the streets were flooded and the rain had stopped.  Oquaga?  It was pouring muddy water into the WB, as were all the other feeders around Deposit.  Drove down the back side and the road was dry before the bottom of the "No Kill", but the damage was done.  At 1400 CFS there are but a few safe places for wade anglers.  The additional muddy water would further lim...

Arrived in Deposit about 2:00 with the air temp 90 and the river water yellow with sulfurs.  Saw a bunch of splashy rises above the town bridge, parked, donned waders and went fishing.  Shared the pool with a Troutfitter regular and we sure showed 'em - - - every fly in our respective boxes.  The fish were almost all yearlings (now about 9 inches long) and they were chowing down on the sulfur nymphs subsurface.  It wasn't until the latter stages of the hatch that some of the fish started eating duns.  Even then they were tough to fool. We both fished to one good fish that came to our flies several times but we never quite managed to get a fly with a hook in it in his mouth.  It was entertaining, frustrating, disappointing (that there weren't more large fish) but encouraging (think of all the two year olds next year). Spent the evening on the middle section of the river.  Went there thinking that the 1,000 CFS of water would get both the bugs and fi...

If you haven't started for the river yet don't.  If you have started - turn around.  The entire system has been hit by heavy  downpours and is unfishable.  The first showers hit during the night and raised the levels but there was still a possibility of fishing up near the dams. The WB got hit with a gully washer around 11:00 this morning and all of the tribs are raging torrents of orange mud.  The UEB might have been fishable this morning but is off color and rising with a line of yellow and red storms heading it's way.  When  it is all over the reservoir system will be about 10% above normal with more rain predicted.  Clearly the weather pattern has changed.  NYC scrimped on the releases during the dry spell but has opened up the spigots since the rain came. The fish, bugs and fishermen will benefit from the cold water releases during the coming month. Enjoy your weekend! 

Drove to the UEB early this afternoon. While it's not like Green Drake time, the UEB is being fished.  There are a number of fishermen who fish only the UEB.  They find the WB's crowds of wade fishermen, boats and algae 3 good reasons to stay on the UEB.  Enough of them have been fishing this week that planning where to fish is impossible. You just have to go and look for an empty pool.  Tried two pools above Corbett and found sulfurs but no risers.  Maybe if I learned a little patience the fish would have gotten up and come to the table but the days are getting shorter and I want to cast to rising fish.  The third stop, which received at least two shifts of fishermen last time I fished the UEB, was empty and I stopped there.  There were a very few sulfurs and small olives and a lot of stuff too small to see (tsts).  There were little sippy rises, tight to the bank under an overhanging tree.  Left two flies in the tree.  One around a b...

If you like variety today was the day for you. There was sunshine, partly cloudy skies, cloudy skies, rain and fog.  There was a good sulfur hatch which was underway when I arrived about 1:45 and continued until 5:30  after the rain there were good olive hatch. If you are looking for a challenge the Delaware is the place for you.  The fish fed from about two until I left the upper WB at 7:00.  They have learned not to eat duns and do most of their feeding subsurface.  Never saw a nose above the water.  To catch one on a dry fly is something to be proud of. The cold water has extended the afternoon sulfur hatch at least to the bottom of the "17" pool (Dream Catchers).  There was one other wade fisherman in the pool.  He got there before me, stood in the prime spot and never moved. Saw him catch two fish.  Four boats came down, each anchoring within casting distance of the same pods of rising fish. Saw one guide hook and land a fish.  ...

With the predicted rain never showing up and a partly sunny day filling in as a last minute substitute, I was forced to change plans.  The increased flows have cooled both branches down and with the predicted cloudy rainy day I had planned to see if the WB would have olives down river. Went to the UEB instead, in part to see if it was the clouds or the cooler water that brought on the bug hatch yesterday.  It was the colder water. There weren't a lot of fishermen on the UEB but the one man per pool rule was in effect and everybody was in compliance.  Three places I would have fished had anglers.  The place I stopped at had an angler donning his waders.  Rolled down the car window and asked him if he was alone and where he planned to fish.  Said "I am" and "right here".  He also said there's plenty of room and invited me to join him.  Said thanks but as long as he was alone I'd walk down to the next pool. It was almost 4:00 again when I got to ...

Two weeks ago on a cloudy overcast day there were bugs on the UEB.  There were also feeding fish and I had a very nice day.  Since Hendrickson time, that was the only day that I found good bugs and feeding fish on the UEB. With the sky clouding over midday,  the UEB at 300 CFS, (rain and an increase in the release), I decided to see if I could get a July 18th do over. Was busy doing yard work (rain is forecast for the rest of the week, you know) and the time got away from me.  Didn't arrive at the UEB until 4:00.  Don't know what I missed but there were sulfurs and rising fish when I got there. I cast at rising fish from my arrival until 9:00.  There was a bit of a slow period say from 6:30 until 7:30, but there was always a fish to throw at. Were they easy? Next question.  Did I lose as many as yesterday? No.  Did I catch any "big ones"? No, (lost two fish that I thought were of that ilk but never saw them).  Did any boats go by? No....

Hadn't fished since last Tuesday what with the rain, high water, a day canning peaches and yet another funeral to attend up in Vermont.  Arrived in Deposit about 1:30 and drove around looking in vain for bugs and rises.  Was on my way elsewhere when I saw some waxwings working over the riff behind  the grass island above the Gentlemen's Club.  Turned around and parked at the G.C. lot.  One of the Delaware's veteran anglers was just unlocking his car and I asked him how he had done. Said he'd been there since 11:00, which was when the sulfurs had started Saturday and still hadn't seen a dozen sulfurs and but a couple of splashy rises. Within half an hour there was a good hatch of sulfurs.  The fish? They took their sweet time to get going.  It must have been an hour and a half before they were feeding.  They got going good for about 45 minutes and they quit as the hatch waned Drove down to the middle section where there were fewer fishermen, bo...

My 6:00 pm posting of yesterday (Wednesday) was quickly followed by a night of  heavy rain.  All rivers in the system are unfishable today.  The WB was spared the worst of it and streamer enthusiasts might well be able to float and fish on the weekend (assuming no additional precipitation). The Beaverkill crested at about 11.000 CFS, (above the 10,000 CFS flood line), with the EB hitting 15,000 CFS at the Fishs Eddy gage.  With the addition of WB water and tribs along the way the Big River back of camp will probably hit about 20,000 CFS. The good news?  This last batch of storms finally hit both branches above the reservoirs and they are receiving a healthy dose of additional water.  Perhaps NYC will open the spigots when things quiet down and give the rivers some additional cold water. Enjoy your weekend. 

The game was called today due to wet grounds. If there is no additional rain tonight the UEB (off color at present) will be playable tomorrow. The WB is both high and muddy, any fishing will be above Oquaga, best to wait another day. The warm rain water has raised the daily low temp on both rivers while  lowered the high temp on the UEB and raising it on the WB. What effect this will have on the hatches remains to be seen.

If you haven't noticed it's a little crazy down here.  It's rained (sometimes quite hard) on and off in Lordville for the past two days.  Humphries Brook is roaring.  The BK hit 4000 CFS today and all that orange/brown muddy water is roaring down the BE and the BR at levels up to 6000 CFS. At 3:00 this afternoon the WB was at 550 CFS and dropping the UEB was at 240CFS and falling.  Strange or what?  Drove up the PA side on 191 just to check out the WB.  At the bridge in Hancock it was clear and very fishable.  Got on 17 heading for Deposit and hit rain about a mile up the road.  It rained like it never rained before until I got to the 17 rest area.  Then it stopped.  Drove into Deposit and looked at the river from the town bridge.  Half mud, half clear.  Went down to Norbord and looked what Oquaga was contributing (all mud).  Did my daily u-turn and headed for the UEB.  Caught up with the rain at Fishes Eddy but b...

Arrived at camp about 1:00 to find that one of the large rhododendrons out front had been blown over by Mondays wind and that several limbs on the peach trees had been pulled down and broken by the local deer and their friends.  Spent most of the afternoon trying to restore order.  Considerable work remains. Left to fish about 4:15 and turned the wrong way.  Had come through showers around Deposit on the way down and wanted to avoid the fog so I headed to the UEB.  They had had rain earlier but the tribs were clear and the road dry.  Never saw a rise anywhere and five of the seven spots I considered fishing already had a fisherman in them. Back on the road headed for the WB.  To my surprise there was no fog.  Drove through several showers and stopped wherever I could get a look at the stream, again no risers and very few fishermen.  By 7:15 there were sulfurs on the water, which was clear above Oquaga and a little milky below, when I saw a cou...

There's no reason to sugar coat it.  From the 15th of May until the end of June the fishing was Excellent. When I returned from my trip out west last week I noticed a down tick.  I rated last week as Good.  This week gets only a Fair. There are many factors which contribute to how good or bad the fishing will be.  This season has already had three periods of over 90 degree temperature.  The rainfall after mid May has been  below average.  The combination of high temps and low water quickly creates temps above the 70 degree "no fishing threshold".  The releases from Cannonsville and Pepacton have been reduced, C - two times, P - twice (I think)  C release is now at about 340 CFS which is well below the level needed to cool any part of the big river below junction pool.  The P release is now around 125 CFS which has let the temperature creep up into the seventies at Harvard several times, leaving the river below Harvard unfishable. T...

With the morning temp 46, I started a fire in the stove to warm up the camp.  At 9:45 I got the bright idea to drive up to the UEB to see if there were any tricos.  Looked at all of the riffs from the Sunoco station to Harvard without seeing any waxwings, tricos or rising fish.  Back to camp. At 1:45 I left camp again in the bright sun and headed for Deposit.  Crossed the river at Hale Eddy and drove up the back side.  From the NYS launch site to the railroad bridge above the sewage treatment plant the fishermen and boats were lined up like a picket fence.  Drove over the town bridge and there was not a fisherman in sight.  Two hours later I knew why.  There were bugs and rising fish galore.  There were just two problems, none of the feeding fish was over eight inches long and almost everyone of them knew enough not to eat a fly with a hook in it. Moved farther down into the No Kill, got my allotted spot, and spent the next two hours cast...

With the cooler temp, a "delightful" breeze and bright sun it was a day better suited for yard work than fishing.  Didn't go until 4:00 when there was a chance of getting both the sun and wind off the water on the UEB. Yesterday's cloud cover and fog produced enough bugs to get the fish up and feeding.  Today's bright sun and high pressure seemed to stifle both the hatch and the feeding trout.  There were bugs but not enough to get the fish excited. You had to look hard to find feeding fish. Fished four different places that I hadn't fished more than once all year.  Caught fish on each stop but it was slow going.  Made the final stop at 7:30 and had to wait over an hour before the combination of the "evening hatch" and the spinnerfall got the fish up and eating.  It made for an exciting last hour of fishing.  The number of fish that appeared out of nowhere last night and tonight reaffirmed my belief that there is a really good number of fish in t...

When fishing the Delaware River system it's usually best not to plan anything in advance.  Wanted to try a piece of the upper WB that I hadn't fished yet this year.  Left camp early enough to stop at FUDR and ask why there had been no flow increases when the gauge at Montague  showed levels reaching almost as low as 1,400 CFS.  CEO Jeff Skelding patiently explained that the 1750 CFS flow requirement was an average daily flow not a one time reading. Having got my head around that issue, I continued on the journey to my "planned" destination for the day's fishing.  Hadn't gotten far out of Hancock when I ran into a shower that was heavy enough to slow traffic on 17.  It was the most rain I had seen in the two day period that was supposed to give us over an inch of rain.  It made no impression whatsoever on river levels.  What it did do, however, was roll in the fog.  I did another U-turn and headed for the UEB. The rain was mostly south of ...

With everything but the WB and the UEB above Shinhopple too hot to fish, I decided to play an away game and drove straight from home to the Neversink.  There have been rumors of summer sulfur hatches "up near the dam" and it was a good time to take a look.  Saw a few (very few) sulfurs and a rise or two before a couple of thunderstorms with brisk winds swept through. I headed for camp.  Best part of the journey? The air conditioner in the car. Arrived at camp, and got the food and my new bag of Hershey kisses in the refrigerator.  Then spent an hour talking to the marine biologist in charge of the Owyhee River.  The talk was informative (hopefully for both sides) and he has sent me a full report on their work from last year.  They are aware that there is a problem but it is too early in the data collecting process to have any definitive answers. The camp was a toasty 85 degrees so at 7:30 I headed up the WB to try to cool down my body temp. It was a foo...

After two days of relative peace and quiet in the "sulfur zone"  with a good mix of summer bugs and rising fish, where else would you go?  Arrived about 3:30 and headed down towards the Gentleman's Club.  Counted six drift boats between the route 17 bridge and the GC.  There were also two pontoon boats and one kayak and a bunch of wade fishermen.  Did a U turn and headed for the UEB. Drove up route 30 without seeing a parked car or fisherman until Long Flat where there were three cars.  Power Line had two and there were two more above Corbett.  Found an empty pool with a shaded bank and fish I could see rising from the road.  Climbed down the bank and had at 'em.  There were a very few sulfurs on the water along with a lot of cold water "smut" (a variety of tiny, nameless bugs).  For about an hour it was as if there wasn't even a fly on the end of my line none of the rising fish even acknowledged that I was in the game. The trout wer...

It's a mantra I've been preaching for as long as I remember.  Your best chance to catch a fish is always on the first cast. As soon as the fish becomes aware that you are there, the odds swing heavily in his favor.  I know, I know "He's still rising", but he gets to look at that fly from only inches away and if there aren't six legs on the water with the tail in the air he ain't eating.  Tip your cap and move on, find another riser, there's lots of easier fish to cast to. Well today I sinned.  Fell in love with not one but three fish.  Here's how it happened.  Got in the water at one of my "secret spots", the pool between the Gentleman's Club and the grass island just upriver.  The waxwings were working the far side of the island (a sure sign of bugs) and no one was fishing.  There were sulfurs, olives of all sizes, yellow drakes and isonychia on the water and  the fish were having an early dinner.  Despite the down time cleaning al...

Did another split day.  The best thing about the morning was that I was smart enough to quit after only an hour.  Spinners were on the water along with a few mayfly duns and caddis but the fish were nowhere to be seen.  Home before 11:00, grass mowed and peach tree limbs propped up out of reach of the deer before 1:00. Left camp at 3:30 and headed up to Deposit "Just to take a look".  Saw an old river friend Mike Carey standing on the town bridge and asked him if he was thinking of jumping.  He said no that he was thinking of getting his waders and fishing as there were quite a few risers upstream of the bridge.  He said there were good hatches of sulfurs last week and lots of fishermen but that the hatch seemed to be dying down and there were fewer fishermen this week. After watching fish rise for about 15 minutes I decided to suit up and give it a try. Was refused by yearling fish on four of my first six casts.  In about three hours of fishing I ...

Did a split day with the intent of further postponing my return to the algae laden sulfur zone with its boats, wade anglers, sulfurs, and super tough fish. This morning I fished a section of the lower WB that I fished back on the 22nd of June.  That morning there were olive spinners on the water and the fishing was great with big fish eating my fly with abandon.  Today, not so much.  Perhaps I should have been on the water earlier (went the same time as on the 22nd), as I had three fish in the first half hour and but one fish in the next three hours.  The fish were mostly 11 to 13 inch rainbows (never saw a brown).  Bugs?  One steno spinner and about a half dozen tan caddis.  It was a peaceful, pleasant algae free morning but one hard to write a paragraph about. In hopes of conjuring up a good t-storm I spent the afternoon spraying weed killer on the lawn.  Sure enough at 5:30 we had one. When the "all clear" siren sounded about 7:00 I was u...

Returned from my trip to the Owyhee River in Oregon late Saturday night. Spent Sunday doing chores at home and left for the river about 11:00 this morning. The Owyhee trip - The canyon is beautiful, the wildlife along the river abundant (mule deer, turkeys, ducks, quail, chuckers, eagles, otter, beaver, etc, etc).  But the fly hatches have virtually disappeared.  Have not seen any tricos in the last three years and the midges which provided great mid day dry fly fishing have been gone the last two years.  The only hatch was pmd's and that was a mere ghost of its former self.  The fish are still large (most all of the browns you catch are between 17 and 21 inches but the number of fish appears to be way down.  The pmd's hatch from 2:00 until 5:00 and there weren't enough of them to create a meaningful spinner fall in the evening so there was a lot of down time.  May look for a new destination out west next year. The Delaware - Didn't need to read the fis...