Angler 119's Delaware River Fishing Report

A check of my fishing logs revealed that the only time I've been skunked for April was back in 1993.  (In 2011 I managed to land but one fish.)  The best April fishing comes when the reservoirs are below the lip of the dam and there is plenty of sunshine and warm temps.  This April has seen cold, cloudy, windy weather with lots of snow run off and this week, rain. With water levels as high as they are there are few safe wading opportunities.  Boat fishermen are at a huge advantage and some throwing streamers have done well.  There are alewives in the river and the trout (both river fish and the big washovers) are dining on them. That said, the bugs are having trouble waiting any longer.  I can't be everywhere every day but this week I've spent a lot of time driving up and down the river system looking for bugs and rising trout.  Until yesterday I'd seen nothing.  Yesterday in a 10/15 mph wind there was a fishable hatch of paraleps on the West Branch.  There were, howe

Spent the warmest day of the year (so far) opening up the fishing camp. For those of you that care, the 27 year old camp refrigerator started right up again.  With no apparent leaks in the water pipes and the heat turned on I left to take a look at the river system. To date it's been the coldest April in 75 years.  The water temps have been hard pressed to get above 40. The banks of the Beaverkill and East Branch below "jaws" are still lined with huge blocks of ice. Yes, there are micro caddis hatching and flying around but I never saw a fish rise.  There were a handful of boats on both the West Branch and  big river and a few wade fishermen on the Beaverkill. The shad bush and redbud are a long way from blooming, the knot weed that lines the banks of the river has yet to poke new shoots up out of its subterranean tubers and the only dandelion blooms  (Hendrickson precursors) I saw were wedged between the pavement and south facing wall of the Circle E Diner.  In sho