Angler 119's Delaware River Fishing Report

If there was ever a day in June not to fish, this was it.  In Florida they say, "Wind, what wind, we don't call it a wind 'til they give it a name".  Well I gave it several names today.  It was flat out unfishable. Got into the BR early just as the wind started picking up.  There were splashy risers chasing Cornuta nymphs.  The Cornuta hatch is frustrating because the trout eat the nymphs and won't look up until the hatch is almost over.  Then you can catch fish, unless the wind is blowing over twenty, in which case you head back to camp.  Spent most of the day crossing items off the to-do list. About 4:30 I headed up to the UEB where I was able to get behind a hill out of the worst of the wind.  It was fishable except that there were no bugs and of course no risers.  Stuck it out until 6:30 when I headed to the Sunoco station in East Branch for a piece of chicken.  Alas, the food trays were empty and I had to settle for a package of...

With a gray overcast day forecasted I decided to continue my assault on the BK and BE.  With the low water conditions it won't take more than two or three bright sunny days in a row to get both streams into the "no fishing zone" (temps over 70). Fished about a half mile of the BK which surrounds one of the "Eastern European's" tenting sites.  They camped there for about a week to harvest fish during the Hendrickson hatch and I wanted to see what they left for the rest (99%) of the fishermen. Just a few years ago (before the EE invasion) the pools (four of them) in the half mile I fished, each had a healthy population of large wild browns and rainbows. With fresh iso husks all over the rocks I carefully fished down through the pools with an iso emerger which has done serious damage the past two weeks. Rose a total of four fish.  One refused my iso.  The other three ate the fly with great enthusiasm. They were all 10 inch hatchery fish!  The EE's are ver...

I'm not a midge expert by any stretch of the imagination.  No-see-ums are bad news, you're on fire before you even know you've been bitten. Chironomids, on the other hand, don't bite, hatch in trout streams, taste good and can be tied and fished on size 16 and 18 hooks. Trout love'em. On my annual trip out west they are the mainstay of mid day fishing, hatching in 100 degree heat and bright sunshine. On the Delaware, however, it's a different story. What we have in the midge department are little white balls of fluff that trout eat with relish.  There is no way to tie one on a hook (my attempts look like a pumpkin next to a pea) and perhaps trout know it. Started the day with an early morning trip to a riff on the BE.  Arrived about the same time the wind did and the water was soon covered with those little fluffy white things from cottonwood trees. Saw a few splashy risers and did a run through of my "splashy risers flies" without impressing a singl...

With summertime water levels on the rivers and a sunny day predicted, a split day was in order.  Started on the BR about 9:00 am.  There were bugs hatching, fish feeding, eagles eating dead shad and deer along the shoreline.  Never saw a boat or another angler (two of the perks of morning fishing). What I did see were duns of all sizes floating down the river unmolested.  The fish on the BR have been hammered the past few weeks and they aren't about to eat a hook if they can help it.  Enjoyed nice fishing with an assortment of emergers and spinners doing most of the damage. Was back at the car at 1:00pm and asleep in the recliner before two. After taking a drive up the UEB where there were "only" three cars each at powerline and  Long Flat, I was (amazed, amused, dumbfounded, stupefied, take your pick) to find multiple cars and multiple fishermen attempting to fish two of the smaller pools on the UEB.  At this level the UEB is a challenge.  Th...

Have been on a Sunday  through Thursday schedule for the past three weeks.  The boats aren't as numerous on Sunday as Friday but there seem to be wade fishermen everywhere.  Arrived late morning and took time to tour the river system.  The water at present is too low to float anywhere but the WB and the BR.  Saw boats and wade fishermen on the BR midday with rising fish in all the big pools.  Didn't see rising fish anywhere else until 5:00. The UEB (above the Sunoco station in East Branch) is at summer levels and very clear.  At about 4:00 pm  there was one car at powerline and three at Long Flat.  Maybe everyone came late for the drakes - or - the drakes aren't going there yet.  Didn't stay to find out. The WB had its share of boats and wade anglers but not enough to discourage one from fishing.  What kept me driving was the lack of bugs and risers.  Fishermen sitting in a drift boat either being rowed or at anchor is not ...