Angler 119's Delaware River Fishing Report

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...