Angler 119's Delaware River Fishing Report

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...