July data day.

Did house and yard work this morning and then took the time to tally up the results of my fishing in July. Keeping in mind that I do not count yearling fish (those that hatched in the spring of 2019 and are now 9 inches long) this July was the third best in the 28 years that I have kept records on the Delaware.

The brown population through the system seems healthy. The population of big (over 17 inches) rainbow trout is down. There are very few rainbows over 2.25 years of age now in the system. There are a good number of rainbows that are 2.25 (about 15 inches long) and 1.25 (not quite ten inches long) in the system.

Historically in July the number of browns over 17 inches caught drops off significantly while the number of rainbows over 17 inches caught remains fairly constant. This year the large rainbow catch rate hit an all time low of 7% in July.

The validity of my catch records are influenced by several factors: As a wade fishermen I have been unable to fish much of the river system during
a good portion of the past year and a half due to high water levels. As regular readers of the blog might surmise I do not like to fish where boat traffic is concentrated, often choosing to fish "B" and "C" places rather than face the aggravation of constant boat traffic in the "A" water. Advancing age might also be a factor.

If anyone has any specific questions that I might be able to answer about the season to date feel free to ask.

Oh yes, the fishing today. Started fishing the "Sulfur Zone" at about 3:30 in bright sun and a modest hatch of sulfurs and olives. By about 6:30 with the sun behind the clouds or hills, the hatch started to really pick up and the fish began feeding in earnest. Fished until 7:30 when a heavy rain shower hit the Deposit area wiping out the best part of the day. Hooked seven fish and landed five, all older fish but for the 11.5 inch Oquaga dropbact hatchery trout. The fish of the day was a 21 inch pretty well beaten up brown.

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