Angler 119's Delaware River Fishing Report

I was like a kid on Christmas morning, I didn't know which present to open first. After ten months of nearly uninterrupted maximum releases from both reservoirs, wade fishermen finally had choices. In fact they could wade almost anywhere they wanted. What did I do? Tried a little of this and a little of that, kept away from the WB (too many boats) and the BK (too many waders). Endured a Kayak turnover and pontoon boats on the UE, one drift boat (very courteous) on the BR and solitude on the BE. How'd I do? Very well, best day of the season to date by far and sure to be a top five day for the year. Had lots of bugs and rising fish from noon until 5:30 on the UE. Then went to the BE where there were no bugs or rising fish. Finished up on the BR where there were a few bugs and no rising fish. Caught fish at each stop. On the UE, there were lots of Hendricksons and caddis on the water and the fish were on them - carefully - they have been fished to by drift boaters for the...

Starting at about noon yesterday NYC began stepping down releases on their reservoirs. As of 8:00 am this morning all rivers in the system are wadeable. The big river is still quite high but should continue dropping during the day. There is no telling the effect the drop in water will have on the fish but it will give wade fishermen access to the entire river system for the first time in the last ten months. Hope it doesn't rain.

With the confidence bestowed on me by my last two days of fishing, coupled with the knowledge that the release from Pepacton had been cut back by 100 CFS, I set off determined to match wits with the fish in a couple of pools on the Upper East Branch that I had not been able to wade in the high water. The hatch started at 3:30 (a tad late) and ended at 4:30 (a tad early). During that hour, I fished two pools. Both had bugs and rising fish, most of which were beyond my comfort zone, casting wise. I again soaked my fly boxes (but not my camera) and was able to get my fly in front of six fish with what I considered to be reasonably good casts. The fish (all of them) were unimpressed. Not one of them even dignified my casts with a refusal. None of them rose again. So much for my matching wits with fish on the Delaware. Over all it has not been a good week for me. One DNF and two decent days surrounded by two zeros. The BEB, BR and BK have been in the doldrums (it seems like forever...

With my fly boxes and camera layed out to dry on the kitchen table, one thing is clear. If you are a wade fisherman on the Delaware this year and you want to catch fish - you better be able to cast. Found bugs and rising fish, got wet fly boxes, threw tailing loops, hooked knotweed on the back cast, froze my tail and every once in a while hooked a fish (a couple of which were good ones). The fishing wasn't great,especially for May, but when you have bugs and rising fish the game is on. Managed to string two "decent" days in a row for the first time this year. Most of the boats have gone to the WB leaving a handful of scouts on the EB, UE and BR. The doldrums are soon to end and the boats will again cover all of the waters. In the meantime if you are willing to fish less productive water,under difficult circumstances, you can do so in relative solitude (a boat never crossed my path today). At days end I chatted with another "over the hill" angler who had s...

If it doesn't rain and you don't have "tangling alliances", go for it. Memorial Day weekend has always been a "family affair" and there are usually fewer people on the river than on regular weekends.

It was an eventful day. Woke up a 5:30 only to find that I changed bird feeders too soon. Start the year with an old beat up wooden one that the bears can take down and empty without doing damage to the feeder. When the squirrels start eating all the seed (and no bears have come) I switch to a squirrel proof feeder given to me by a departed friend. The feeder was expensive and comes with a lifetime guarantee on parts. I've replaced most all of the parts with no problem after previous bear encounters but this time it looks like it got run over by an 18 wheeler. Spent about 45 minutes at war with the peach tree stump. May have to impose sanctions - its still firmly entrenched. The fishing: I have a long term contract with the Troutfitter, but apparently somewhere in the fine print is a clause that I failed to read. Basically it says: If I fail to catch a fish for three consecutive days, Troutfitter can terminate the contract with no "golden parachute. This morning there ...

After two days of 80ish temps, I left camp about 9:00 looking for a warm weather morning spinner fall. Silly me, temp was 50 with a brisk wind. Fished for about half an hour and headed back to camp to attend to the second dead peach tree. At 12:30 with the temp in the low 60's but the wind still blowing, I again set out in hopes of finding some rising fish. Concentrated on the UE, BE and BK, all of which are somewhat wadeable. Saw a few march browns and caddis but by 5:00 I had not seen a single fish rise. Talked with several anglers on the BK none of whom had caught, or even seen, a rising fish all day. Only three boat trailers at Harvard and hardly any boats on the BE. Never looked at the WB with it's 3000 CFS of water. The BR out back seemed to be quite clear after yesterday's "Mississippi River" look. Back at camp at 5:30 to cut up the rest of the peach tree and start on the stump (the first one came out yesterday without a struggle). My plan was to hea...

The storms were sorta hit and miss. Deposit and Walton sure got hit while Lordville and Harvard were barely touched. The Beaverkill spiked but without further precipitation, will be back to where it was by late Tuesday. Global warming, El Nino or just a long entrenched wet period? Whatever is the cause, we wade fishermen have had enough. The DRC fish of the day pictures of drift boat anglers getting hernias lifting up one monstrous brown after another is tough to take. Came down hoping to fish but needing to mow the grass. Drove around from 1:00 until 5:00, from Deposit to Corbett, Corbett to Roscoe (on roads I never knew existed), from Roscoe back to Hancock and from Hancock to the lawn mower in Lordville. Saw one fish rise three times (in the seam between the muddy water of the WB and the clear water of the EB at junction pool). Never saw a bug! Didn't see over 10 wade fishermen and a surprisingly few drift boats. It's not normal for me to not fish when I'm down ...