Angler 119's Delaware River Fishing Report

Started the morning with a drive up the EB and UEB all the way to Downsville and over the mountain to Horton on the BK.  There were morning  hatching march browns and gray foxes on the UEB near Harvard (the trout were unimpressed) and a handful of both dragonfly and iso nymph husks on the BK rocks.  Found myself in line at Burger King in Deposit at about 12:15 where after puzzling over the menu options to the frustration of the lady taking my order and the people in the two cars behind me, I panicked and ordered a #4, which turned out to be a cheese burger with bacon, assorted vegetables and condiments (all designed to spill out of the bun onto your shirt).  Don't know if I was surprised more by the price($9.97) or by the number of calories (2,483). Following lunch I decided to get down to business. Walked out on the iron bridge in town and was amazed by the number of caddis hatching and fish rising.  There was a high sided, clunky old drift boat anchored right in the sweet spo

Yesterday morning I disdained my raincoat even though it started to drizzle when I was only 50 yards from the car.  Caught up with those pesky caddis (remember that they only hatch in the sunshine ???), and a bunch of BR fish. It was a carbon copy of two days ago and I told any caddis that would listen that I was in it for better or worse until death do us part. The rain didn't even dampen my spirit.  It drizzled most of the morning but the caddis didn't seem to mind and neither did I. The morning was so good that all I needed to do in the afternoon was tie more caddis (the drizzle took care of my lawn watering needs).  Didn't go out until six and that was way too early.  By about 8:00 things started to happen. There were bugs and fish everywhere. Got ignored a lot and refused a couple of times but I had to stick my reel in the water several times to keep it from overheating. Things you need to know - The river system is full of fish with all year classes well represent

Each year the Grannoms and Apple Caddis  hatch in profusion on the Delaware River Main Stem and the Big East (below the Beaverkill junction)..  For dry fly guys the hatches aren't much fun as the trout eat the emerging pupa and seldom touch a dry fly.  If, however, you are fortunate enough to be on the river for either spinner fall it is an epic sight.  Every trout in the river is up gorging on the fallen spinners.  Many times the rivers are just too high for wade fishermen to join in the fun.  This year there was no way you could fish the spinner fall on the BR but on the EB  I was able to work along the shoreline and cast to fish. Until the last couple of years  the two spinner falls were the extent of my caddis fishing.  The caddis fly box seldom left it's little pocket on the bottom right hand side of my fishing vest.  Last year the caddis hatch up in Deposit was much heavier than in previous years, it came before the sulfurs got cranked up and yes, the fish were willing

Because it didn't cool off last night, temperatures in the three freestone sections of the Delaware River system remain high.  Today is supposed to be cooler and cloudy, if so, things will probably be ok.  If the sun comes out, however, the water temperature in the Beaverkill, Big  East Branch and the Big River will probably  all go over 70 degrees. Best bet is to fish the two branches where cold water releases are keeping the bugs hatching and the fish feeding all day. If your plans include one of the freestone sections check the water temp before fishing. It's early for water temps to be this high and a cold front is on its way so the problem should resolve itself in the next couple of days.

Yesterday I walked into a big river caddis hatch just like I knew what I was doing.  The fish were up and there were about two hours of really good fishing.  Today, I knew just what to do.  Back to the big river I went (different pool) and what did I get?  Caddis pupa husks. Not one caddis, not one rising fish.  Drove back to the scene of yesterdays bonanza and found more husks and no rising trout.  If you were real quiet you could hear the trout laughing. The afternoon wasn't any better. Fished a riff down low on the WB where about ten days ago there were a good number of trout eating caddis. Today - neither caddis nor risers in the hot sun. Stopped at the Troutfitter Shop in Deposit and chatted with Dave who said that the caddis have been hatching up there nonstop for the last two weeks and that there are both Hendrickson and March Brown duns on the water along with both may fly and caddis spinners.  I may not like to deal with the boat traffic but I'm not totally stupid.

A week ago there were three days where I landed a total of 4 fish.  The combo of bright sun, no bugs, no rising fish and drift boats and wade fishermen everywhere was too much to overcome.  My wife, perhaps fearful of me coming home for an extended stay, said "Don't worry in a couple of weeks it'll be all over and people will leave".  Well, it's not all over, in fact it's just begun. With the warm temps (the car said 92 today) the BK and EB peaked at close to 70 degrees.  The unseasonably hot temp coupled with bright sun quelled all midday hatching on the BK, BE and Big River.  Didn't visit the UEB today but the WB upriver of Hale Eddy had hatching bugs and rising fish all afternoon. The evening fishing (you have to stay 'til dark) has been great.  Tonight the March Browns appeared first and floated unmolested down the river.  Then came the other stuff. What other stuff?  Don't know, didn't have time to look. Almost any big fly will work. 

Spent the morning mowing the grass and watering the newly planted part of the lawn.  Just as I finished with the watering the sky darkened and it poured for about twenty minutes.  Looked on the radar and there was this little rain cell right over the river system. At about 1:30 with the sun back out and the temp hitting 80 I headed for the cold water in the UE.  So did a good number of fishermen and everyone who ever wanted to try kayaking.  There had to be at least 75 kayakers on the river.  What was I thinking?  Turned around and drove over to Deposit on the WB where there were lots of drift boats, fishermen, bugs and rising fish.  Couldn't help but notice that on Rte 17 at about 3:00, there was a steady flow of cars heading back to the greater NYC/NJ  metropolitan area while I never saw another vehicle headed west towards Binghamton. Fished one of my secret spots (the  WB "No Kill") for over two hours and was kept busy casting to two year old browns that were risin

Went home yesterday to renew acquaintances with my wife, who just got back from a visit with our Florida daughter and granddaughter. This morning, I loaded the car with clean clothes, food and a tank full of gas and headed back down to the river. Had things put away and lunch eaten by 1:30 so I went fishing. During the course of the day I fished the UEB, BK, WB and the BR. Caught at least one fish at every stop which should constitute a "Delaware River Slam".  If you want to split hairs, it could be said that I didn't fish the BE so it really wasn't a slam. But it was a really nice day of fishing under what were at best mediocre conditions (poor hatches and very little in the way of rising trout). When I wasn't actually fishing, I picked a bag of Fiddlehead ferns, stopped to watch an Indigo Bunting, had over 30 kayakers float by, all of  whom were courteous as could be and wished me good luck, had congenial chats with a homeowner who lets me walk across his la