Angler 119's Delaware River Fishing Report

On r&r at home paying bills and mowing grass.  Spent a few minutes looking back at comments (some of you sneak them in a day or two late and I miss them). The number of positive comments is gratifying.  In the six years I've been writing there have only been a couple of drift boaters that might have been a tad sarcastic (don't blame them a bit - we sometimes see things differently). One of the comments was from "A" with a picture of a fisherman netting a fish (same picture is on my business card). Don't know if the message was deleted or if Anthony he is telling me he finally caught a fish. Marty - I learned to fly fish as a kid on the West Canada, stayed at Roy and Ruth Ryan's green shingled camp overlooking the river on Partridge Road.  Fished it from Trenton Falls to Middleburg, a great river. Dennis - Mornings require a little Zen. It can't be too cold, there should be the possibility of a hatch (caddis, tricos, olives) or a spinner fall.  If...

With the freestones near the 70 degree cut off point I decided to go early and try Junction pool.  Seven cars in the lot at 8:00 changed my mind.  Went further upstream and got into feeding fish. After starting out 1/4, I settled down and landed some fish.  Finally managed to get one of the big rainbows that have had no trouble shaking free of the hook, into the net. Was back at the camp by 10:30 doing prep work for the trim painting job. Painting will start Monday.  Upgraded both the small spinner and olive boxes.  Weeded out a few that the fish have had their way with and filled in the blank spots with new ones. Didn't leave camp until almost six this evening and wasn't in a hurry.  For a Friday there seemed to be a dearth of both boats and wade fishermen on the WB.  It's been tough fishing.  The sulfurs haven't really gotten going and the bright sun has pushed other bug hatches into the twilight hours. The water in the WB is full of green a...

As most regular readers know, it is unlikely you will find me in any of the "A" spots where drift boaters line up both to launch and to take out.  Crowds on the river are not my thing. That said - This morning I took it on the chin fishing not one but two places on the freestones.  The water temps were ok (this morning) and I knew there would be no boats and few if any waders.  Was right on all of the above, however, there were also no spinner falls and very few rising fish. Did well on the fall fish but once again lost more trout than I should have.  These were not hot rainbows streaking across the river emitting flames from their aft aperture, no, they were a mix of 12 inch two year olds and a couple of hold over hatchery fish.  Perhaps I'm rushing them, perhaps it's just one of those streaks fishermen go through but  I've to been dropped from fifth to eighth in the batting order for the second game of tonight's twin bill. Drove up to Deposit at about...

This morning was a carbon copy of yesterday, in the forties at dawn, bright blue skies and little to no wind. Picked another riff on the BE and waded in.  There were olive spinners over the water and the fish were already going.  Man were they going but not for spinners. The rises were all splashy and one right after another.  Couldn't see a thing on the water or hatching.  Perhaps fry? Really don't know but they wouldn't give my flies (tried at least a dozen) a look.  The spinners fell and were ignored.  Walked back to the car at noon with my tail between my legs. Had lunch, mowed the lawn and fell asleep doing the crossword puzzle (no need to tie flies that don't work). With all but the two branches too warm to fish I left a little early with the intent of driving up the UE  to see if there weren't some fish gulping sulfurs to be found.  To find fish, gulping sulfurs, you need sulfurs.  While there were a few sulfurs (about one every 15...

First time in four days that I have gotten to fish a "full day" which right now translates into both a morning and evening trip. With the cool early morning temps there was no rush to be on the stream.  Arrived about 10:00 and found spinners dancing over the riff but no trout rising. Within half an hour there were spinners (sulfurs and olives) on the water and trout up. Had risers to fish to from then until 2:00.  Most of the fish were two year olds but a 19 inch rainbow took me about 100 yards downstream before letting me take the hook out. Got back to camp at about 2:30 and spent the rest of the afternoon tying flies. Went back out  about seven and found three wade anglers at Buckingham along with 10 trailers.  Stockport was much worse as the entire pull off area was full and both cars and trailers were parked side of the road. Drove by Shehawken and it appeared to be full of both cars and trailers. Found a pool on the BE that was free of fishermen and decid...

Left my annual eye exam at 3:30 happy with the knowledge that my corrected vision is still 20/15 in both eyes.  Walked out of the office into the bright sunshine with dilated pupils as big as Owl's eyes.  Figured I'd do great about 9:15,  when it got dark and I wasn't far wrong. Stopped at the Troutfitter in Deposit to catch up with the latest fishing news.  Buckingham was reportedly full of trailers on Sunday. Would like to know how many were taking out there,  how many ventured down to Long Eddy and how they did? After unpacking, refrigerating my weeks food, hanging up my washed and ironed shirts (thanks Hon), watering the orchids and the newly seeded portion of the lawn, it was 7:00 and I was ready to go fishing.  Saw no boats and only two anglers on the WB from Deposit all  the way down to Hancock.  Decided to go back up, enjoy the solitude and find out why no one was there. Fished water between Dream Catchers and Hale Eddy from about 7:...

Haven't lectured lately on things that I just know to be true, so here goes: 1-On this river, it's harder to fool fish with a big fly than a little one. 2-Trout NEVER miss a dry fly they want to eat, if you don't get a hookup when one rises to your fly, something was wrong with either the fly or the cast. 3-Never throw the same fly back at a fish that refused it, it just confirms his decision. 4-Trout are seldom, if ever, eating just one kind of bug, they eat anything that floats by without a hook in it. 5-Casting is the most important factor in being able to catch fish. 6-You have to put the fly in a two inch wide feeding lane and float it drag free over the fish. 7-Don't be in a hurry to pick up your fly when it floats past the fish, the noise of the pickup lets the fish know you are there. 8-Never fall in love with a fish, once he knows you are there the odds of catching him drop to near zero. 9-Watch the white bubbles nearest your fly, if they are moving ...