Angler 119's Delaware River Fishing Report

Cooler days and hatching sulfurs have fishing on an upswing. The water levels are excellent for wading while challenging for drift boaters. All fishermen and guides should refrain from fishing the BR below Stockport and on most days even fishing below junction pool should be avoided.  A significant rise in the water combined with cooler temps would sure be welcomed by all. Painting (and cleanup) ran overtime this morning and I didn't get on the river until 2:00. Was able to find an empty run on the WB near Deposit.  A couple of anglers walked up to where I was fishing but both gave me plenty of space. The fish on the WB are as tough to fool as any trout I have ever fished for anywhere. If I was awarded a dollar for every refusal (when the trout rises but doesn't eat your fly)  I've had the last two days I could take my wife out to dinner at the fanciest restaurant she could find (after the Covid pandemic) and still have enough money left for a generous tip. Fished two...

The trim painting seems to be settling in as a morning job.  Since I don't like painting in near 90 degree heat mid afternoon, the decision was an easy one. With the freestones (BK, BE and BR) up in the 70 most of the day, the fish have either left the rivers or are in thermal refuges and should not be fished to.  The two branches are full of both fish and cold water. The water is so cold that there is usually little bug hatching early morning. The sulfurs are now hatching mid day in the upper WB in sufficient numbers to get fish up and feeding. Left camp about 1:00 and joined four wade anglers and one drift boat in a pool above Hale Eddy. One of the wade anglers turned out to be an old/old friend (old in terms of both years fishing  and years known).  With rising trout all around us we matched wits with the feeding trout. If the trout were awarded a point for each refusal and the anglers got  three points for every fish caught, we got hammered.  Yes we c...

The rain early this morning amounted to little more than a heavy dew.  The rivers didn't come up but the air changed.  It was noticeably cooler with a very nice breeze.  Spent the morning working on my trim painting project and didn't get serious about fishing until almost seven in the evening. Drove up to Deposit and found plenty of room to fish (had a pool to myself).  There were a few stenos hatching and the fish were looking to eat. Most casts at risers got looks.  Refusals out numbered takes by at least three to one but there were plenty of fish willing to eat my flies. There were small olives on the water late and the fish got on them.  Kept my steno on as it was easier to see in the dark.  The fish didn't seem to mind. Don't know if the  change in the weather was the reason but tonight was the best  fishing of the week - by far.

Went out this morning and fished two places on the WB that I haven't fished in several weeks, one above Hale Eddy and one in the middle section.  There was a pulse of about 750 cfs sent down the river from Cannonsville yesterday to help cool the BR.  The flow was back down in the WB this morning but the water was in the low 50's and there was no hatching or rising. This evening I drove up the UE where the water has been above 70 degrees at Harvard the last two days.  There were a handful of fishermen on the BE (at almost 80 degrees), hope they were fishing for bass.  There were a couple of cars at Long Flat where the temp was probably above 70.  Above Shinhopple there were multiple fishermen in every pool. Glassed several pools and never saw a bug or a rise (at 7:00), did a U- turn and headed back to Hancock. With another large pulse of cold water heading down the WB, I was leery of the effect it would have on bug hatches there and again opted for the BR....

It's summer, the calendar says so and so do the temps, in fact they've been saying so for at least a week.  It's been very hot, dry and sunny and the flows in all of the rivers have dropped, while the water temps have soared.  The river system that just a few days ago offered fishermen over 80 miles of fishing has shrunken to a mere 30. The latest flow regime which was instituted last year with the goal of keeping the water temp below 75 at Lordville failed to do so today as the temp hit 76 ( a bigger release is now on the way down river that will hopefully correct the problem). Was fishing Junction Pool tonight (in the cooler WB water) when four drift boats (three were licensed guides) floated into the pool and on down river where the 80 degree EB water had made the BR way too warm to fish.  Under current conditions Stockport and below are not ethically acceptable take out destinations!!! The fishing today was a struggle. Bright sun with both hot air and water temp...

For many people who share the outdoors in the shadow of the Great Lake's,  June 21st is the melancholy beginning of the long downward march of ever shortening days that leads to the clouds and gloom of  November and December in upstate New York.  Yes, it's the longest day but the tide has turned. You won't notice it at first but you'll be getting done fishing a little earlier each night, the birds will stop singing at 5:00 in the morning,  the swallows that have been devouring bugs over the river will soon give way to the wax wings and bucks will be seen sporting their new velvet covered antlers. June 21st is also the day in which Mother Nature lets you spend the absolute maximum number of day light hours enjoying what you love to do outdoors. It doesn't get any better than that. It's daylight at 4:45 in the morning and you can still be casting at a rising trout at 9:30 at night. The 21st of June has always been a holiday for me, one to be spent fishing.  Th...

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 Hill 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...

Someone in the publication department here at Angler 119 inadvertently hit the publish button on an untitled, unedited and unfinished blog page entitled "Paying Homage" .  An internal investigation has been launched and once uncovered the wrongdoer will be terminated (we take our jobs here seriously). Update - Have been advised by my quality control experts that the "work in progress page " that was previously being shown has been swapped out for the finished product which probably has fewer grammatical errors and can now be read in its entirety.