Angler 119's Delaware River Fishing Report

With three hours of painting to get in before my wife's arrival for the annual Lordville 4th of July parade there was little thought given to fishing.  It's hot and the fish are tough to catch. Will attack them with a new array of flies, probably on Monday.  We polished off a 300 piece crossword puzzle (child's play), then took a drive up to the Beaverkill to fill my water jugs and look for trout in thermal refuges.  Filled the jugs and saw a good number of trout trying to survive under difficult conditions. Since I usually don't fish on the weekends it's a good time to answer questions and thank commenters for any info passed along. Dick - My old Winston is indeed an IM6  and I have often said it's like an extension of my right arm.  The best trout rod I've ever fished with. James -  I feel your pain, if you had gone one pool farther down the river you would have found me and a gentleman from Michigan enjoying a great sulfur hatch.  I spend a go...

With the heat wave predicted to continue for a week or more I decided to try a split day.  Took advantage of the cool water on the PA side of the upper BR.  Fished two hours, never saw a bug hatch, saw one fish rise (he then came up and refused my caddis). I rose two fish blind casting. The first fish (a 17 inch rainbow) ate my spinner and sent the skunk skulking back into the woods. The second refused an iso. With the sun beating down mid-day I called in sick and didn't show up for the painting job. Drove around a bit and saw sulfurs hatching amidst the boats and wade fishermen crowded into the No-Kill section of the WB. There was not enough room for me to fish comfortably so I drove back to camp and fell asleep part way through Thursday's NY Times crossword puzzle.  Felt no need to rush back out into the hot sun so I waited 'til 7:30 to head back up towards Deposit.  There were drift boats and wade fishermen everywhere. Ended up stopping at the Red Barn above D...

With a forecast for ten days of relentless heat, I decided to work on the painting project and forego the afternoon fishing. I've had a difficult time finding hatching sulfurs.  For all I know the sulfurs might have hatched like crazy this afternoon.  All I do know is that there has been a very good sulfur spinner fall every night for over a week. The time of the hatch remains a mystery but there can't be spinner falls without hatching. Left camp at 6:30 (a good two hours too early) and drove up the UE.  There is another pulse coming down the WB and while the algae shouldn't be as bad as it was yesterday, the unpredictability of how the pulse will effect both the hatch and the fish sent me east. There were just a few anglers on the UE,  a small fraction of what was there a few short weeks ago. That said, there were four fishermen in the run I had hoped to fish.  Saw no bugs on the water and no rising fish from the Sunoco Station in East Branch up to and beyo...

The lawn needed mowing, the trim painting project is on going and the weather forecast said 80% chance of rain.  When the sun burned through the fog and the lawn dried,  I mowed and painted. When the sulfurs come like they did yesterday you only need to fish seven 'till dark to have a good day. Got done with the work  (forgot to mix new fly float and to tie more flies) and went out about 4:30. Got one of the two slots in the guard rail gap across from "Barking Dog" boat launch and fished for about an hour.  Saw four fish rise, three ate my fly, the other one said " No thanks".  Landed two of the three and was back to my four day average of two fish per afternoon. With thunder booming and lightning flashing I was in no hurry to re-enter the fray. After the storm went by I looked for a place to fish. Settled on a spot between Hale Eddy and Deposit where I've had both good and bad nights this year.  Waded in and promptly hooked a nice rising fish that came...

Awakened Tuesday morning to a steady rain that put the kibosh on the paint job and moved lawn mowing to the top of the list for tomorrow. Spent the morning tying up some killer sulfurs. A counterclockwise rotation of  moisture laden clouds kept it raining in one or more places most of the day. A raincoat was required at all times. Seemed like a good olive day from the get go - it wasn't.  Drove the length of the WB from Hancock to Stilesville early afternoon and saw neither bugs nor rises.  Blind cast an iso for almost two hours in a riff in the lower section of the river.  Hooked and landed two nice fish.  Got back to the car just as one of the showers hit. Drove back up to Deposit still looking for a rising fish. Finally saw a couple of risers and a few sulfurs at about four o'clock. Sulfurs hatch when the water temp is in the low 50's and with limited sun the water didn't warm up as early as usual. The hatch might have been late starting but once it got g...

Returned to the "Lordville Estate" after a relaxing weekend back in Lafayette. Arrived at 8:30 this morning and painted until noon.  Had lunch and got occupied putting the food and clean clothes away, filling bird feeders, watering the orchids and before I knew it it was 2:00. Set out for the WB where I enjoyed good fishing last week.  First stop was one of my secret places - the Hale Eddy Bridge.   Walked out on the bridge and saw a few sulfurs hatching.  No risers but also no fishermen.  After 45 minutes it was evident that there was a reason - no feeding fish.  Reeled it in and headed up to Deposit. Runs that had wade fishermen lined up like a picket fence last Friday had nary a fisherman.  Stood on the Deposit town bridge and saw no one fishing upstream or down. Tried the riff/ run/ pool above the bridge for a little over an hour.  There were a few bugs and an occasional riser. Caught some yearling rainbows (about 8 inches) and one nice...

Last Sunday the weekend crew attempted to answer questions that had come in as well as thank those who had left comments. It resulted in the publication of a half written page and required Dave's  computer skills to straighten out on Monday morning.  Hopefully they do a better job today. Chris Z and Kip H - When I write of the UE I'm talking of the East Branch from Downsville to East Branch.  It receives cold water releases from Pepacton Reservoir and is a prolific producer of wild brown trout.  There are several camp grounds along its fifteen mile length and I would speculate that there is considerable pressure from campground owners to keep the stream stocked.  While the hatchery trout provide entertainment and are easier to catch than the wild trout, they are, because of their size, able to dominate wild trout of a similar age class, taking the best lies for themselves.  Research has shown that the wild trout population in streams with reproductive cap...