Angler 119's Delaware River Fishing Report

 It's time once again to try to answer questions and this week thank people for sharing their on river experiences. Jim - I've caught well over 90 percent of my fish during the sulfur hatch on a size 18 sulfur dun tied with either a yellow, orange or yellow/orange body and a CDC upright wing. A lot of fish in the Sulfur Zone now recognize it and are happy to let me know it's not as good as the real thing. Maxwell - The closer you get to a straight downstream cast the better the chance the fish will eat as he sees only the fly, however, it's an all or nothing proposition as the retrieve of the uneaten fly spooks the fish.  My power alley seems to be the 45 degree downstream angle.  Somehow the depth perception seems better and you can let the fly drift by and make a retrieve without scaring the fish.  The farther upstream you go the more leader the fish sees so the odds of success go down.  If there are lots of fish rising, as has been the case for me this summer...

Things seem to be getting back to normal after the latest flash flood.  The rivers have cleared up quite a bit and have returned to ideal flows.  What we need now is for the air temps to cool down so we can all spread out and enjoy the rest of the river system. The midday sulfurs were late to the table with the bulk of them hatching, where I was, from about 1:30 to 2:30. There were sulfurs on the water before noon but the trout passed up the hors d'oeuvres and waited for the entrée.  When the bugs got going so did the fish but man were they careful. Got refusals from several good fish and never got one to eat.  At least half of the fish I caught were two year old 12 inch hatchery fish.  A couple of 13 inch wild trout highlighted the midday catch. The evening fishing was a different story. Tired of both the crowds and fishing the same pools over and over again, I drove over to the UE where both the water level and temp were ideal. Saw very few fishermen, no bugs ...

 After yesterday's futile drive around the river system that produced nothing but wet waders and one 9 inch juvenile brown, I was ready to get even.  For once my prediction of water conditions was at least close to accurate.  The WB above Oquaga was relatively clear and fishable.  At 3:00 today the river below Oquaga was still muddy (or "stained" as those with a vested interest in filling rooms and guide boats would say). At 11:30 there were over a dozen cars parked along the river from the Stilesville lot to the red barn. There was a boat anchored in the riff at the top of the red barn pool and two anglers in the pool. Don't know where all the rest of the fishermen were but I paid my five dollars and joined the two fisherman in the pool.  It was not money well spent.  Could have counted the bugs I saw without taking off my socks and shoes. Never threw at a riser.  Highlight of the morning was a fish that slowly came up, looked at my fly, shook his hea...

As I'm sure you all know, the third major rain event in nine days hit the river system about nine last night.  The WB was hardest hit as the water level at Hale Eddy exceeded both of the previous storms.  The BK and EB got off lightly and both would be fishable tomorrow if it wasn't so d--- hot.  The UE was also spared the worst of the rain and was actually at a fishable level with water clarity above Harvard about three feet.  Tried three places on the UE this evening.  It appears everyone is smarter than me as there were no fishermen, bugs or risers.  Then again, I got to drive around in my air conditioned car instead of sitting in the 80+ degree camp. The WB was deserted up to the Town bridge in Deposit.  At about 6:30 from there up to Cold Spring Brook there were at least 25 anglers. I saw no bugs or risers but the were all giving it their best shot, hope they all caught a fish or two.  The outlook - With no rain in the immediate forecast the ...

 Well I got it out of my system. Was on the big river fishing the WB cold water side before the fog burned off. Hoped to find enough tricos to get some fish up.  Never saw a one.  Didn't see any bugs of any kind for that matter.  Blind cast a caddis and to my surprise rose a dozen rainbows, hooked eight and landed five.  Before anyone gets excited they were all juveniles between eight and nine inches long.  Never rose a good fish but it does bode well for next year.  When the sun burned through the fog the heat was unbearable. Got back to the car soaking wet at 10:30.  If I wanted to fish the "mid-day" sulfurs it was too late to go back to the camp so I drove up to Deposit and talked with Dave at the Troutfitter.  Went out at 11:30 and joined another angler who was fishing one of the pools above Deposit. There were good bugs and rising fish.  There was also a sneaky draft blowing right upstream. Sometimes the fly went where it was suppos...

 We have had six weeks of some of the best sulfur fishing I ever remember.  Two hatches a day with lots of rising fish.  It's been crowded at times but you can usually find a pool in the "Sulfur Zone" with plenty of both space and rising fish. So what's wrong?  I'm tired of it.  It's a same old, same old kind of thing.  Love the bugs and rising fish but enough is enough.  I fish five days a week and am use to fishing two or three of the rivers EVERY DAY.  To be confined to a few short miles of the WB, no matter how good the fishing is, is like being on house arrest, it bores me silly.  I've fished every inch of the river from the little gravel island up above the Stilesville  parking lot down to the bottom of the "No Kill" so many times that I feel like I know every fish and that they know every sulfur in my box. It's August 10th, my porch screens tell me that isos and Cahill's are hatching on the BR. We got the rains we needed to freshe...

 Last week was a tough one if you were a fly fisherman on the Delaware what with hurricane Isaias blowing out the eastern half of the system on Tuesday and then a severe thunderstorm dumping even more water on the WB Friday.  Drove home on Friday and spend a quiet couple of days with Jean.  We tackled another 500 piece puzzle on Saturday evening not expecting to finish it until next weekend. It proved to be much easier than the 11 tiger puzzle that took two weekends.  We did about 3/4ers of it Saturday night and finished it off early Sunday morning.   Left in time for the mid day sulfurs, found an empty pool and was treated to a good hatch with lots of feeding trout. Got a passel of refusals but enough fish ate to make it an enjoyable two hours of fishing.  Drove down to the camp with a car load of supplies including a five gallon bucket filled with apples. Less than a quarter mile from the camp a van came around a blind corner taking his half of the r...