Angler 119's Delaware River Fishing Report

With high pressure and a piping wind out of the north it was a great day to do yard work.  Spent the early morning hours watching the WNST play the Netherlands.  Soccer is the only sport I know that has not yielded to the TV ad men.  They play two 45 minute halves and stop the clock for nothing. The US won a thriller in a shootout after ending two overtime periods tied 2 -2.  Spent the rest of the morning and early afternoon out in the yard cutting down more Norway Maple limbs, killing sedge nut and shooting my bow. Devoted about half an hour to mixing up a new batch of fly float. Last night I had to put on a new fly after every fish as the flotant gummed up the cdc and the flies sank like the Titanic.  About 4:00, after a short nap, I got in the car and took a drive. Saw two monarch butterflies crossing route 17 from north to south sailing on the 20 mph wind.  Are they heading for Mexico already? Stopped at the pool on the BK where I met both trout and iso...

Today didn't quite go as planned.  Weatherman said showers beginning at two, decided I could wait for the dew to dry on the grass before mowing.  Got out the ladder and cut down some low hanging branches from my neighbors Norway maple tree and then preformed an amputation on a limb of one of the  freestone peach trees.  We got a big wind storm two nights ago (when four of the TFR's kept Dave in the shop for an hour past closing time).  Mentioned previously that the power was out in Lordville, what I failed to mention was that one of the freestone peach trees suffered a broken limb. After consulting an arborologist (sorry Keith that's the best I can do), a decision was made to perform the surgery.  Additional cosmetic surgery will be preformed during the tree's dormant period. The loss of peaches will be sure to drive the price of peaches up at your local grocery store. The peach loving deer seem unconcerned.  The lawn mowing started at eleven and the o...

 Said I wasn't going to the Sulfur Zone today, well, I lied.  Left the LVE about 2:30, surveyed the river on both sides from Hale Eddy to Stilesville.  There were sulfurs hatching and some fish rising most everywhere.  There were also multiple drifters and waders in almost every pool. About 3:15 I finally found an empty spot that had both bugs and fish.  Decided to set a 15 refusal limit.  When the 15th fish refused my sulfur I turned around and headed for the car. Two more fish refused my fly on the way back. If you're curious, I hooked two fish and landed one ten incher. It was 4:30 when I got in the car. My feelings about the Sulfur Zone are well known. Too many boats and people. Last season with heavy hatches and feeding fish in both the afternoon and evening you just had to be there.  This year the hatches just aren't as good, it happens.  There are both bugs and fish but I've only seen two or three times when the hatch was heavy enough to ge...

It's four am in the morning.  Was just awakened by a tractor trailer backing down the road outside the bedroom window.  Warren Road is a dead end and there is no place on it for a big rig to turn around. Went to bed early as once again the power was out here in Lordville when I returned from fishing.  Thankfully there was still ice for the Perfect Manhattan! Got busy with chores around the camp yesterday and didn't leave for fishing until after 3:00.  It did occur to me that, with severe thunderstorm warnings until six, my departure made little sense.  The radar seemed to give us a chance of having the storm go by to the north but by the time I got to Deposit there were dark clouds in the west. The river wasn't crowded but there were boats and waders in every one of the "Sulfur Zone" hot spots. Put on the waders and tried a place I've been unable to fish during the high water.  Wanted to see if I could cross at the current water level. It's better to find ...

 Today was a busy day. Had a short business meeting at 8:00, by 9:00 Jean and I were in the kitchen (she was there at 8:00 peeling peaches) doing three batches of peach jam.  At 10:00 we were doing final cleanup to the sound of popping lids.  If you are a canner, you love the sound of popping lids. Was in the car headed for Lordville shortly after the cleanup.  Stopped at the Troutfitter in Deposit to buy a couple of leaders and then drove down to the L.V. E.  By 1:30 food was in the fridge, clothes were in the drawers and after a quick lunch, I was ready to go fishing. Drove back up to Deposit and saw quite a few bugs but no risers in the big pool below the Town bridge. The releases from both reservoirs are being cut back and the water levels are getting better for waders hour by hour. Don't know if there aren't enough sulfurs in the afternoon hatch or if the water is still too high but there were not a lot of fish up. Was able to catch fish but really had to w...

 After four days of beautiful, cool, dry weather the rivers are returning to more normal levels. Both the Willowemoc and Beaverkill can be comfortably waded. The water temps there have been fine for fishing but we are in the hottest week (on average) of the year.  If the water levels continue to drop and we get sunshine the temps could quickly rise above the 70 degree cut off point. Look for isos to be hatching late afternoons or in the evening depending on water temps. The UEB and WB reservoirs are no longer spilling.  The NYDEP has quickly cut back the Pepacton release from 700 cfs to 450 cfs, so much for creating a void for flood mitigation. The UEB level at Harvard is in the 800 cfs range and is dropping. The river can be waded at this level if you are careful.  The Cannonsville release is still maxed out at 1,500 cfs which limits the safe wading opportunities on the WB. The high water and cooler temperatures may well have resulted in trout leaving their thermal ...