Angler 119's Delaware River Fishing Report

 Dennis had the only question this week and it comes in three parts.  Part one - Do fish refuse a fly because of taste?  It's possible, but extremely unlikely. Bonefish guides often squeeze a shrimp on their sports fly to increase chances of a take. Bonefishermen are careful to wash their hands after applying sun tan lotion. I've seen bonefish turn from over 100 yards away and swim up tide to a chum tube with live shrimp in it. So some fish use their nose to help in finding food. Technically this would be smell, not taste.  I believe trout feed on floating flies primarily by sight.  That said, I have seen trout come up to my fly and bump it with their nose (actually hooked one in the nose this year), so maybe. But actually by taste? No, if the fly was in their mouth you would have already hooked it.  What causes a fish to reject a fly at the last second?  Fishing as much as I do and for as long as I have I've probably had more flies rejected than most ...

 Things got into a routine this week. The afternoon sulfurs have become quite regular, with the hatch starting right around noon. They have hatched in good enough numbers in the upper few miles of the WB to get most of the fish up and feeding. If you go, know that it will be crowded.  There are rising fish everywhere so you don't need to be in one of the "A spots" to cast at feeding trout. Catching them is another matter. The evening fishing this week was for me lots of fun. Stayed up top one night and had good bugs. They seem to get going around 7:00 or when the river is in shadow and went well until about 8:00. There are still some risers right up until dark but the sulfur hatch thins out, be sure to check for both olives and  spinners on the water late.  The fun part for me was being able to fish down river on the WB and a bit of the upper part of the BR.  The flow is just about perfect and the water temp never went above the mid 60's.  Unfortunately tha...

The grass needed mowing, more peaches needed to be taken off the freestone trees (to avoid further breakage), tied new and repaired old flies, shot my bow, cleaned the toilet and vacuum the rugs (Jean will be here tonight). With all the delays it was a minor miracle to be riverside about 2:30.  Please note that riverside is not fishing. It's counting the number of anglers (9) in the Red Barn (aka pasture) pool, chatting with river friends and just trying to find an uncrowded place to fish.   Settled on a place that I fished about a month ago.  The one that no longer has a path upstream.  Waded up to where I wanted to start and promptly hooked a nice 18 inch brown on a blind cast. A few minutes later a guide friend came down the river and while we were chatting another 18 incher ate a blind cast. They were the first browns I've hooked that were over 16 inches in over a week.  Fished for almost three hours without seeing more than a handful of rises that were...

Finished up my tasks back in Syracuse, had a bite to eat and was on the road at 12:45. Arrived in Deposit shortly after two and it looked like a different river from Monday. There was a solid line of wade anglers from Stilesville to at least the corn field pool (do they still call it that?) and probably all the way to barking dog. Boats were everywhere most were anchored (some with sports and guide out of the boat). Fishing the "A" pools was not an option. Spent two hours trying to fool about a dozen fish who were  sipping living creatures not far up the size chart from an amoeba.  Saw one eat a sulfur and quickly threw mine at him.  The fish came half way up to the fly and then sank back down as if to say, "As a fly tier you've got a long way to go". Next stop was water with a little more pace. There were a few sulfurs and olives on the water and if you were patient every once in a while a fish would rise. Most good casts got a look, some a take.  Spent three h...

Back in Lafayette this evening so that I can take care of a few obligations tomorrow morning.  If all goes well I'll be on the river tomorrow. Did I fish today?  You betcha! After yesterdays fish catching bonanza there was no way I wouldn't be on the stream today.  My arrival home time was listed as TBD (to be determined). If I fished late and was tired, I'd sleep at the LVE and head home early in the am.  If the fishing was lousy, I'd head home tonight. I'm home and it's only 7:00pm, what does that tell you?  Well you're probably wrong. Got to the river earlier than I have been arriving but later than I'd planned on.  Was delayed watching a golden eagle fly around the pool in front of the camp. He/she lit in one of the silver maples that block my view of the Lordville riff. Also took the time to shoot my bow.  Am determined to become a more accurate archer, there is progress but at my age the improvement comes slowly. The fishing - Left camp about 1:0...

 Got up at 4:00 to watch the USWNST  lose to Canada 1- 0 on a penalty kick, won't do that again. Had breakfast and drove down to the fishing camp.  Despite the early arrival I didn't head out to fish until 1:30. Went east with the intention of checking rocks along the shore of pools for iso husks.  If the isos are there so are the fish.  Unfortunately it had rained, the water came up and the iso husks were gone.  Pool hopped from just above Jaws all the way to Cemetery.  In the high water the past two weeks there were isos hatching and fish feeding in every pool. Today with the water down to 300 cfs (which is a good fishing level), there were no bugs of any kind (it was too early in the day for isos to be hatching) and no fish rising. Caught half a dozen yearling fish (none over 10 inches), all wild and evenly split between browns and rainbows. The first isos were starting to hatch as I was walking out of the last pool. Bright sunny days in midsummer a...

It's been two weeks since the last question and answer session. Didn't write one last week as I answered  Dennis and Paul's questions about the BK and water levels as the week went on.  Dennis also asked, Why no risers when the sulfurs are hatching?  Wish I knew. I do know high pressure inhibits rising. There is probably also an energy expenditure vs nutritional return ratio that the trout work out. When they eat tricos they sit  just below the surface and sip 'em in. You seldom if ever see good trico fishing in high water.  The last two weeks with over 1500 cfs coming down the WB probably made eating sulfurs in the heavy water a weight losing proposition (which is why you found the fish sipping sulfurs  in the tailout at the Red Barn). Thanks to everyone who shared their experiences while fishing  the river as well as memories that may have been stirred by my ramblings.  It's much more fun for me to read of someone else's experiences than to rere...