Angler 119's Delaware River Fishing Report

 As everyone who fishes the Delaware  (or any other stream for that matter) knows, things change.  Yesterday I tried to follow a trail into the river that a Troutfitter regular opened up with pruning shears in early May. The last time I fished there ( probably ten years ago) you could just walk down to the river from where you parked your car. The "trail" now winds it's way endlessly through goldenrod, giant rag weed, multiflora roses, honey suckle and fallen trees. Everything is over your head tall except for the trip logs. It was bad enough that I made sure to come out before dark (something I never do).  The bugs - The predicted cloudy day turned out to be mostly sunny (except for one T-boomer that passed just south of me).  The water was still down in the fifties so according to my olive hatching theory, the sun shouldn't have mattered but for some reason the bug bonanza of the last few days did not happen. There were olives on the water and for about half an hour

 In looking back over your comments I was surprised to see that the last Q & A session was back in July. Since I  have ample free time so there really is no excuse for not doing a better job answering questions promptly. Dennis - The word is mewling and you really haven't done any all year. The most abundant fall flies include olives of all sizes (I try to fish the size the fish are willing to eat),tricos, isos, ephorons (aka white flies), ants, brown caddis, October (aka pumpkin) caddis and finally pseudos. Jack M. - I had intended to fish a tailout of a small pool and a narrow riff that is best fished in low water. The increased flow made wading more difficult and picked up the pace of the water in the tailout to a point where I felt it was unlikely there would be fish up sipping duns. Stayed a half hour with olives on the water and didn't see one eaten. Chose a wider part of the river where the rise in the water was barely noticable and was glad I did. Greg T. - My bug k

 Given the seemingly steady release of 1,100 cfs from Cannonsville coupled with the 200 cfs flow from the EB one could assume that Wallenpaupack Reservoir has been drawn down as far as allowed during the summer (I'll try too check on this tomorrow), and that the Delaware system will be responsible for most all of the Montague minimum flow for the next couple of weeks. What does that mean?  Right now the high flow of cold water is creating an olive bug bonanza that puts the sulfur hatch to shame.   Where?  From what I can determine (keep in mind that I went to one place each day and never moved), there were olives at least from the Barking dog launch site all the way to junction pool. At 1,100 cfs the trick is to find a place where you can wade safely and make casts to the rising fish (think big pool tailouts for starters). When?  There will be olives of all sizes on the water starting about 5:00, the fish are apparently enjoying their cocktail hour then because they don't show

 On Friday they bumped the flow up to 625 cfs, on Monday it was raised to 925 cfs, then dropped back to 600 cfs.  Why? Minimum flow requirements at Montague. Pursuant to an agreement reached by those parties affected by the Delaware River flow the River Master is to maintain a minimum average daily flow of 1750 csf at Montague. If the power plant is running at Wallenpaupack a good deal of the water is supplied as a result of the power generation. If, however, Wallenpaupack is not operating at full capacity the River Master will call for any flow deficiency to be made up by running water from the NYC reservoirs. With the near drought conditions there will be a continued need for water to be supplied by the NYC reservoirs. The amount to be supplied depends on if the power plant is running and for how long. All fishermen should be aware that flows will be changing on an hourly basis. In addition the water beneath the thermocline is fast becoming depleted. It happens every year in the fall