Angler 119's Delaware River Fishing Report

 From the beginning of May until the middle of August the fishing was as good as I've ever seen.  Then things came to a halt. Actually they didn't really come to a halt, conditions changed, it was harder to catch fish and I didn't adjust my expectations. No longer were 10 fish days a dead cert, as things stand right now catching a fish or two is an accomplishment. Is the good fishing over for the year? Almost certainly not; let's take a look where we are and what will probably make it better. What led to the decline? The freestones (BK,BE and BR) have all been too warm to fish for the past two and a half months. The UEB is no longer stocked and it will take another year or two for the wild trout to reach respectable size. The sulfur hatch petered out when the reservoir water below the thermocline became exhausted. The water now being released from Cannonsville is 6/8 degrees warmer than it was during the summer. The area is experiencing drought warnings that have led to...

It's 6:30 and I'm rattling the ice in my glass in hopes that a mermaid will magically appear and "top off" my Perfect Manhattan. Didn't fish today. Why? Checked DRC's most recent report and they said everyone would be throwing streamers this afternoon and that the water up at Stilesville was still at 383 cfs and my only option for wading. Drove up to Deposit and to my surprise found no one at the red barn. Continued up to the Stilesville parking spot only to find it full, with  more cars parked along the road. No one was in sight so I drove up stream a little further and found a line of anglers all standing a short cast from the mud line created by the water gushing in from Cold Springs Brook. Never saw a rise, never saw an angler cast and never saw a bug on the water even with my binocs. (Also never really thought about fishing because it had rained all night, the water was up again, and I do look at the flows before leaving home. DRC never made a new report ...

It wasn't a hurricane (or even a tropical depression for that matter), but it did the job and threatens to do more. Twenty four hours of rain, much of it no more than a light mist but it sure helped.  Unfortunately the rivers above the reservoirs didn't seem to receive as much rain as we did. Yesterday at 7:45 I crossed the BR with ease. Tonight I could run my flats skiff with it's 90hp Yamaha up it without a worry of hitting a rock.  The fishing - Yes there was some.  No, the river wasn't filled with boats with sports throwing streamers but there were six cars in the red barn lot and the Stilesville "Fishermen Park Here" lot was full, with overflow cars parked along the road. Never saw a boat, the Men's Club lot was empty and there was little if anyone fishing below Oquaga. My river friend Mike and I fished above the Deposit town bridge, one angler was below the bridge and one above us. The olive hatch was sparse, to say the least and I never saw an iso o...

Left Lafayette with a plan. It wasn't complicated. Saw David's video and read Dennis' report. I would be at Deposit by noon and fish the olives in 375 cfs of relatively cold water. Drove down in what you would call a heavy mist until I turned the corner at Binghamton. By the time I got to Windsor it was raining hard and the little creeks were colored. My first look at Oquaga let me know I wouldn't be fishing the no-kill. Arrived at 11:30 and if the olives were hatching no one would ever know. The rain was coming down hard and there was a heavy fog on the water.  Chatted with Dave for a few minutes and left for the fishing camp. Unpacked, ate lunch and checked river levels and temps. Oquaga had gone from 10 cfs to 200 cfs (it's now at 300 cfs) and the whole region was yellow on the radar.  About 3:30 the rain let up enough to get me in the car for a drive around. Went up the BR on the PA side and it was still clear and low. The 191 bridge in Deposit showed that the S...

 After basically meeting minimum flow requirements at Montague for two days and then substantially exceeding them for the next five days the River Master has allowed NYC to reduce the release from Cannonsville to 357 CFS. It takes about 40 hours for the Cannonsville release water to reach Montague so it would appear that the River Master is counting on the predicted rain to make up the shortfall. If  the nights remain warm and we get sunshine the rivers will all be too warm for good bugs. If we get substantial rain it could help redistribute fish in all of the rivers. If it stays cloudy and the flows are increased it could be good fishing. Basically there is no way to know. A-119 will probably be back down to the "Lordville Estate" on Monday and will try to sort things out. If the family has something planned for the weekend go and enjoy - you probably won't be missing much.  Any one who can supply on site information  -  feel free to jump in.