Angler 119's Delaware River Fishing Report

 If you're wondering, I'm home. No matter what DRC might say it's not a nice day to be on the river. It was 40 degrees on the camp porch this morning with a 20/30 mph wind out of the north. The rivers are up,  and the WB water from the reservoir is murky and full of leaves.  Sat out yesterday too because of the high water, wind and leaves. The outlook - Not as bad as it seems today.  For good fall dry fly fishing you need low flows of cold water.  With the reservoirs well below normal levels, the releases have been reduced and they will be cut back further on October first. There is a frost warning for tonight with normal temps predicted for the coming week. If the temps drop into the 40's most nights we should get pseudos' hatching around mid afternoon (think Hendrickson hatch time), in the slow water pools.  With no fishing to report it's probably a good time to answer questions. Ed S. asked how I decide which fly to use when so many bugs are hatching and...

 The average temp for today is a high of 68 and a low of 45. It was in the high seventies with bright sunshine today with a predicted low of  sixtyone tonight. A beautiful early fall day most would say. Not us fishermen.  The bright sun and warm nighttime temperatures are keeping the river too warm for good fall bugs.  A front is supposed to come through tonight or tomorrow that is supposed to get things back to normal or even a little below, we'll see. Today it was just too hot and sunny. Didn't even think about fishing until 5:00 and that was way too early. Spent time trying to get the yard back in shape after the dry, hot summer, tied up a few flies, made some business calls, shot the bow (had to walk down to the target two times to chase one of  the apple loving deer away from the target), and just  maybe closed my eyes for a minute or two. The fishing - Left something to be desired. After two good days of fall fishing this one left a lot to be desired....

Woke up with a bit of a sore shoulder this morning. No, not from fighting fish. It came from patting myself on the back for putting myself in two places yesterday, both with rising fish willing to eat my flies.  Buoyed by yesterday's  success I opted to fish the BR this morning. Maybe the water is a little warm in the BR for fall bugs but the water temp is coolest in the morning and almost no one has been below Buckingham. At 9:30 I stopped on the Lordville bridge to watch an angler in a drift boat fishing the riff (no one arrives at the Lordville riff before noon). Drove up river and there was another drift boat in the lower section of the Buckingham water. Didn't know if I should abort the BR venture or be encouraged with my selection because guides (who always know when and where to be) were already on the water long before the designated noon starting time.  Decided to get above the drift boats and take advantage of the fact that I was in sync with the guides. Made a ...

 With the Cannonsville release down to about 300 cfs I was anxious to get back down to fish. Why?  The release water is cold enough for bugs and at 300 cfs the fish will come up for even the smallest ones. Arrived at 11:30 and there were heads coming out of the water below the town bridge. Was in the water after a brief stop at the Troutfitter and had rising fish until 2:30 when the thunderstorms moved in. The fishing?  Picked up an ant off the water as I was wading in so I tied one on and began fishing. Caught a hatchery fish and then suffered through a bunch of refusals. Never saw another ant but the trout kept right on rising. Bent down so that my eyes were bifocal level above the water and saw a myriad of insects floating by. Stuff the fish pay no attention to if the water is at 600 cfs becomes table fare at 300 cfs.  The big problem is that none of it fits on a hook. Fished with the smallest stuff I had and switched from that back and forth with the ants. Caught...