Angler 119's Delaware River Fishing Report

  The NYC DEP out did themselves last night. They reduced the out-flows from both Cannonsville and Pepactin and in the process totally disregarded the mandated step down procedure for releases. In both cases they just cranked the valve down to the new desired flow and let the flow drop in one stage. Perhaps the NY DEC said fine, knowing that the rivers were more than bank full and that it would do little harm to the river's insect life, but come on, the regulation is there for a purpose and all it would have taken was for two people to stay awake for a few hours to adjust the flow in the required increments.  And while I'm ranting, what would be wrong with starting the repair draw-down now, averaging out the difference between the FFMP mandated 500cfs flow from now until June first and the proposed 1,500 cfs release after the first?  It would eliminate the need for the 1,500cfs flow which will keep many fishermen off the river and by reducing the maxed out flow avoid need...

  Drove home early yesterday morning for my appointment to get new tires and brakes. The bill came to just $50.00 dollars more than the cost of my  first car (a VW Bug). Spent a pleasant evening with Jean, packed up the car in the morning and headed back down to the Lordville Estate for the remaining two days of the fishing week.  The weather (at 4:38 this afternoon it hit 90 degrees on the car temp gage) has everyone thinking bugs, bugs, bugs, except the bugs. With cloudless skies, bright sunshine and a brisk breeze, I was not going to fish unless I saw a reason to. Drove from Lordville to Livingston Manor and from there to Deposit, stopping everywhere for a look and saw not one rise. Spoke with several experienced DR anglers (the ones with the dirty, stained vests) all of whom felt "it was about to happen", alas it didn't. The water on the east side is in perfect shape for fishing, low and clear (well the UEB is still a little high).  But, the bugs and fish are not...

 Attended the meeting last night about the repair work scheduled to be done this year on the aqueduct that runs water from the Delaware River System  reservoirs(Cannonsville, Pepacton and Neversink) down to NYC. There are two leaks, the biggest of which is under the Hudson River. A new two plus mile section of aqueduct has been constructed under the river and is now ready to be connected to the existing line to replace the part that is leaking. The project will cost one billion dollars and the work is supposed to be completed in eight months. Project start date is October 1, 2023 with completion by the end of May 2024. How does it effect us? Because the Delaware water aqueduct will be shut down during the construction all of the water will be sent down the three rivers. The plan is to create a 30% void in each reservoirs prior to the October 1st start date. This will lessen the chance of flooding should there be significant amounts of precipitation during the shutdown period. ...

Tyng stone flies isn't as easy as it looks. Yes, I can tie them with the wings lying along the shank of the hook, but what the trout want is wings at right angles to the water, flapping like crazy as the fly heads for shore. I'll work on it in the morning. Divided the morning between the Monday puzzle array, spraying the fruit trees and tying more stones. Had lunch and about 1:30, and headed for the Willow where a good water level and a decent water temp gave me hope of some may flies. Watched the micro caddis (chimarra?) flying around everywhere and a few stone flies skating across the water. Nary a riser to be seen. Am going to shorten the report by saying that I stopped at every river vista from Roscoe to Deposit without seeing a single trout rise. There were a plethora of the micro caddis and more than enough of the stones motor boating around on the water to get fish up, except that they weren't. At 4:30 my boots were still bone dry. It was then that I got a hot tip ab...

 Never add up my catch totals at the end of the year in case I happen to come down and fish another day or two. Last year the 20/20 fish was the last one I caught. Today I spent a little time adding up both October's catch and the 2022 year. For what it's worth I was surprised by the results.  At 80 I can no longer get around on a fastball, haven't stolen a base in over 65 years, play second base 'cause I can't throw anyone out from short and can't even remember the count when  I'm at bat. That said, the last three years were the best three years I have ever put together while fishing this river system.  Why?. Certainly not because I'm a better fisherman. The water flows are the biggest part of it. Wildlife of any kind is limited by the number that can survive under the least favorable conditions during the year. When I started fishing here NYDEC reduced flows to a trickle in the winter (45cfs???) and released only 320cfs (I think) from June 15th until A...