Angler 119's Delaware River Fishing Report

  People, I do my best to provide you with enough information to make good decisions on when and where to fish. It became evident last year that it is better if my comments on where to fish are more general and less specific. Water temps, water levels, air temps, wind, sunlight and the normal course of hatch progressions should all be given consideration in choosing where to fish on any given day. Had three excellent days of fishing this past week, one hour of very good fishing on another, and one DNF day. Never shared a pool with another fisherman and never had a boat go by me. Stopped at the Troutfitter this morning and listened to tales of woe; too much wind, no bugs, no risers, too many boats, along with  reports of fishermen just sitting along the shore waiting for risers. I realize that not everyone reads Angler119's reports and that everyone has the right to march to their own drummer but if you want to at least to fish where there are bugs hatching and fish rising it might

  Left the fishing camp this morning at about 11:30. Caddis hatch in the morning on bright sunny days and I wanted to be there. I was. From noon until I left at almost 6:00, there were caddis hatching in profusion (both grannom and apple). The water was full of empty caddis husks and the fish were full of caddis pupa. There were splashy rises in the riff water all day long as the fish gorged on the emergers subsurface. The Hendricksons were so badly outnumbered that the fish hardly gave them a thought. With bright sun and temps around 80, what Hendricksons there were, were quickly airborne and didn't offer much of an incentive for the fish to feed on top. It wasn't until there was a little cloud cover late in the afternoon that some fish started to feed on the surface (which was covered with bouncing caddis all day long). The wind blew most of the day at over ten mph with gusts considerably higher. As is typical with the south wind, it didn't lay down in the evening, thus s

  If  there was ever a day to be on the river, this was it.  The cold front departed, the sun came out, the wind took the day off, the water warmed up, the bugs hatched and the fish ate, all day long! Knew the cold had suppressed the bugs and I wanted to get on the river early. Thought maybe I'd fish between Buckingham and Lordville. When I had seen six boats go by the camp before 12:30, I changed my plans. Found an empty pool above a launch site and fished there from 1:30 until 5:30. Finished up the day casting to sippers in a tailout. Had rising fish the entire day and a really good percentage ate my fly. Unfortunately an altogether too big a percentage avoided the net. The bugs - Everything hatched, stones, caddis (Chimarra, grannoms and apple), pseudos and Hendricksons. When the hatching slowed down, the spinners made their appearance.  The fishing - The hooking couldn't have been better. The landing left something to be desired. Started out 1 for 6 and spent the rest of th

For a fly-fisherman there wasn't much to look forward to today. On the weekend the weatherman predicted two cold days (Monday and Tuesday) with a nice warmup today and another 80 plus degree day scheduled for Friday. As of last night, today's prediction had gone steadily down hill. The predicted high of 47 offered little hope of fly hatches and a second straight night with the lows around freezing has my two apricot trees (with all their blossoms exposed) shaking in their roots. I used up a significant portion of my weekly gas allotment yesterday and was resigned to doing crosswords, sudoku's, and tying apple caddis today. At noon it seemed my plan was a good one, porch thermometer was stuck at forty-two with the water temps below 48 everywhere and falling. At three (Hendrickson hatching time) I called it a day. Sun was out but the temp was still below 45.  Finished tying my dozen apple caddis (a few weren't too bad) and at 4:00 I checked the temp. It was up to 50 on th

Awoke this morning full of enthusiasm born of yesterdays success. Spent time repairing three flies that were a little worse for the wear, sharpened one dull hook point, and tied half a dozen new Hendricksons. While I was at the bench the sun poked through the clouds and I was sure that things would warm up enough for the bugs to hatch. Checked the stream temps at noon and found that two were above 50, with several others warming up.  Decided on a travel route that would take me to the rivers with the most promising water temps at prime bug hatching time, and then it snowed. At 1:30 the sun had again appeared and had gotten the air temp up to 47.  The drive out -I headed up the Pa side from Lordville, stopping at Buckingham - no bugs. At Hancock I turned right on 17, and headed up the EB, stopping at Cadosia and Tar Hollow - no bugs. Drove to East Branch and took a county route over the mountains. Encountered a loaded dump truck about two miles into the journey and was behind it for alm

  When I left for home Saturday morning everything was ready to burst into bloom. The forsythia across the road, my red buds, the apricot trees (actually some of their blooms had already opened), the plum trees, and the peach trees. Drove back down this morning in a chilly drizzle with the temp in the mid forties, to find the yard abloom with color. Only the two apple trees that have been here longer than me, have refused to rush the season. Hopefully mother nature gives the eager bloomers a pass this year rather than hitting the blossoms with a killing frost. Early in the season I always put out my wooden bird feeder. If a bear comes he can turn it upside down and dump out the seeds without breaking the feeder. The problem with the feeder is the grackles, blackbirds and blue jays empty the feeder in less than a day while at the same time excluding all of the smaller birds. Switched feeders today. The second feeder has adjustable perches and a spring that allows the lower part of the f