Angler 119's Delaware River Fishing Report

 Today was the last day of fishing for me this month. Looked back through my diary and was surprised to see that I haven't caught a single trout in either the UEB or WB yet this year. The high releases on the WB and initially on the UEB got me fishing elsewhere and the cut back to a very low release on the UEB (which allowed the water to warm and bugs to hatch) went unnoticed by me. When I did take a drive up rte.30 there were so many anglers that I turned around and drove back down to fish the EB. Where did I fish? The freestones (BK, BE, and BR). April was very dry and the freestones became both warm and wade able and the bugs hatched there first. The BE was too low to float and you could wade it the and BR with ease. How was the fishing? Very good. Before this year my top seven Aprils were all low water years where the flows were shut down in an effort to fill the reservoirs. This year the reservoirs overflowed and the WB had high releases all month. My total catch for the month...

  With both reservoirs being allowed to spill, the decision on where to fish became more complicated.  650 cfs at Harvard is certainly wade able but is not ideal and probably will result in some people putting in drift boats and floating. The water temp at Harvard (50 degrees) indicates that they may have bumped up the release, as surface water would probably have been warmer. The WB spill seems to be unmitigated (no increased release?), as the temp at Stilesville has gone up. The river at Hale Eddy is now over 1,200 cfs which restricts many waders, but the increased water temp might well trigger a bug bonanza and a resurgence of the WB Armada. The spills also affected the BR where the flow at Lordville is again up over 3,000 cfs (risky and intimidating for the majority of anglers). The EB is back up to about 1,650 cfs which makes it difficult to wade in most places. What did I do? Tied some new rusty spinners, reorganized my Hendrickson and spinner boxes and went fishing. It'...

  If the DRC said it was a nice day to be on the river today - they lied. Woke this morning to a sparkling white lawn covered with a heavy frost (temp 28). Thankfully the sun came out and tried its best to warm things up. Air temp got to the mid fifties, water temps got close to 48. It would have gotten up over 50 except for the clouds and rain that showed up about an hour before Hendrickson time.  Bundled up, put on my new Gortex rain coat and went fishing. Saw cars at every pull off and fishermen everywhere. Went to a place where I've encountered another fisherman just once in the over thirty years that I've fished it -and - there was a guy there who had fished it for thirty-five years. He knew me (by my married name) and we had a pleasant chat about what fishermen talk about. He graciously offered to share the water but I don't do that, first come, first served, went downstream to the next pool and ended up glad I did.. The fishing - There were caddis and paraleps hatchi...

Today was one of those marginal days, temperature wise. It got cold last night and the water temps were way below Hendrickson hatch level this morning.. It was partly cloudy and the wind was from the north. Would the water temp get to 50 degrees? That was the question almost anywhere you fished. The water levels are dropping (except for the WB which is spilling again) and every day you can wade more places and reach more fish. If the bugs hatch it should be good. Finished up mowing the lawn about noon, ate lunch, checked the water temps and dilly- dallied around till 1:45, as the water temp was still too cold. Went up the PA side and saw bugs at Buckingham but no risers, same at Cadosia on the EB. At 2:30 I found my first risers of the day. The first fish I cast to ate and I was looking at backing streaking off my reel while standing in a heavy run of water where I had no chance of following the fish downstream.  Took a while but I landed a fat bodied 18 inch rainbow (every rainbow...

  So where did I fish?   First some background. The action last week was on the freestones (BK,BR,EB). Why? Much warmer water and the bugs hatched there most of the week. Yesterday, the BK was at 1200 cfs, too high to wade safely. At 3,600 cfs I know of only a couple places on the BR where I consider it safe to fish. The EB at 2,000 cfs was also only wade able by me in a few places. The UEB, where they have only been releasing about 85 cfs was warm and had Hendricksons last week. Yesterdays flow of about 400 cfs was ideal for waders and they flocked to Long Eddy and Power Line pools. I drove up as far as Shinhopple with hopes of finding a spot to fish but the crowds of fishermen AND the absence of bugs in the now cold water at 3:30, (Hendricksons hatch between 3:00 and 5:00 on normal spring days), kept me in the car. Drove back down to the BE and found pseudos, Hendricksons and yes, March Browns hatching with fish feeding at 4:00. I waded in. The fishing -  It didn't...

  They keep changing the rules. After record breaking heat on Thursday and Friday in which every Hendrickson, pseudo, Apple caddis and Grannom hatched (at least where I was), and you could wade anywhere you wanted, and the fish fed like hogs at the trough, it all changed. Lets just say that with the car being blown all over the road by winds of 25mph and up on the way home Saturday morning, I felt not a moment of regret for not being on the river. Sunday was worse yet, wind, high water, cold temps and rain. Today I was at the dentist office for my 8:20 cleaning appointment, got a gold star for my at home dental care and a free toothbrush.. At 9:00 I was at Tractor Supply trying to buy black oil sunflower seeds for our birdfeeders. Did you know that Ukraine supplies 40% of the worlds supply of black oil sunflower seeds? Tractor Supply was all out and didn't know when, of if, they would have any in. Drove across the street to Walmart and fortunately (for the birds and not the squirre...