Angler 119's Delaware River Fishing Report

After eight days at the fishing camp, I'm ready to head home. I'll need a fork lift to get the laundry bag into the car, I'm a wee bit tired and I miss Jean. The week has been a bit disappointing because of the high water which limited wade fishing opportunities but the float trips with Mark during which he was introduced to the Delaware's big fish made it special.   Wasn't even going to fish today but went out at six and found an empty pool in the lower WB that I felt would have feeding fish. It did, however, the fish were not eating Hendrickson and caddis spinners like I expected (there weren't any). The rises (and there were a lot of them) were the subsurface boils of fish feeding on something in the water column.  The fishing - There was no wind and  lots of feeding fish. Had no luck getting the fish to look up at Hendricksons or spinners. It wasn't until I saw the much smaller paraleps on the water that things turned around. Fish started sipping on the ...

  With the late evening Wednesday we were slow getting out of the gate this morning. Decided to take a look at the EB and the BK both of which are now wade able but solidly in the doldrums. Saw no bugs or risers on the EB but there were enough caddis hatching on the BK to justify stops at three pools. There were a few fish up looking for the caddis and we hooked four fish with Mark's 18 inch brown besting three rainbows. With the bright sun and high water on the WB we didn't fish there until about six o'clock. Picked a tailout where most of the boat traffic had gone by, but found we were unable to safely cross the river to get to where we wanted to fish. Remembered getting to the pool about ten years ago from the opposite side via a walk on the railroad tracks and a long abandoned path. On my last trip down the path I walked into a newly born fawn laying "hidden" not ten feet from a very fresh pile of bear poop. Trail was hard to find but relatively easy to naviga...

  With the water levels still limiting wading opportunities, we rented a drift boat (Mark has a drift boat he uses when the TVA is generating power on his home river the South Holston). We did the Barking Dog to Balls Eddy float but rowed straight down to Hale Eddy skipping the water we fished Tuesday. We were ahead of  both the 600 csf release increase and the other drift boats all day. The bugs - There was a mix of caddis on the water all day long but the Hendricksons and pseudos distained the bright sunshine and were no shows until the sun went behind the hills. The evening combination of duns and spinners was what the fish were waiting for and they fed like hogs at the trough when the bugs finally came. The fishing - Lets just say you earned every fish. The warm water and bright sun made the fishing difficult. The fish knew a big dinner was being served and decided to skip lunch. We looked for bank sippers on the shaded side of the river, got out of the boat and waded riff...

  It had been over ten years since I last floated down the Delaware in a drift boat. Mark Stauffer, who has endured my presence in a bonefish skiff for many years, was passing through on his way to visit his parents and wanted to give the Delaware a try. With the  recent high water, floating was the only option. Matt Carlin, who guides out of the Troutfitter in April and May, (from June until October he is dodging bears and guiding fishermen at a posh fly in camp in Alaska), did some schedule juggling and freed up Tuesday for our float. Got a tardy start when Mark got stuck in a traffic jam on I-81 for an hour and forty-five minutes. Matt had the 3 man pontoon boat in the water at "Barking Dog" when we arrived and we both had landed 17 inch browns within the first ten minutes of the trip. There were caddis and Hendricksons on the water in sufficient numbers to get fish up and we had targets all day. The fishing - First of all, most sane people take turns casting out of a drif...

  With a float of the WB on tap for tomorrow, I spent the better part of the today driving around looking at water where it was about to happen or where it had already happened.  The wind, as usual, saved its best efforts for the peak of the Hendrickson hatch, delighting guides with surly clients, and frustrating everyone trying to make a presentable cast to a rising fish. Tried a pool well above "where it's happening" and basically found out why I had so much space to myself. There were a few caddis and even fewer Hendricksons and a couple of fish willing to eat everything that floated by. Saving myself for the spinner fall, I drove over to the BE and walked up the bank along one of the most  beautiful (and difficult to wade) pieces of water in the entire system. Saw a few caddis on the water and not a single may fly of any kind. Sat on a log that a beaver had skinned the bark off and watched two trout rise several times each. Two weeks ago, I'd have been wading towa...

  Spent the morning mowing the grass, attacking the knot weed that threatens to block my view of the river and tying flies, just in case I get to fish again.  The rivers are dropping, slowly, and as of now, the Willow is at a nice level to fish. The BK can be waded, with care. It's at 850 cfs, don't try to cross it, be content with the fish you can reach and know that the risers on the far side will be there next time. The BR, EB, and UEB are not wade able. If you can find a place where you can walk the bank and cast, do so. The fish don't like the heavy current any more than you do and are often in along the bank. What about the WB? you ask. Well, right now the flow at Stockport is at 1500cfs and the USGS graph is going straight down. How can this be? NYCDEP probably shut off the release.  The inflow at Walton is now down to 1100 cfs, that coupled with the other streams flowing into the reservoir probably come close to 1500 cfs. Who knows what they are doing? By tomorrow...