Angler 119's Delaware River Fishing Report

  The Delaware River watershed is blessed with an incredible abundance of wildlife. Eagles get the headlines but if you have sharp eyes and are observant you should catch sight of some of the smaller birds with spectacular coloration. Have yet to see an Indigo Bunting this year but was entertained by a little male Redstart warbler that flitted around in the stream side bushes where I was standing on Thursday. Hadn't seen a Scarlet Tanager in several years until I saw a bright red and black male sitting in the middle of Lordville road yesterday. Went about a mile further up the hill and another male flew across the road and lit on a low branch where I could see him clearly. Saw four gray foxes this week including a young one that was standing in the road eating something when I went around a sharp bend on Peas Eddy Road. The little guy walked over to the shoulder and stood looking at me while eating his lunch. Got the phone out to take a picture but he went under the guard rail and ...

  Encouraged by my nice day of fishing yesterday, I mapped out a plan for today. The BK was a sure bet to get into the 70's so that was not in the plan. The WB was in the plan but only for a drive by to search for the mystical Invaria. The BR was a little warmer than the EB so I decided to get up early and fish the BR, saving the cooler EB for the evening. My wife's 8:00 AM  phone call got me out of bed a full hour after the plan was scheduled to be put into effect. Undeterred, I was in the water at 9:00 and fished until noon. Saw but one of the big yellow flies hatch (lets call them Cahill's) and not more than a dozen splashy caddis chasing rises. How'd I do? Really very well.  Almost all of the rising fish gave me a look and several ate, as did some fish on blind casts. Ended up landing eight of the ten fish hooked. Seven were rainbows along with one 16 inch brown.   Returned to the camp for lunch and then set out on my drive by of the WB. Stopped at the Trout...

The combination of higher water levels, which covered streambed rocks and the dense smoke from the Canadian fires which muted the sun's water warming effect, have kept the freestones in play and I decided to try to take advantage of the opportunity in my quest of a ten fish day. The morning - Fished two pools on the BK. The path to the first pool was so grown over I had a hard time even finding it. Waded out into a pool that obviously hadn't been fished in weeks and was refused by the first four fish I rose (two of which were good ones). Then settled down and proved to be a master at getting a fly into the tiny little mouths of yearling fish (three rainbows and one brown). Total catch was two two year old browns. Second pool had some rising fish and I landed a couple of 14 inch rainbows along with two more two year old browns. Three hours of fishing and six fish landed (I don't count yearlings).  The afternoon - Was spent tying flies, doing a crossword and maybe just shutti...

  With but two days left in June the entire river system down to Hankins has good water flows, good water temps and trout. Except for the one big rain in late April, it was exceptionally dry until this last week. May had less than an inch of rain. June rainfall is now "normal". In recent years the BK, BR (below Stockport), and the EB were all too warm to fish by the 15th of June. The fish had relocated to their thermal refuges and the fishermen started crowding into the "Sulfur Zone". Why is this year different? Well, if you are Rip Van Winkle just waking up from your 20 year nap, you'd say, "There's nothing unusual here, the fish stay in the EB every three or four years. There's just enough cloudy weather and rain to keep water levels up and temps down".  Not so lately. The increased temps attributable to "Global Warming" have resulted in the shortening of the time trout can remain in the freestone portions of the Delaware River Syst...

  With the EB & BR both high and muddy I was under no pressure to fish. Jean and I took a leisurely drive which turned out to be more eventful than we anticipated. The car's low tire air warning light came on while we were over on the Willow. We drove back to Roscoe, put four quarters into the air machine at the Sunoco Station and pumped the right front up from 17psi to 40 psi. and headed for the garage in Equinunk. Stopped again in East Branch and a final time in Hancock as we were losing about a pound per mile. Craig Gehrig was waiting for us at his repair shop in Equinink  and had us all patched up and ready to go in less than half an hour.  About 5:30 Jean suggested I go fishing so she could chat with her sister Pam. The land line phone was still warm to the touch when I got back to the camp at 9:30. Things are changing, there were only two trailers at Balls Eddy when I drove by, two cars at lower game lands and four at upper game lands. Why? No one is catching a ...

  Had my semiannual dermatologist appointment Monday and didn't get on the road until afternoon. Drove through two heavy thundershowers between Deposit and Hancock only to find the pavement dry in Lordville. By the time I had brought things in from the car the thunder and lightning had started and it rained for most of the rest of the day. Jean is down for a couple days and we spent a quiet evening on the back porch watching the birds at the feeder and the deer in the back yard. Several adult does appeared without fawns (one was with her two yearlings). One mom came by with a set of twins (the first I've seen in the yard this year). Water is up and muddy at Lordville. With flash flood warnings in effect again today, long drives to the river are probably not wise. If you are here you can probably fish the upper WB, the BK and the Willow. Can't speak to water clarity but the wading levels are fine.