Angler 119's Delaware River Fishing Report

 It was an interesting day to say the least. Started on the BR at nine-thirty and fished two hours without seeing a rise. Drove up to Deposit and had to wait until almost two for the sulfurs to get going but when they did they brought numbers. The lone boat that came by me said there were too many and you had no chance of a fish eating your fly.  I was fishing downstream from them in a sparser hatch and didn't have that problem. The sulfurs were plentiful enough to get the good fish up and gulping duns and several ate the wrong one.. At 3:30 with a thunderstorm approaching, I  hunkered down on a little grass island while lightning flashed and thunder boomed all around me. The rain came down in buckets. The storm probably lasted about twenty minutes and then the sun came out in a clear blue sky. The fish were going nuts eating sulfurs that had been beaten into the water by the rain. I hooked a good one on my first post storm cast and was savoring the prospect of a fish cat...

Didn't fish today until 6:30. Attended a meeting at the DEC Office in Stamford from 10:00 until 2:00 and mowed the lawn on my return. Decided to fish another down river pool on the BR. There were three fishermen in the Lordville riff and one angler in sight several hundred yards above where I fished.  There were enough isos in the air and on the water that I was confident the fish would give my fly a look. Saw a fair number of boils by what appeared to be good fish. Many were out of my reach. Did have good shots at about ten fish. Hooked a yearling and an adult rainbow. Both fish came unstuck in the first ten seconds. The rest of the fish I threw at never acknowledged my existence. Ed and Dennis - If memory serves me, you have both suffered a similar fate. If you want to contact David at the Troutfitter and schedule a mutually agreeable date it would be my pleasure to join you in raising a glass to the trout who have bettered us. I'll even buy.

 Took advantage of the unseasonably cold water temps (at the expense of the lawn which badly needs mowing) to fish the BR this morning at a place down river farther than I've probably ever fished it in early August. It turned out to be fun, if not exciting. There was a hatch of the tiny black caddis that tormented me and delighted the fish back in June.  Turns out it did the same in August.   The fishing - The fish (almost exclusively 10 inch rainbows now about 16 months old) were rising in a manner that said caddis but it was a long while before I could catch one of the little flies. How'd I do it? He got on the inside of my glasses and I got a look at him when I took my glasses off. There were also some very small may flies in which the trout seemed to have no interest. The fish were feeding in the water column hence the splashy rises. Saw a few fuzzy little bugs and assumed they were some of  the tiny may flies. Used my smallest black caddis and while it wasn...

 Skipped the mid-day sulfur hatch. After almost nine hours of fishing Monday I decided to just do the evening trip today. Left the fishing camp at about 5:30 and drove east over to the BK where I fished two pools. Found rainbows in both pools. Most of the fish that came to the fly were one and two year olds. Rose three good fish and hooked and landed a 15 incher. Left the BK at seven and drove over to the EB where I fished from 7:20 until 9:01. It was probably the last time I will return to the car after 9:00 this year as the days are shortening at an ever increasing rate. Found a good number of two year old rainbows willing to eat my offerings. A 17 inch brown that ate an Iso on what was no more than a fifteen foot cast beat out the 15 inch rainbow from the BK for fish of the day. Skipped the WN&TL page this weekend and will see if I can cut and paste it here.  Jack asked about terrestrials. I put a fly box of ants in my vest about mid August but otherwise don't fish them...

With the todays high predicted to be 73, I opened up the camp on arrival and let the wind do some good for a change. Saturday morning I picked two of the three "almost ripe" tomatoes and took them home to Jean who is a true tomato lover. Left the third to ripen on the vine. When I went down with the watering can this morning, I found that the tomato is still not quite ripe and it also isn't quite whole. Some little critter ate a chunk out of it. Launched my annual attack on the crabgrass and sedge nut in the yard at 11:00 and returned to the house for a sandwich at 12:15 before heading to Deposit. Drove up rte.8 on arrival and to my surprise there wasn't a single fisherman above the red barn (all nine of them were in the pasture pool). Found sulfurs hatching in the big pool below the town bridge with a more than adequate number of anglers having at 'em. To my surprise, there was a pool a little farther downstream that was unattended. An opportunity like that shoul...

 It's Sunday afternoon and I'm home waiting for cocktail hour with my wife. There was a dearth of questions this week so the page will be spent discussing the long term effects of the FFMP. The FFMP (Flexible Flow Management Plan) is the best flow program I've seen during my 35 years fishing the Delaware River System. The increased flows have resulted in a major increase in both the fish carrying capacity of  the WB and the BR and the number of drift boats floating them. Keeping the water temp below 75 at Lordville provides a large thermal refuge for the down river fish which in turn increases the number of fish all the way down to Callicoon during the "big bug hatches".  Elimination of the dewatering of large portions of the stream bed in the upper WB caused by the former low flows has resulted in a major increase in caddis hatches in the "Sulfur Zone". These are the basic plusses that I have observed. As with most everything in life - if there are plus...