Angler 119's Delaware River Fishing Report

 At 7:00 am it was foggy with a mist/drizzle that had water dripping off the porch roof. The weatherman said chance of showers. My hopes were dashed by Jean's phone call at 8:00 am. First thing she said was "What a beautiful day, sunshine and a nice breeze, I've already opened up the windows". Our house in Lafayette is about 35 miles west of Lordville and fronts coming from the west get there first. By 10:30 the sun was out and by noon there was a breeze. The dreaded first day of high pressure when a low moves out. Neither fish or fishermen like it. Fish won't rise and if they do fishermen can't get the fly to them in the wind. Went up to Deposit at 1:00 and found sulfurs being blown downstream so fast the waxwings had trouble catching them. Didn't see a rise from the iron bridge in town down to the Men's Club. Found a little place that was sorta sheltered from the worst of the wind where three good fish were rising. Took my time, cast only during the ...

 Today was the kind of day fly fishermen live for. It started out a little breezy but the wind settled down and a gentle drizzle made the trout's job of selecting the right fly just a bit tougher. Tired of the crowds up river, I fished two places below Oquaga. Oquaga has dropped below 150cfs and apparently the water temp (on the side away from the warm Oquaga water) now meets the sulfur's requirements because they hatched, Lord did they hatch, and every fish in the river was up feeding on them. Had three plus hours of fish gulping duns. The percent that made mistakes and ate the wrong fly was far smaller than the percent that readily identified the sulfurs with a hook in them, but if you make enough casts you get a lot of fish to eat the wrong fly. By 6:30 things had quieted down and I left with the intention of doing a number on BR rainbows that were no doubt  going to be feeding on a glut of iso's. Fished from seven until dark on water covered with medium sized olives. Sa...

 Woke this morning to find the porch screens covered with isos for the second straight day. Obviously the "Fall" isos have begun to hatch but with the BR flow at 3,500 cfs and rain predicted for tomorrow there is little I can do about it. The prediction was for sunshine today so I went to the tying bench right after breakfast and tied todays supply of sulfurs along with a couple isos and some spinners, while waiting for the grass to dry. Got on the mower at 11:00 and finished up at 12:15. Had lunch and set out for Deposit. Last night after fishing I drove up to the Red Barn. The pool was empty and there were bugs and rising fish. There was one car parked at the barn with a guy suiting up. I thought about it and said "tomorrow" and drove home leaving the pool to the solitary angler. Drove straight up to the Red Barn at 1:30 today only to find six cars in the lot and thirteen anglers in the water. Could see an unbroken line of fisherman up in the pool by the Stilesvil...

Today was forecast to be cool with light showers. The entire system was blown out from yesterday's thunderstorms, with the exception of perhaps the Willow (Ed ???) and the WB above mud spewing Oquaga. Called the Troutfitter before driving up and Dave assured me it was fishable above Oquaga. Actually, I called "Vicky's Unisex Salon" first to see if I could get a hair cut appointment today and she had an opening at 1:00. Walked out of Vicky's and up to the town bridge where I saw no bugs and but two fish rising. Drove down to the Men's Club to confirm the high stained water. Saw neither bugs, fishermen nor risers in the high, coffee (black) colored water. Put on my waders at 2:15 and waded in above Oquaga with hopes of a hatch, ended up casting at rising fish non-stop until 6:00. The fishing - There were but a few sulfurs hatching when I started. Fish were looking up and I hooked a pair of browns that went 15 inches (7 & 8) right off the bat. I then got a 14...

 Left home this morning with what looked like a good chance for a days fishing. Yes, Oquaga was up and muddy but the WB upstream was in good shape and the east side (EB & BK) was seemingly unaffected by last nights rain. Stopped at the Troutfitter and Dave said there was another Tornado watch until 11:00pm with severe thunderstorms scheduled for about 5:00.  Drove around up in the "Sulfur Zone" at about 2:30 and the place was deserted. One car at the Red Barn and two more in the Stilesville lot. There were sulfurs hatching above the Stilesville lot but I saw no fish rising. Three anglers were busy casting in the Red Barn pool but I never saw a rise there either. Drove down to the Men's Club where the water was high and stained, not a sole in sight. Walked out on the town bridge in Deposit and saw several risers, suited up and spent two hours casting at rising fish. Surprisingly, I hooked six, five of which were nice fish. Of course I landed the 11 inch hatchery fish, ...

 Duke asked "Where is the sulfur zone?" It is the area where the Dorothea's are hatching. They are the tiny little summer sulfurs that hatch mid-day and in the evening up in the coldest water in the WB. Your best bet for finding them is from the "barking dog" boat access, upstream to Stilesville.  With no other questions I thought I'd give the year's fishing a quick review.  April - Was very good. Hendricksons started early and it was one of my better Aprils. May - Was a good month for most fisherman. High water the first few days hampered wade fishermen but there were lots of bugs on the water with fish up throughout the system. For me, it was something of a disaster as not only did the high water hinder my fishing but I was felled by an intestinal bug that kept me off the water for an additional ten days. June - The big bugs ended early in the month and there was little surface feeding for the rest of the month. The spring sulfurs were not reliable and...