Angler 119's Delaware River Fishing Report

 I admit it, I've been bow hunting and have provided no helpful information on the status of the Delaware River fishing. Most of those fishing in October are hard core anglers and know what they are doing. They don't need my advice, but perhaps outlining a few basics will be useful to anyone who wants to take in the fall colors (poor at best this year) and spend a couple of afternoon hours fishing. The pseudos - They are tiny olives that hatch in the fall when both the water and air temps turn cold. The hatch occurs during the warmest part of the day (somewhere between 1:00 and 5:00). You'll need very small  (20/22) light winged olives. The real bugs sit on the water a long time as if wondering what they've gotten themselves into and the trout sit just under the surface and quietly suck them in. Where - Pseudos hatch throughout the Delaware system, however, I've found the fish reluctant to spend the energy required to eat them in high water. Fish the lowest and slow...

  Drove down to the Lordville Estate today primarily to mow the grass. I've only been away five days but, even with the sun shining and the temp in the high 60's the camp felt cold and empty.  A squirrel had smelled the apples on the back porch and had ripped a hole in the screen door (didn't get in) and the skunks had torn up the back yard feasting on grubs. I had put milky spore on the lawn for two years and thought the grub problem was solved. On the way down I got to thinking about whether bigger is better. Getting ahead of the Joneses seems to be a deeply ingrained promotional idea (think cars and homes) but I was applying it to deer hunting.  The DEC has required three points on a side to shoot a buck in several areas (including the Delaware region) and has promoted the idea of letting the 18 month old bucks go so that there are more "trophy bucks" in the woods. I've gone along with the idea and for the last eight or ten years my deer have been a bit che...