Is The Glass Half Full Or Half Empty?

 

It's noon on Friday and with a flood watch on the menu for this afternoon. It gives me time to attempt to quell the kerfuffle caused by Ed Jones first post. It could have been read as a somewhat sarcastic remark agreeing with my blog post title, or it could have expressed Ed's disbelief in the size and numbers of big fish in the river system. Thankfully Mr. Jones took the time to clarify his feelings about the current state of the river system. I'm also an old timer, and not surprisingly there are many aspects of fly-fishing today that I am also not a fan of.

In the late fifties and sixties you could fish most streams in solitude, if you met another angler you often stopped and chatted about your success or lack thereof. In those days everyone carried a creel, the limit was ten fish and you tried to catch your limit. Streams were heavily stocked with gray colorless yearling trout measuring between six and eight inches. If you got a "holdover" he might measure twelve inches and was fish of the day. A fourteen to sixteen inch fish would be fish of the year. 

When I purchased the Lordville Estate in '91, (sorry Dennis, I've fished for over 70 years but didn't start seriously fishing the Delaware system until I bought the camp), there were no drift boats on the river, my wife could lay out on a rock in her bikini to get a tan, and the limit, (at least on the WB), was five fish). The releases were draconian by today's standards and both the BR and EB got bathtub warm by mid June. The BR pools held the odd brown and a few rainbows. They ran 320 cfs in the WB from June 15th to August 15th, and 45 cfs or less the rest of the year unless the river master called for more water to meet the minimum flow mandate. 

The WB and the UEB and the EB were all stocked, the wild rainbows were mostly in the big river. There were some big browns in both branches but they were not numerous, (I caught the same 17 inch brown below the RTE 17 bridge on the WB in what was the then newly established No Kill area, six times over a two year period). 

As releases of cold water gradually increased, the system carrying capacity also increased, the No Kill grew bigger fish, the concept of catch and release fishing caught on, stocking was halted on the WB and the BE and the wild trout population surged. Unfortunately so did the number of people fishing the river system. When the drift boats first appeared it was a virtual war between drifters and waders. As time has gone by, limits have been reduced twice, no one carries a creel, peer pressure almost demands that all fish be released, unwritten rules of conduct have become established between drifters and waders, guides are almost always courteous, and both the size and numbers of fish have grown. (They have also become much harder for fishermen to catch.) 

It might be helpful to read my June 1st report which contained some statistics about the fish I caught in April, when I expressed concern about the lack of big fish, and then May, when the big fish reappeared and made up half of my total catch. I believe, and I'm certain the DEC shocking data will back me up, that the years of the FFMP release program have led to both more and larger fish in the Delaware River system than ever before.

I'm not in the business of renting rooms, selling fishing equipment or filling guide boats. I write the reports in an effort to give something back to a sport I love and have enjoyed for over seventy years, by helping those fishing the Delaware River system to be more successful on what I find to be one of the most challenging rivers I've ever fished.

The fishing - Went out at about 5:00 and found rising fish shortly thereafter. Black caddis, sulfurs, isos and a few small olives hatched, sulfur spinners came late. Arrived back at the car with a smile on my face at 9:18. Hooked 13 fish and landed 9. Was fishing in the middle section of the WB. A number of the fish did have multiple hook marks contrary to the first two days this week. There were no hook marks whatsoever yesterday. BTW - The fish today measured 17,14r,17r,18,12r,19,17,17,17.