It's Not Easy Getting A Delaware River Fish To Eat Your Fly.

 

Jean departed for Lafayette mid morning. I did a little yard work, watered the tomatoes, ate lunch, and at about 1:30 headed for Deposit. My normal procedure is to stop at the Hale Eddy bridge, then drive up the back side of the river looking for both bugs and rising fish along the way. The bridge over Sherman Creek is being repaired and the road is closed. The only way you can check out the river is to go all the way to Deposit, take the road to Oquaga Lake past the Sewage treatment plant, cross over route 17 and then take the next left. You get to see what is or isn't hatching but have to turn around at the Sherman Creek bridge and return to Deposit.

Found Dorotheas hatching upon my arrival in Deposit and was spared the back road turn around. It was a decent hatch but was seemingly being ignored by the fish. Drove along the river all the way to Barking Dog launch. Saw the Chamber of Commerce fish that is always rising right in front of the launch but little else. There was a line of fishermen extending from the grass island above the Men's Club all the way down to the bend below it. Drove up route 8 to Stilesville and then back down to Deposit along the river. Anglers were lined up from just below Cold Springs Brook all the way down past the Red Barn. Saw a hand full of splashy rises but did not see anyone with a fish on. 

The fishing - At 2:30 I sat on the bank by a riff where there seemed to be a good hatch of bugs. Was there at least five minutes before I saw a quiet little swirl. Within fifteen minutes I'd seen a half dozen of the little swirls. Waded in and waited for a swirl. Magically it appeared in is less than a foot of water not fifteen feet from me. First cast the fish ate a sulfur emerger. It turned out to be a 19 inch rainbow that was fish of the day by a good three inches. Hooked three more good fish without moving, landing two. Then things slowed down.  Never saw a fish eat a dun in the two hours I fished, hooked one more of the nymph eaters and two on blind casts. From 4:30 when I returned to the car until 8:45, I was able to hook but one more fish. From then until I got back to the car at 9:32, a few fish fed on top three of which ate my fly. 

If you go - It is challenging to say the least. Duns are not being eaten during daylight hours. The rises are subtle, and are being made by yearlings or by good fish eating subsurface. In either case they are hard to see. If you locate a riser, make the first cast count, it's the only one he will look at. If he doesn't eat your fly, don't cast again. Change fly and wait for either your fish or another fish in the area to rise before casting again. If you can stay until dark, it is your best chance, by far, of getting a fish to eat. There are lots of good fish in the river but the Dorotheas need to hatch in greater numbers to get the fish even thinking about eating on top.

Note - Five of the first six fish I caught had only my hook mark in their mouth, the other had a second cut. Two of the last four had several hook marks, the other two had only mine, although one was missing his lower mandible from a long healed wound.