Angler 119's Delaware River Fishing Report

  Sitting here at home looking out at the fog and rain, it seemed like a good time for a Wind Knots and  Tailing Loops segment, except there have been almost no questions. Hopefully Ed S. and I provided more than enough theories about odd hour Hendrickson sightings to satisfy Jim N., fly tyer extraordinaire. Andrew wanted to know if I added sparkle to my caddis emergers. I know little about tying caddis emergers, and have caught only two fish on them, (none on the ones I just tied). Followed a LaFontaine video using Antron, which is sparkly, for the body and shuck, but somehow they all came out looking more like a fish hook I recently had to cut out of the braided rug in the fly tying room.  John H. asked about a skinny small black spinner, most likely a pseudo, and one with a yellow egg sack, a Hendrickson no doubt, (FYI the Lady Beaverkill is an old Catskill fly sporting a yellow egg sack that some still use to imitate the female Hendrickson).  With no other questi...

  There are three factors worthy of consideration in trying to assess the reasons for what I thought was a very difficult April, fishing wise. The wind, the low water, and the lack of bugs. The wind - As I have previously stated, the "Hendrickson winds", are an understandable event. The sun is high in the sky, it heats up the ground, there are no leaves on the trees to both keep the ground from heating up and  to keep the heat from rising. The thermals rise and create wind which peaks when the Hendricksons are hatching. It happens every year. What makes this year different?  There were neither Hendricksons nor rising fish to distract us. The lack of water - It started last fall. Call it whatever you want but it was so dry that NYC cancelled the repair work on the pipe under the Hudson for fear of NYC running out of water. Releases were cut back, fish couldn't get up the tributaries to spawn, spawning beds in the tailwaters were left waterless when flows were reduced. The ...

  Decided to take it easy today. Mowed the lawn as soon as it dried out this morning, made some business calls, had lunch and at 1:30 headed out fishing, destination unknown. I seldom stop to fish if there is someone else fishing the pool, (except in the sulfur zone). I also don't like to wade in unless I see rising fish. So far this year meeting those two requirements has required a lot of driving. To be sure, there have been, (and still are), a lot of places with neither drifters nor waders fishing, but most of them also have had no fish rising. Today, the first of May, was no different than April, except that the boats are leaving the lower BR and moving up the WB. Why? Because there are some Hendricksons hatching there. Given my disdain for crowds of any kind on a trout stream, I often am not present during the apex of an insect hatch, but I'm usually aware of where it's happening. This year, if there has been a good Hendrickson hatch anywhere except the UEB or the Neve...

  Spent the day on the river in virtual solitude. Never had a boat float past me and never had a fisherman within two hundred yards of me. Started at the lower game lands, hadn't fished there in a couple of years and with only two cars in the lot, (one turned out to be a lady out for a walk), it seemed a good place to start. At 1:30 there were a few pseudos and Hendricksons being blown by me in a nasty north  wind. Saw six or eight rises, had three refusals, and hooked one fish on a blind cast when walking back to the trail head. Drove along the back side of the river all the way up to Deposit. There were quite a few boats, mostly all anchored, waiting. Never saw a rise at any of the lookout spots nor was I able to see any meaningful bugs. Saw a lone fisherman in a yellow cap below the Deposit town bridge about 3:00. Decided to head east on 17 and ended up driving over to Horton. Parked at one of the more popular pools on the river, (no one was fishing it), and Ed Smith and on...

  Went out in the yard early in the morning when the grass was wet with dew and applied weed and feed with  crabgrass inhibitor. Started a little before seven thinking I'd be done before Jean's eight o'clock phone call, but I didn't finish until eight fifteen. Called Jean and then tied up  some LaFontaine caddis emergers. They are hard for me to tie, and never end up looking like they are supposed to. (Perhaps I should commission Jim N. to tie me a dozen, they would, for sure, be tied exquisitely).  With the temperature predicted to be in the 80's, (my car registered 86 on one of my longer drives), I packed my little cooler with cold drinks and at 12:30 set out to fish. A south west wind felt like a blast furnace and once again took finesse out of the game. Tried to fish riff water where presentation is not as critical but it didn't much matter because the fish were not interested in my newly tied emergers or anything else I threw at them. By 3:00 I had a total ...

  If anyone is wondering, I didn't miss not being on the river this past weekend one little bit. Rain, muddy water. cold temps and a sneaky little draft on Sunday. Drove down this morning in bright sunshine, light and variable winds and rapidly rising temps. Left the fishing camp at one and drove over to the BK which was running clear at 800cfs. At that level you need to wade carefully and not worry about the fish rising along the far bank. There were egg laying Chimarra and grannoms with a few apple caddis hatching. In an hour and a half of fishing I saw 8/10 splashy rises, three fish ate my fly, the others ignored my offerings. There was an adult eagle sitting in a tree across the river and when the first fish I hooked jumped, the eagle flew over and circled above the fish. Someday soon eagles will probably begin to dive on hooked fish. With no Hendricksons on the water I left the BK and made a stop on the BE. Saw several rises and waded in. There were a good number of apple cadd...