Angler 119's Delaware River Fishing Report

  After yesterday's unsuccessful efforts to find rising fish before 7:00 pm, I found little incentive to continue practicing my casting. At my age, wisdom says, " that I might well be better off saving all those blind casts for a time when there is actually a fish rising within casting range". So, I spent a good part of the day chatting with river friends, both old and new, knowing full well that promptly at 3:00 pm the Hendrickson's would hatch in a big flat water pool on the WB, where just two days ago, ace guide Matt's sport slayed em, (I didn't ask about how things went yesterday).  It was 3:02 when I spotted the first Hendrickson, Anthony, artist and photographer extraordinaire, with whom I'd been chatting, got up and left, (I assumed, to get his gear), never saw him again. What I did see was a "hatch" of Hendricksons comparable to those I've seen all year. Yes there were bugs, and yes there were a few fish rising, and yes I was able to ...

  Waited for the T-Boomers to pass through this morning and, when they did, went fishing. Needn't have rushed. Went east again, found a sellout crowd fishing the Willow, and numerous anglers willing to tackle the BK at 800 cfs. In what was midday sun, I never saw a bug or a rise on the Willow, (yesterday there were March Browns). Fished three pools on the BK without seeing more than a dozen March Browns and not a single rise to something other than my fly. Three fish did come to my fly, two ate and one refused a March Brown with the tail wrapped under the bend in the hook.  At 4:30 I was at the Troutfitter whining about the lack of bugs and rising fish, and ordering what I think are neat looking cocktail and pilsner, (Jean drinks beer), glasses with trout etched on their side. Dave told me that if I was looking for sympathy, I could find it in the dictionary between shit and syphilis. He also said that  Matt, (the guide), floated the river the day before and "killed it" w...

  Having been in dry-dock for the first two weeks of what is supposed to be the apex of the "big bug" season, I was understandably anxious to get back down to the Lordville Estate. There was no illusion, however, that I would be wading into pods of feeding fish. My primary concern was the lawn which had been ignored for twelve days. Dropped Jean off at the airport at 5:30, (she's left me again), packed the car, and was on the road about 9:00. It didn't rain on the way down, but the passing lane was still wet until I got to Hancock, then both lanes were wet. The lawn was also sopping wet, put stuff away, then sat down and continued reading a book I started a couple days ago. Around 11:30 it started getting brighter, and lo, around noon the sun came out. The grass was still wet in shaded areas when I started mowing, but I finished up about 2:15 without clogging up the chute that spews out the grass. Put the mower in the garage, and headed out with more curiosity than ho...

  As of today there are limited wade opportunities on both the Willow and the BK. The WB, EB, UEB, and BR are still too high to wade.  Will be taking Jean to the airport early tomorrow, (Thursday), morning and then heading down to mow the lawn and perhaps see if I can find a rising fish to throw at.  With rain in the forecast for seven of the next ten days any wade fishing trips should be dependent on water levels on the day of departure. At present, the rain predictions do not indicate another blow out of the river system. The water levels on the EB and WB have dropped to the point where they can be floated in relative safety. It's quite likely that alewives have been washed into the WB along with a few reservoir trout. Streamers would seem to be the best bet for hooking into an alewife eating reservoir fish.  

It's Mother's Day, May 11th, a third of the way through what is widely regarded as the best month of fishing on the Delaware River System and I've caught a total of three fish, (on May 1st).  The river system is currently unfishable for wade fishermen and will continue to be for several more days even without the additional rain that is scheduled for Tuesday through Saturday of the coming week. Believe me when I say I'm anxious to get back on the river, but a word of caution might be in order here.  There are currently no safe places for you to wade, (you can't even set foot on the stream bottom at current levels. You might find a bank you can cast from, but don't even think about trying to get into the water.   Boater's who will be on the water, need to read this. Several years ago a fishing friend of mine was floating a TVA stream while they were generating power. His drift boat ran up on a submerged log lifting the bow and causing the stern to tak...