Angler 119's Delaware River Fishing Report

  Back home after watching my granddaughter's lacrosse team win their quarterfinal game in the state tournament. There next game is against the team that is ranked number one in the state and number three in the nation. Out of habit I checked the water flows only to find that the usgs graph for the WB at Walton is at 4,000 cfs and still rising. The water will probably be clear but unless you have a boat don't even think about fishing the WB or BR. Any fishing will be on the east side, (EB, UEB, BK, and Willow), check the gages before leaving home. A possibility for morning fishing is the Cornuta hatch. If you are on the river from nine until noon and they hatch, you should have some fun. The rest of the fishing will probably occur during the time when the sun is off the water in the evening. Failed to mention that I did a fancy dance last night in the dark when I unexpectedly stepped into an eel hole, stubbed my toe on the pile of rocks downstream of the hole, did a three quart...

  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 tw...

  Did yard work early to avoid the heat, I didn't, came in soaked, put my clothes out on the porch to dry and took a shower, had lunch, tied flies, waited until after three, and took a drive up to Deposit. Started yesterday at 5:30 and both the bugs and fish were going. Today from 3:30 until 4:45 when I left, neither the bugs nor the fish had made an appearance. Why'd I go?  As you know, I don't like to fish the same place  twice in a week, let alone two days in a row, and when three guys came sloshing their way up into the tailwater, I left. Drove by the place I fished the day before and the same two cars were by the camp where the four fishermen entered the stream last night. I was on Rte. 17 and drove right on by heading east. First stop was at a place on the EB where I have had mixed results, (best day of the year, and several meh's). There was a boat anchored right in "my" spot, throwing at fish, exchanged waves and watched a good number of fish rise all ...

  All I had to do was say I hadn't seen any wildlife and presto, a doe walked her wobbly legged fawn  across Lordville Roar in front of me, a fox stuck his head out of the grass along the dirt road downstream from monument, and an eagle sat on a rock eating a fish just upstream of where I was fishing. Still no bears. Picked a near 90 degree day to go looking for Cornutas, (has anyone seen any?), never saw a bug hatch from ten this morning until I reeled it in at 12:15. Hooked one rainbow that came unstuck on the first jump, and got a refusal an hour later. Never had a rising fish to throw at.  Came back to the fishing camp, had lunch, watered the tomatoes, ordered a charge cord for my phone, (the old one no longer charges), a charge cord for my PC, (the one I ordered last week doesn't fit), tied a few sulfurs, steamed my spinners, and before I knew it it was 5:30 so I headed out again. The fishing - Drove up to Deposit and found, (by this year's standards), a good sulfur ...

  Promised to finish answering the questions so here goes.  Dennis 2 - Anyone who has ever watched me fish, knows, that I keep the fly in the water. Often I pick the fly up and put it back down on the forward cast, almost never do I take more than one false cast. Roy Ryan, rest his soul, made a big impression on me in that regard. I probably wasn't even a teeenager yet and was constantly waving the fly around in the air when he said, "Never saw a fish hooked with the G-- D-- fly up in the air." I digress. To answer your question more directly, whether I fish up stream or down is mostly dependent on where I park the car and where I want to fish. I blind cast in all directions without giving it a thought. If the wind is a factor, I prefer to fish with the wind at my back. On slow water pools, I generally don't throw over fish's backs until after the sun is off the water. Chris - A long time ago I was allowed to share my views at a meeting with the head of the region...

  Jim N. & Steve -Lordville rattlesnakes - They are endangered and protected. By nature they are not aggressive would rather retreat than fight. Biggest danger is stepping on one or falling on one going down the bank from the railroad tracks to the river. Have seen numerous ones on Lordville Road at night soaking up the heat. They are also commonly seen in the evening laying on the railroad rails. Have had a couple cross the river from behind me when wading, which I find unsettling. Most sightings have been during the heat of summer. The two dead ones in Lordville are the first I've ever seen in May. The river along the southern facing hills from Buckingham down to Callicoon is the most likely place for an encounter. Ed Smith - Our granddaughter's team won the state section 3 championship tonight and will head on to the state regionals. How did yours do? As to the spills -  The tailwater flies are most likely to be negatively affected. Mayfly maturity is regulated by degre...

  With two months, including most of the "big bug season" in the books, I thought it might be helpful to lend some perspective to the fishing season to date. My log books, which span 34 years offer a pretty realistic picture of the variations in the fish population numbers and size, water flows and temperatures, as well as other conditions that have had an influence on the fishing. The month of April has always been by far the toughest month to predict with cold runoff inhibiting insect hatches and low flows, (when the reservoirs aren't full), sometimes allowing for the sun to heat the water and cause the bugs to mature early. My April results consequently vary wildly with a low of one fish landed and a high of  one-hundred forty nine. This year's total catch of eighty- two fish would fall within the mid- range results. What was surprising to me was the size of the fish. Normally April and May produce the highest percentage of fish over 17 inches. This April there wer...