Angler 119's Delaware River Fishing Report

  Home for the weekend, will be attending our youngest granddaughters graduation on Sunday. With "heat alerts" being posted for the region, Sunday through Wednesday, by the National Weather Service, there can be little doubt that the freestones, (BR,(below Stockport), BK, Willow, and EB will all hit temperatures above 70 degrees. Please concentrate your efforts on the cooler waters of the WB and UEB. A few days ago Chris Z asked why rainbows don't take streamers. Here's my thoughts' on the matter. The simple answer would be that they like flies better and have evolved as a fly eating machine while their cousins the browns have shown a decided preference for eating fish.   Start with their mouth structure. The 'bows mouths are much more fragile than the browns. It's hard to find an 18 inch rainbow that still has all of his mouth parts intact. Take a gander at DRC's daily parade of browns, many of which are caught on streamers and you will see heavy mout...

  Today was the longest day of the year, tomorrow will be one second shorter. Strangely I only fished two hours today and the last half hour was in the dark. Love long days and am always bummed when we take the first step towards the dark days of winter. On the other hand I find joy on December 21st knowing that the days will be getting longer. A frontal system pushed through today with north winds in the 15-20 mph range and it wasn't hard at all to find other things to do. Did some pruning on a peach tree, cut off low hanging branches on the rhododendron out front, vacuumed the rugs and at 2:30 took a drive. Explored parts of the river system I haven't visited in a year or more, took a couple walks, and by about five-thirty I was ready to fish. Sadly the wind was still blowing and I couldn't find a fish rising anywhere. There were fishermen out on all the streams but for Friday afternoon I would have rated the pressure as light. At seven I was in my waders on the bank of t...

  Today started out better than yesterday. Jean's 8:00 o'clock call woke me up to bright sunshine and by noon the lawn was dry enough to finish cutting. Spent the early afternoon tying flies, put them in one of those little round plastic boxes that you get at the Troutfitter when you buy a dozen flies. Took the box out to the car and set it on the dashboard to dry the "Water Shed" I put on the body dubbing. At 3:00, I was ready to go. The fishing - The hatch of Dorothea's was virtually non-existent. It might have been better if the trout that were rising weren't eating every sulfur nymph that came down the river. For sure I had fish to throw at. My very best cast would be ignored and the fish wouldn't rise again. It took an hour to work my way across the river putting down every fish in the process. Got a half dozen refusals and never touched a fish. Didn't see a single dun eaten or a single nose out of the water. Tipped my cap to the fish, reeled it i...

  As most who follow the reports know, I've been fishing the east side of the system. Why? Better water levels for wading, next to no boats, very few fishermen, decent bugs, and enough 'bows and browns to keep me happy. So today I went west. Why? Because the BK, if not blown out, was too high to fish comfortably, (900 cfs this morning, 1,000 cfs now, and still climbing). Both reservoirs have stopped spilling and today's flows are probably designed to create the flood prevention void called for in the FFMP. Spent the morning tying and repairing flies, (always a good sign), and waiting for the grass to dry.  At 2:00 pm after some periods where the sun almost came out from behind the clouds, I checked the weather radar and saw green and yellow heading our way. Went out, (at 82 you don't run), started up the mower, made a big rectangle in the backyard and was two passes short of getting it done when the rain came. Finished the two cuts and headed for the garage. I thought D...

  Want to thank everyone who has taken the time to post about their experiences both on the Delaware River System and " Out West". Some of the comments bring back fond memories of my many trips.  The Henry's Fork is a delightful river to fish, if the wind isn't blowing. The only two rivers out west that "owe me " are the the Madison and the Big Hole. I was on the Big Hole a couple of times when just nothing was happening, (did catch a few grayling, but didn't write home about them). The Madison can, for waders, be a terrifying river, (it was for me when I was heading for California in a VW bug in '65). Hit it more recently during the salmonfly hatch two times. Once I almost got even. The second time there was a greater chance of hooking someone in a drift boat than a fish.  For me, and by now, you know, I like to bend a rod, there is only one place to fish out west. Where? The Missouri River from Holter Dam down to Cascade. Why? It's full of bigg...

  It's 10:05 pm, do you know where your fly boxes are? Mine, (the metal ones), are on the shelf next to the stove pipe and yes I have a fire going. When I left the fishing camp, the radar showed a thin band of light green passing through the area. All I can say is it took it's damn sweet time. Made my usual decision to put the raincoat on and then the fishing vest and never looked back.  It came down as rain for about five minutes around 8:00 but the rest of the time it was like fishing in a misty fog. Nevertheless the vest is wet and so are the fly boxes. Today was to be liberation day, the WB was finally low enough for me to fish several places I haven't been to all year. Looked at the USGS flow early and it was a go, only things to decide were when to go and which pool to fish. Was ready to head out when I decided to check the levels to be sure they hadn't maxed the flow to create the mandated flood control void. Stilesville was going up, I assumed to 1,500 cfs and I...

  Got off to a slow start this morning, and didn't get on the road until almost 11:30. There hasn't been much but activity where I've been able to fish until at least 7:00 pm so there was no need to rush. Got down to Deposit and rode along the river from Stilesville to the Men's Club. The lack of fishermen could have been do to it being father's day, or because there were neither bugs, nor risers and everyone knew it. Never saw a bug on the water or a trout rise. Continued on down to the Lordville Estate, unpacked, put things away, looked at the water levels and decided to wait another day before fishing some of the BR and WB pools that have been off limits for the past six weeks due to the high water. Drove instead to the Bk which is at an ideal level for fishing. Decided to fish a pool that I have fished twice before, once about ten years ago when march browns, gray foxes and green drakes were hatching but no fish were rising, and once a year or two ago when there...