Angler 119's Delaware River Fishing Report

True to my word, I went out this morning searching for a place to fish that had bugs, fish, and solitude. Selected a spot on the PA side of the BR where the WB water and the EB water haven't mixed yet. I was the only one there. Entered the water at 9:30, in bright sunshine with nary a cloud in the sky. Put on my go to BR fly when no bugs are hatching, ( a medium sized olive), and began casting. After about twenty minutes, the thought that I was just wasting time entered my mind, and then a rainbow came up and ate the olive. After that I was entertained, saw a few fish rise, got one to eat, hooked three more 'bows and three browns. The heart breaker was a big rainbow that ate the fly and took off straight across the stream. With yellow backing starting to go out through the guides the line went slack. Reeled in to find that the tippet had broken, (not a spin out). At 11:30  I was in the car heading back to the Lordville Estate.  Had lunch and passed a good part of the afternoon...

  Got another good night's sleep, (may be ready to play before Caitlin Clark), and tackled the lawn before the heat got serious. That onerous task out of the way, I tied the days quota of flies and wondered what to do next. Fortunately the phone rang and I had to deal with an air conditioner that decided not to work on one of the hottest days of the year. (WE NOW GO LIVE), It's 10:20pm and the phone rings, my first thought, somebody died, but no, it was my long suffering bonefishing partner Mark, who somehow knew that I was just sitting down with my PM getting ready to write the days fishing report, said, he was checking to see if I'd found the Coq De Leon tailing material I'd asked him about, told me he called my GHOF to see how he did on the Missouri and apparently now he doesn't feel as bad about the ass kicking he got, (misery loves company). He also mentioned that I should have Dave forward the picture I allegedly took of one of the fish he caught while up here...

  With another late August like night with a predicted low of around fifty, it was my intention to fish another spot on the BR this morning. It could well be another month before the water temperature affords us the opportunity again. Alas, it didn't happen. The triple play yesterday took more out of me than I expected. Even the groin muscle took pity and let me sleep until six-thirty. Got up, but couldn't find the go. Spent the morning  doing mundane chores and really didn't miss the fishing. At lunch time the thought rolled through my mind, where am I gonna fish the sulfur hatch. The answer came quickly, I'm not! I spent my early years seeking out trout in remote Adirondack Rivers where you seldom saw anyone, and if you did, they became your friends for life, because they shared both a love for trout fishing and for the environs where trout were found. I was younger than they were then, and they are all gone now. The Delaware River, even back in the eighties was a har...

  Todays fishing took on the guise of a three act play, one that ran the the gamut from romance to comedy to tragedy. A-119 was the stand-in for the fisherman who just never showed up. Act I - With the air temperature at dawn 47, and the water temp at Lordville  hitting a low of 64, there was no question about where the understudy would fish. At 9:00am there were two anglers already casting bright green and red bobbers at whatever was residing in the pool. The star would have driven off in a huff, the understudy suited up and fished a pool that is near and dear to his heart. Hooked and lost a rainbow right away and then went an hour without seeing anyone hook a fish. Found some rising fish on the way back to shore, hooked four, ( including one 7 incher), and was refused at the last second by a nice rainbow. The fisherman that exited on the NY side said he had done nothing but the other guy caught three and had several other hits. It gave A-119 a warm feeling just to be able to...

  Arrived at the Lordville Estate right at noon today with plans to fish the afternoon sulfurs, it didn't happen. Spent yesterday afternoon reconstructing the dams and repairing the plumbing that feeds water into the trout and bass ponds in Lafayette. Yesterday the bass pond feeder was dry, the trout pond feeder was a mere trickle. Sometime since last Sunday when I mowed around both ponds and both inlets were working there was a thunderstorm/flash flood that blew out both dams, filled the collection pools with stones and gravel, cut off the water supplies to both ponds, and cut new channels into rainbow creek. The repairs wouldn't have been that big a deal twenty years ago but they were yesterday. Just didn't have the energy to fish this afternoon. Left about 6:00 anxious to make up for lost time. Drove up to Deposit, turned left and went as far as the Men's club. Saw but two splashy risers, Cedar Wax Wings over the water, sulfurs, and no fishermen. Left town and headed...

  Sitting home looking at the fishing reports, couldn't help but notice that since July 1st, the Delaware River Club's fish of the day photos have shown a total of four fish, only one of which contained the notation that it was caught on a dry. DRC has experienced guides and by all accounts do a great job for their clients, the absence of photos is just a commentary on how difficult it now is to catch the Delaware River fish. (In May and early June their page often had half a dozen pictures each day.)   Took the time to sort through the steno and sulfur boxes in my vest. I usually tie a dozen or more flies a week which go into one of those little round boxes in the top pocket of my vest. The more flies that end up in the little round box, the greater the chance of a catastrophe when opening the box. Discarded a surprisingly small number of flies from each box, added the contents of the little round box and am now ready to go. Got a note from the Grammarian, who I'm happy ...