Angler 119's Delaware River Fishing Report

  Trying to figure out/predict river flows is at least as hard as picking winners at Saratoga. Why did they cut back the release on the WB two days ago? The predicted rain - or - is Wallenpaupack going to run?  The rain did produce a little bump in the water level down in Jersey but it's already dropped below 1750cfs and this morning they dropped the Cannonsville release even further. It would appear that Wallenpaupack is about to crank up. If you are here or if you are coming be sure to have the USGS site for Stilesville on your phone so you can check for increases in the flow while you are fishing. It's not fun to get caught on the wrong side of the river. Today, with the release at 425cfs, the contrarian in me decided to try the river up in Deposit. It's been deserted by anglers as there has been little bug activity and few rising fish. When the flow is up over 700cfs it's pulling some of the silt into the water and it's starting to get cloudy. At 425cfs there wa...

  Woke this morning hoping for an all day soaker that would raise the rivers and send the trout back to their home pools, get the olives going and the fish up.. The drop in the release from Cannonsville to under 500cfs in anticipation of the rain, opened up the entire WB for fishing but, it wasn't meant to be  as the first rain didn't arrive until 4:00pm. It has rained on and off since then. Oquaga is still at 5cfs, up from 4cfs this morning and down from 4,000cfs that it reached twice during May and June of this year. It was another late summer/early fall day with cool early morning temps in the 40's and mid afternoon readings in the high 70's. With the wind blowing from the south at 15/20 both leaves and small branches were raining down on local roads. Called Vicky and she got me in at 3:00 and asked why I wasn't fishing. I just pointed at the leaves blowing across the parking lot. Drove down to the Men's Club after the pruning job, saw one pontoon boat at the...

  With rain in the forecast for Thursday, (that might be why they cut back the Cannonsville release),  I decided to conserve energy and burn gas. Left the Estate at 10:00am and toured the fishery. Driving along the rivers in the foothills of the Catskills is a scenic tour that for a trout fisherman is hard to beat. Saw lots of tricos both in the air and on the water but strangely almost no fish up feeding on them. Did the September first cut back in the water release send the fish into hiding? Rode along route 30 all the way up to Downsville to eat lunch at the Downsville Diner only to find it was closed ten minutes before I got there. Drove up to the little store where the canoe rental floats start and asked about Al's old fly shop by the bridge in Shinhopple which is for sale, turns out the store is also for sale. The owner pointed out, you need both a put in and take out if you are going to rent canoes. Having killed enough time, I went in search of the UEB sulfurs and foun...

  If I was asked to describe todays fishing in one word - Dreadful - would do just fine. It might well have been a "great day to be on the river", but where I was at least, swinging wets would have been far more productive than dry fly fishing. Fished two different places on the BR, there were no bugs in the morning place and only a few little olives in the pm spot. Never fished to a rising fish in the am, in the evening I fished down a big flatwater pool and got shots at half a dozen one-timers. Even the fall fish weren't feeding. Caught two two-year old browns in the am, one 14 inch rainbow and a fall fish, in the pm. It's September, if you haven't noticed, and the releases from both reservoirs are supposed to be cut back, UNLESS the River Master calls for additional releases to meet minimum flow at Montague. With Wallenpaupack currently not generating power the River Master has called for releases from Cannonsville that are now up to somewhere around 850cfs and...

  Spent Sunday with a neighborhood friend of over 70 years. His passion is horse racing and we spent a  long but very enjoyable day together driving to Saratoga, scratching the muzzles of two of his horses, (one the NYS bred two year old filly of the year), having breakfast at a back of the track diner where a young lady close to my age took our order, cooked the food, and half an hour later told me what I owed at the cash register, all without writing anything down, (I can't remember where I put my list, let alone what's on it). Bet on nine races, my horse lost his jockey in one race, jockey had to almost stop his horse in another to avoid a horse that cut in front of him, made some bad picks and lost seven straight races, when I won the next two, Tom said it was time to go. Lost $5.00 dollars betting and called the day a big win.   This morning I had weekend stuff to do and was in no hurry to get on the road. Left about 11:00am  and had a late lunch upon arriv...

  Had to go back to August first to find the last time I answered questions -my apologies to those who have waited for answers. Terry V. wanted to know what they are eating when they are rising but won't look at your fly. Easy - flies without hooks in them. If the rises are boils the fish are feeding on nymphs in the water column, if the rises are sips they could very well be eating the dreaded Delaware River midges. Several Ed's had questions - The most dependable olive hatches usually happen as the sulfur hatch wanes. A cold water surge, cold nights, cloudy, (smokey), overcast days with a drizzle are the best bets. The up river area from Stilesville to the Deposit bridge is the coldest part of the stream and  when the sun is off the water it's generally too cold for bugs to hatch. Harry L. - You can get a copy of Paul Weamer's book about fly hatches and flies of New York, (the little orange book), at the Troutfitter's. It tells you when and where hatches occur. If...