Angler 119's Delaware River Fishing Report

 In the nineties the DEC did some surveys of fishermen on the Delaware River System, it was all wade fishermen back then. Got to know Scott and Mark who did the survey work because I was on the river a lot and they made a point of finding me. They said they knew where practically everyone parked and where they would be fishing, except me. It wasn't until the summer heat made much of the system unfishable and I became acquainted with the Stilesville sulfurs that they could easily track me down. You can call them the good old days if you want, but the tiny releases, ( 45cfs from Cannonsville except  June 15th to August 15th when they ran 325), warm water in all the freestones and a BR fish population that was limited to a fraction of what it is today by the small amount of cold water refuge available to the fish. Today the cold water releases are more than ten times what they were in the 90's. The volume of cold water has created a habitat that supports many many times the fish ...

This promises to be a week like I've never seen on the Delaware River System. Today was to be the coolest day and the car reported 88 on the drive up to Deposit. Forecasted highs for Tuesday through Friday are 88, 94, 97, 94. A surge is being sent down the WB from Cannonsville  to try to keep the USGS temperature gage at Lordville at or below 75. The current reading is 74. With the predicted temps, a lot of water will need to be released this week. The thermal releases are normally done in the evening and the cold water travels downstream during the dark of night, arriving at Lordville during the warmest part of the day. It's the best program I've seen, it increases the number of trout able to live in the BR by creating a large, (but artificial), thermal refuge. The problem being created, by what is sure to be a record breaking heatwave, is that the bank of water that can be released is limited, July is historically the hottest month and we aren't even there yet. The se...

 Having taken pains assembling a seemingly well qualified panel of septuagenarians  and octogenarians, all  supposedly well versed in music from the 50's and 60's, I was appalled when Jim N., (exquisite fly-tyer though he may be), (but a still wet behind the ears newbie), was first on a Beach Boy's song. Compounding my pain was the fact that he then had the audacity to suggest a Cure by establishing a New Order that would never let me down again.              Things didn't improve today when no one, young or old, gave credit to Spiral Staircase for Every                   Days a New Day. Diana Ross's song didn't appear until 1999. Too bad Black Boat isn't around to                   keel haul the lot of you.              Hope at least one of the eleven cars parked at the Hale Eddy...

Had the best night's sleep of the season last night, no leg cramps and no trips to the loo. Have been doing a series of exercises to tighten up my shoulders which wake me up whenever I turn over in bed. It's a familiar story, do the exercises, get feeling good, sleep well and stop doing the exercises and within a couple of weeks you're waking up every time you roll over in bed again. Spent the morning finishing the annual peach thinning project. Pruned the tree back by over half two years ago, and this year I was able to thin the entire tree in just three sessions. Pulled about 500 peaches off over laden branches each time, the deer do the cleanup. Finished the peaches at noon and I really can't tell you what happened to the next three hours but I didn't get to the WB until three-thirty. Wasn't concerned because the hatch yesterday went from 3:30 until about 4:45 and I didn't catch anything anyway. To my surprise the water was filled with Dorothea nymph husk...

It's nine-fifteen and I've been home for over an hour, yesterday I didn't get into the car until 9:37. What happened? Mother nature, the trout, and a guide who apparently thought dropping the anchor no more than 40 FEET below me didn't constitute "low holing". Short term anyways, I'm done praising guides, some are thoughtless, others inconsiderate, and others want to get their sport a fish to ensure a good tip. Started the day by driving down the river from the route 8 intersection with river road to the town bridge in Deposit and it was packed with fishermen, (sorta like sardines when you peel back the lid on the can). At 1:45 every one of them was standing there waiting for it to happen, (with the cloud cover there's a chance it never did). Drove down stream to Hale Eddy, walked out on the bridge, saw a few Dorothea's in the air and decided to fish. Seldom do I get an ass kicking like I got this afternoon. There were bugs, (quite a few), and risi...

Had several items to cross off the to-do list so I got up early, had breakfast and got to work. Put up the ladder and unplugged the gutter on the backside of the house, turned the ladder around, got the chain saw and cut off two dead limbs on the apple tree, then went down to the back yard and cut down and cut up the dead plumb tree, disposed of the remains of both trees, took down the storms and put them away, came in, took a shower, sat down at the fly tying bench and replenished my iso box, before I knew it it was lunch time. (I did that last sentence just for Mrs. Haskins, a long time admirer of my run on sentences.) May have dozed off for a bit in the recliner after lunch 'cause when I walked out to the kitchen the clock said 2:15. With the sun shining brightly, the freestones were given a reprieve and I headed for Deposit. Stopped at the Hale Eddy bridge for a "look see" and ended up having a good conversation with two guys from the USGS who were checking the river ...

 Awoke this morning with two bruises the only evidence of yesterday's encounter with the EB's rock strewn shoreline. Had plans to fish one of my favorite places on the freestones today, but they were put in the TBD category last night. The trip was back on the schedule this morning. Spent a couple hours replenishing my Invarias and Cahills, (always a sign of prior success on the river), and was ready to go. Left the fishing camp promptly at two with the sky overcast and the freestones all showing temps around 60 degrees. To say I felt great would be a lie, (nobody over eighty ever feels great), but I never gave taking an Advil a thought and took on one of the more difficult pieces of water that I still fish.  Never saw a mayfly on the water or in the air, there were a few caddis and but an occasional rising fish. It was evident from the start, however, that the fish were hungry, rising fish ate, and two fish that refused my first offering came back and ate the second. The Cahi...

 Drove down this morning in a steady rain with the temperature in the mid 50's arriving at the Lordville Estate just after noon. Had lunch, did the Monday puzzles and at 1:30 headed out to fish the freestones.  With a cold rain and no sunshine the freestone water temps were down to about 60 degrees and I wanted a break from the chorus line of anglers up in Deposit.  Started on the BR, there were no bugs, and no rising fish. Fished for an hour and a half got two refusals and hooked five fish, (one being a 9 inch yearling rainbow). Drove over to the BK and looked at four different pools, never saw a rise. Tried one for a half hour never saw a bug or a fish. Went from there to the BE and fished two pools from 5:00 until 8:30. There were some small olives on one pool and I saw no more than a couple dozen Cahill's in the two pools combined. Was refused on both an iso and a small olive, but the fish gleefully, (until hooked), ate my Cahill's with nary a refusal. Lost two flies ...

 As promised  - With apologies as some of the questions deserved prompt answers. John H - Who gave us many detailed reports during his stay, asked when the black caddis fell. I don't know. Saw the day after day up river migration, saw a couple of days of the caddis milling around over the water but not on the water, and did get to experience one night with some spent black caddis on the water, (that night the fish ate my black caddis fly like cotton candy). Ann wanted to know what BR stood for. Sorry Ann, thought someone jumped in and answered, (they explained what EB was). BR is the Delaware from Junction Pool down to Callicoon. It's also often referred to as the Main Stem. Harry Luke asked about identifying flies. The best way is to collect them in a small container, take them home and compare them to the pictures in Weamer's book Pocket Guide to New York Hatches. May flies appear on the river in an orderly sequence and when you are familiar with the order of things you l...

 Today is the longest day of the year and I'm not fishing. Yesterday was two seconds shorter than today and tomorrow will be one second shorter. Probably no one but me will notice or care. For me, however, the pendulum has started to swing towards the dark days of December and it saddens me a bit. On the other hand I will take joy in the knowledge that on December 21 the days start to get longer. The Invaria have been the stars of the show for the last few weeks and are in their full glory up above Deposit. Have seen a few Dorothea's on the lower WB, hopefully the Invaria will hold on until the Dortheas arrive up river, usually sometime in the first week of July. Right now there are consistent afternoon hatches on the upper WB, with little else going on until the last hour of light when there are both bugs hatching and spinners falling throughout the WB.  Have not been over to the EB in over a week but the format there is generally the same.  The fishing report has gotten...

 Have been enjoying the entertainment provided by the local deer population here in Lordville. Ten days ago mom showed up with her two yearlings and her brand new fawns. Watched the fawns explore the back yard for almost an hour while mom made half hearted efforts to chase the yearlings away. The yearlings, a buck with sprouting spikehorns, and a very pregnant doe, are around constantly but they now keep their distance from mom and the new kids. Started thinning the peaches and the buck ended up right under the ladder eating the peaches almost as fast as I threw them down.   It's the weekend and a holiday to boot. Didn't drive down to Barking Dog which is being enlarged but Balls Eddy and Shehawken were mad houses again, Stockport had its usual half dozen trailers and Buckingham was more than half full. The tiny parking area at Stilesville was full and cars were parked along the road, the Red Barn had its usual half a dozen cars. From Cold Springs Brook down to the tailou...

 Surprised myself by clearing all of the hurdles back home by 11:05, which left me plenty of time to get down to Deposit for the 2:00 pm Invaria extravaganza. Even had time to talk with David, Anthony, Bob, and Mike the Cop at the Troutfitter before heading out to fish. After telling everybody where and when to go in Wednesday's report, I went in the opposite direction, not because it was bad info, I just don't like crowds, Got to the river a little before the Invarias and managed to hook one nice rainbow before the hatch. It was partly cloudy, when the sun came out the bugs hatched, when the sun went behind the clouds, the fish fed. Sometimes it was quiet, sometimes there were fish feeding on bugs everywhere. Had a lot of ignores and refusals by feeding fish, but enough ate the fly to make it a good afternoon. Shortly after I arrived another fisherman came upstream and fished the pool below me, he looked familiar but I wasn't sure, hollered is that you Mike and when he did...

Would have been a thrill to hoist the spinnaker and take a down wind run in JF's sailboat, but I'd already scheduled a layday to take care of some nagging business matters.  Didn't miss trying to get a fly to touch down on the river in 40mph south winds. Return will depend on wind abatement, and resolution of other non related issues.

 Might have been a tad full of myself when I drove off this morning at 9:30 to fish a place on the EB. Was back at the fishing camp at 11:00 having seen not one bug or fish in an hour of fishing. Spent an hour and a half lending order to my fly boxes, discarded  flies no longer fit for duty and tied enough replacements to fill most of the holes in the duty lines. Left at 2:00 to continue the engagement with Invaria eating fish. Did the Hale Eddy to Stilesville loop without seeing a sulfur or rising fish until I reached the Red Barn where there were four anglers holding the fish at bay. One had a fish on, swallows were over the water, and I did see two or three rises, but it was clear to see that neither the bugs nor the fish were in any hurry to get things going. Probably the cloudy skies kept the water a little cooler and delayed things a bit.   The fishing - Started about an hour later and ended about an hour later which, which when you think about it, is fair. The...

 In case you've forgotten, last Friday it was so crowded that I couldn't find a place to fish. Yesterday, like Little Miss Muffet, I sat on a tuffet, (thankfully no curds and whey were served), for two hours without seeing a trout I could cast to.   Today I decided to join the in crowd and go where the action was. Left the fishing camp in timely fashion at 1:00 and drove up to the Troutfitter in Deposit where David said its been really good and that two of the Associate Editors were already up river fishing. Called Dennis who, in a blatant attempt to keep me out of "his" water told me, "There's no one fishing from the Men's Club all the way up to the town bridge." He lied, counted eleven wade fishermen and three boats in the water and the 12th wader was walking down the bank and into the run I had hoped to fish. (Dennis, if you are wondering, even prednisone won't stop a poison oak hex).  From there things took a turn for the better, if I gambled...

 Had a business meeting to  attend in Syracuse this morning and didn't get down to Lordville early enough to try any WB fishing during prime afternoon bug time. At about 3:30 I headed over to the BK to see if fish had accumulated in thermal refuge areas. Half way up Lordville Road I passed a red fox trotting along the shoulder. The BK was up to 375cfs which was more than twice what it was yesterday. It was cloudy,  (the sky), so visibility was limited and I saw nothing. The dead yearling deer along 81continue to accumulate. There have been at least ten fresh kills on each of my last three trips down. Have seen a mom with one fawn and another with twins here in Lordville and we have a doe in Lafayette keeping her fawn within 30 feet of our house. Have also seen several fawns while out fishing. Every year I see at least one out on an island and this year is no exception. The bears and coyotes get some of the fawns down here while it's mostly coyotes that do the damage in La...

 Having been soaked to the skin twice within an hour yesterday, I resolved to keep a close watch on the weather today. The weatherman said showers, and thunderstorms, ( some severe), starting at 2:00 and lasting until 5:00. His prediction was perfect. Twice I started for a pool only to retreat to the car after hearing the thunder or seeing both the dark clouds and the number of drift boats and wade fishermen already there. Both times I made it back to the car before the rain. At 4:56 the sun came out. Where was I? Filling my gallon water jugs at the Lordville spring. At 7:00 I went out again and drove up the river catching glimpses of both drift boats and wade fishermen  in the dense fog that enveloped the river after the afternoon rains. Some days it's just not meant to be. The rain is once again pounding down on the porch roof as I write amen to a fishless Friday.  A large number of guides have departed. Yes, Barking Dog, Balls Eddy, and Shehawken are busy, but Stockpor...

 After three days of basically driving up and down the WB, (lets forget about yesterday's mid afternoon excursion up route 30), felt I had a handle on what bugs were hatching and where. Found sulfurs hatching and a few fish rising about 2:00, got two refusals and landed a rainbow. When the hatch didn't seem to be building, I reeled it in and moved downstream into the middle section of the WB. Where seemingly almost every trout in the river was up feeding on a mixed hatch of sulfurs and Hendricksons. I would guess most people would have called it a sulfur hatch 'cause they show up much better but there were lots of Hendricksons. Had fish to throw at from 10 feet away to as far as I could cast. Got more refusals than you would think possible, hooked seven fish, lost one not five feet from the net and landed the other six. The action lasted from about 3:00 until 4:45, had to keep sticking the reel in the water to keep it from overheating, (I kid). At 5:00, things were dead see...

 After yesterdays sub par afternoon hatch by the bugs, I decided to sit back, watch the weather, (cloudy with a 50% chance of showers), and make a decision on where to fish close to the prevailing hatch time of 3:00 pm. Dark clouds interspersed with brighter skies and even bursts of sunshine filled up the morning and early afternoon hours. The temperature climbed into the mid eighties all without a drop of rain, at least in Lordville. At 1:30, I'd had enough waiting, got in the car and drove to East Branch and then up route 30 all the way to Downsville. It didn't rain. Never saw a single person fishing on the UEB, never saw a bug hatch, did see one rise. On the return trip there was a pickup at Long Flat and a car parked at the head of Buck Horn. I got back to Lordville about 4:00 and took a nap. Departed Lordville at 6:00 hoping to find a place on the WB with some bugs and rising fish. With all of the freestones too warm to fish and quite possibly done until fall, I decided I ...

 Clearly we are, if not around the bend, at least entering the turn. Haven't been up to Long Flat and Powerline in a while, if anyone wants to report on the drake hatch up there, please do. My sense of "things" tells me that it is still a thing, but I won't stand in line to fish it and that it won't last much longer. Spent the afternoon "hatch", (if I could make the print on hatch any smaller I would), fishing an area that sees constant pressure, up in Deposit. There were a smattering of Hendricksons, a few non descript caddis and some Invarias. The sun was bright and it was hot. The fish were having none of it. Saw a handful of rising fish for not more than fifteen minutes. Totals for the two hour effort, three refusals and one nice 18 inch rainbow. Went back to the Estate and fell asleep. Awoke at 6:15, uncertain whether I wanted to fish or not. Mapped out a drive-by route of four places I would fish, if there were no other anglers fishing. First spot ...

 Had a busy morning in Syracuse. Stopped at the Dermatologists where Rachael took, (in my opinion), a little too much pleasure in applying the liquid nitrogen to what she referred to as Actinic Keratoses on the top of my head. Second stop was to pick up supplies to refurbish the larder at the Lordville Estate. Was too early for my dentist appointment, so stopped at my old grammar school friend's house for a cup of coffee and a recap of his horse's most recent race. At 11:30 I was in the dentist chair saying aah. Learned that I would need a new crown on old #29 but probably not a root canal. Buoyed by the news, I called the car dealer and was able to move up my appointment to pick up the new car from 1:30 to noon. It took an hour and a half to sign the papers and get me familiar enough with the car to get it off the dealers lot. By the time I got home and loaded up the food and fishing gear it was evident that I'd missed the afternoon fishing. Arrived at the fishing camp abo...

 Make no mistake about it, the river system needs rain and cooler temps RIGHT NOW. Unfortunately, the forecast for the next ten days shows temps 10 to 20 degrees above the 70 degree high, 50 degree low which is normal for this time of year. The BE water was into the mid 70s today, and is both too low to float and too warm to fish. The BK went above 70 briefly today and will hit 70 on a regular basis in the coming ten days. The WB is getting the 500 cfs release but the tribs have all but dried up. With the big bugs all but done on the BR, and the UEB and the EB too low to float, the number of boats attempting to get down the WB at less than 600cfs will be a sight NOT TO BEHOLD. At 600cfs the WB is easily wadeable and there are also sure to be hoards of wade fishermen adding to the problem. What to do? Fishermen leave your weapons at home, if you are coming bring your quaaludes. If you can come anytime, (retirees, trust babies and the super rich), wait for rain and cooler temps. Guid...

 Tried a triple header today and am not likely to try one again. Morning trip was to the EB in town. It proved to be just as barren of bugs and rising fish as was the trip to the top of the EB last night.  Came back to the fishing camp, had lunch, and fell asleep in the recliner making me an hour late for the afternoon shift which took place on the WB just upstream from where I fished yesterday. Fished 3:00  to 5:00 but all but one of the fish were caught in the first hour. As was the case yesterday, there were modest hatches of caddis, Invaria and Hendricksons and as is the case almost always, the fish preferred the Hendricksons. Ate my second sandwich in the car and rested a bit before heading out for the nightcap at 6:30. Found Invaria on the water in sufficient quantities to justify a bit of feeding, but the trout felt otherwise. Caught two fish blind casting an Invaria emerger and when the bugs stopped hatching, I left. Drove downstream and spent the last 30 minutes ...

 It was an interesting day. There were no drift boats or wade fishermen above Balls Eddy except for those addicted to the river between Cold Springs Brook and Butler Brook, (AKA the Red Barn area). Stepped into the river above Hale Eddy about 3:00 and was surprised to find bugs and rising fish. Had a place to myself with caddis, Invaria and even a few Hendricksons hatching and rising fish to throw at. There weren't a lot of any of the bugs but the fish were hungry and were more than willing to come up and pass judgement on what you were throwing. Got half a dozen fish to the net with a non counter, a 13 inch brown and four rainbows all between 17 and 18 inches. Surprised the buttons on my shirt didn't pop off I was so full of my self. And then - At six- thirty, in the bright 84 degree sun, I descended a steep rocky trail into the BE a short ways below Jaws, which is much farther upstream than I was last night. Was hoping to catch up with the Green Drake upstream march, find egg...

 After spending Sunday cutting up and removing three dead Ash trees that had fallen last winter and were either on mowed areas or were blocking access roads, I spent Monday dealing with car salesmen. Love my wife and enjoy spending time with her, but boy, was I glad to get out of town. Got to the Lordville Estate shortly before eleven, unpacked the car, stowed the food and clothes, did a little yard work, came in, ate lunch, turned on the lap top and fell asleep in the recliner. Awoke at 2:20 and hit the road. My drive-by of the Red Barn showed only three anglers, with a big gap between angler two and three in which I saw fish rising. Had three 20s and two ones in my wallet. Drove to the Troutfitter and arranged a loan of five dollars from Dave. Found $15 dollars in the little tin box, left one of my 20s and took the change. Remarkably there were still only three people in the pool and rising fish. The fishing - Was really good. Took my Hendrickson box out of my vest last week and ...

 Said good-by to Mark this morning, spent an hour or so lending order to the Lordville Estate, packed the dirty clothes and two bags of trash in the car and headed for home. It was a good, but not great, week of fishing. Long time readers know I try to find rising fish away from the armada of drift boats that congregate where the bug hatch is at its peak. This year I've struggled a bit finding good hatches on the BK for sure, and to some extent the BR  and EB. Some of the problem has been high water that made wade fishing the BR and EB impossible until the last ten days. My inability to find good hatches this year on the BK is concerning. Whenever I've found a good hatch of flies, there have been large fish up eating them. There seems to be a disproportionately small number of two year old browns, so the average fish size is bigger than normal. Either it takes me longer to land the bigger fish or the hatches are of short duration, because they seem to be over almost before I...

 With a cold north wind predicted to blow in the twenties, my first priority as guide/host was to get us out of the wind. In this endeavor I did fairly well. Started out on the BK, (which was crowded with weekend warriors), at a place that had two pools, about a quarter mile apart, that were somewhat sheltered from the wind and had no other anglers in attendance.  There was a prolific hatch of miniscule mayflies that had a dozen or more large fish, (maybe trout, maybe fallfish), feeding just off the current on the far side of a deep run with an upstream "draft". We got several refusals but never actually hooked any of them. We did hook two trout midstream, landing one rainbow. Tucked into a spot on the UEB that was out of the wind, but after clambering down a steep slope we saw two anglers were already in the pool we wanted to fish and we retreated. Spent an hour or so buying mayonnaise, filling the tank, (with gas, not mayo), and checking out places to make the "last st...

 Resolved to stop driving up the price of gas by spending several hours each day going from stream to stream just to look at water with neither bugs, nor rising fish. Did take a short trip up to East Branch to see if there was anything happening in 200cfs of water in the UEB, (there wasn't). Also took a drive over to Deposit to buy floatant and line cleaners, (I get 5% off at the Troutfitter). At 3:15, sensing the angst in my guest, (created at least in part by my refusal to stop at rest rooms), I pulled over at one of my secret spots and we fished. There were a plethora of bugs, (caddis, olives, and Invaria), with quite a few fish rising. We quickly chalked up enough refusals to give Denny a run for his money, landed a few small fish, and when the boats started to arrive, we reeled it in and left. Moved to a place that was above the boat traffic but lacked both good bug activity and rising fish, we managed to land a couple more fish. At 6:30 it was time to fish or cut bait. We fis...

 Left the Lordville Estate before11:00, hoping to find bugs and rising fish. Fished the EB, BK, EB, (again), and  the WB, without seeing  bugs or risers. Used the last of our timeouts to stop the clock and eat our sandwiches, during our lunch break, was reminded by the windshield wipers that one of the fishermen in the group forgot his raincoat, and returned to the fishing camp for it.  The trailers - During the never ending search for rising trout one of the copilot's jobs is to keep track of the number of trailers at the various takeouts. The trick in a crowded parking area is to count one side of the lot on the way in and the other side on the way out, our trailer counting procedure still needs work. Suffice to say Buckingham's trailer total was down about 20% from yesterday, Stockport was up 11%, and Shehawken appeared to be unchanged. The bugs - Were nowhere to be seen until about 4:00 when the March Browns made a wind swept entry and exit on the lower WB. About...

 Launched Mark's boat early enough to lead the parade down river from Buckingham where there were wade fishermen casting at rising trout. We saw almost no flies hatching or spinners on the water but there were fish rising. Hooked a nice rainbow and several fall fish in the slow water pools. There were trout willing to eat a fly along Frisbee Island until about 12:45 when the bright sun shut things down. Rowed down to Lordville and took out there a little after 3:00. Spent the afternoon doing yardwork, tying flies, and maybe closed my eyes for a minute or two while doing a crossword.  About 6:30 we set out, this time in the car, to again look for a good fly hatch and rising fish. In that endeavor we failed miserably. Checked the BR, finding the Buckingham lot filled with trailers, but neither fish rising nor bugs hatching out from the launch. Stockport roadside parking was also filled with both trailers and cars. At Shehawken there was not a bug to be seen on the water. Didn't ...

 The river system is a time bomb, I just don't know when its going to explode.  Left the fishing camp about 12:00 and drove up the PA side hoping to find bugs and rising fish. There were March Browns hatching and fish rising at Buckingham but the boats already launched and several wade fishermen had them well covered. The WB at Shehawken had nary a bug to be seen. Drove along the river below Deposit and saw neither bugs nor risers from the town bridge to the Men's Club. Picked up my new fly line from Dave at the Troutfitter who said there have been risers below the town bridge in the morning, (Hendrickson spinners?), he also mentioned that there were still Hendrickson hatching in the Deposit area. Mark is back, has never fished the Red Barn and I said he should give it a try. Dennis plays golf on Tuesday so I fished his spot. Mark hooked three and landed two, (both 19 inchers), and was quite pleased with himself. Made sure he didn't get overconfident by placing him in spots...

 Returned to the Lordville Estate today not having missed fishing in 45 degree rain one bit, until I heard reports of heavy Hendrickson hatches in Deposit, March Browns all over the UEB, and March Browns,  Invaria, and rising fish on the BR.  Got the food in the fridge, the clothes put away and headed up the PA side where a string of boats heading down river from Buckingham all had people up and casting. There were fish rising in all the pools, and then the sun came out. Drove east and stopped at a place on the BE, saw a few fish rising, put on the waders and gave it a try. Hooked two fish right away on a rusty spinner and with visions of a replay of last Friday dancing in my head, headed for the next rise, and the next, and the next. Never got a sniff from any of them. Got one indignant refusal on the way back to the car.  Drove up rte. 30 all the way to Shinhopple without seeing a bug on the water or a fish rise. Picked a spot that was partially shaded and fished....

For the past week or two reports have been posted about sightings of Gray Foxes, Invaria, (spring sulfurs),  and Isos. Yes, I've seen a few Gray Foxes and Invarias on the freestones but nothing that would constitute a hatch occurred where I was. Thursday in the lower WB the hatch was of Hendricksons. As to the Isos, I have seen none. I also haven't seen the big hatch of dragon flies that precedes the hatch of the aforementioned bugs by a few days, (the dragon flies feed on the big mayflies).  On my drive home Saturday morning I saw one small roadside patch of Ragged Robin, the precursor of the Drakes, that lines the interstate ditches with pink blooms during the drake hatch. Let me remind you that we had a very cold winter with ice covering the river system except for the very top of the tailwaters. Yes, we had a burst of warm weather in April and last weeks 90 degree days, but this weekends weather has been more the norm.  We will most likely still have Hendricksons hatc...

 Friday night I typed the "Round, Round Get Around, I Get Around" page. Those of you on the pay side who read the posting late at night or early the next morning before it shows up on the Troutfitter page, know that I didn't post it until Saturday morning.   Throughout the over ten years that I've done these reports, when I'm fortunate enough to catch 10 or more fish in a day, I have refrained from using using numbers when discussing my catch, saying something like "the fish didn't seem to mind which flies they ate", or "the fish were more than happy to eat what was put on their plate". It was only when the fishing got tough and my efforts produced single digit results that numbers of fish both caught and lost appeared. Last year and so far this year, for many reasons, not the least of which is no doubt my advancing age, the number of over ten fish days has, for me, decreased dramatically. As a result my reports have contained more informat...

 It was an interesting day to say the least. Yesterday I fished a Hendrickson hatch in the afternoon and a modest caddis spinner fall in the evening, went 10 for 10 which gave me my first "win" on the Delaware this season. Today I fished in two places in the WB, two places in the BK, and finished up in what to me is a special place on the EB. There wasn't a significant hatch of anything that I could see anywhere I went all day. Caddis were present in modest numbers on the WB and on the EB. A few Hendricksons floated by on one stop in the WB, saw no bugs on the BK. Here's how it all unfolded - Left the Lordville Estate about 2:00, drove up the PA side, to Hale Eddy. all of the access sites were crammed with trailers, (passed at least a dozen more speeding down 191). Saw rising fish off a bridge on the WB and waded in. There were fish willing to eat a fly with a hook in it and boats willing to give you room to cast. Hooked seven fish and landed five. Second stop was the...

 It's become obvious to me by reading our angler's comments, that the A-119 team is getting badly out fished by the group of photo happy, bobber rigging guides over at the DRC. I may or may not have previously mentioned that there have been no "Got This One On A Dry" comments under their photos this year. And an embarrassingly large number of  twelve to sixteen inchers finding their way into the photos, but still, they are kicking our collective a$$es. What to do? Associate Editor Jim N., (tier of exquisite flies) was on top of  this in his late, but still timely post this morning, (or was it afternoon). He said in part, (and I don't know how Mr. Buffet got into the mix), "you've got to double down", and today, without even reading Jim N's tardy post, that's exactly what I did. The bugs - Yesterday I fished PARTWAY through an upriver, (Deposit), Hendrickson hatch and left empty handed, today I fished an ENTIRE, (entire and partway being impor...

 Frustrated by the trout's behavior during the Hendrickson hatch yesterday, I decided to spend the time more productively today. Jean reported, that it was raining in Lafayette while we were talking this morning. Told her, I had sunshine and 78 degrees. Knew the rain was coming so as soon as the sun got the grass reasonably dry, I fired up the mower. Managed to finish the job, put the mower away and get in the house before the first drops of rain hit.  My neighbor RJ is having a new roof put on his house. They got the old roof off and some of the support beams up yesterday. Today they finished the support beams, and got the plywood and what use to be called tar paper on before the rain. When I got back tonight I could see the bundles of shingles on the top of the roof. If you ever need a new roof these are the guys to call. They just never stopped working. Left the fishing camp at 3:30 to pick up a couple items at the grocery store. Noticed on the way to the car that the air w...

 My plan today was simple, fish the Hendricksons above Hale Eddy on the WB this afternoon, and try to find a spinner fall of some kind on the WB this evening. So what did I do this morning? Tied some March Brown emergers that I had success with the past week, (until I tried them on fish that had already eaten one with a hook in it). With the weatherman changing the forecast  pictures of cloudy rainy days to bright sunny, (but cooler), ones, I left the grass cutting for another day and went fishing. Arrived in  Deposit about 1:00 to pick up my new fly line, only to find that someone???? must have sold it. Chatted with river friend Bill, (his dog was in the truck), who offered me one of his Cortland DT4 weights. Was on the river by 1:30, (didn't know that the hot water spill had ceased this morning, thus postponing the hatch until 3:00). First Hendrickson blew by me just five minutes before Mike the Cop arrived. It was a modest hatch the flies popped quickly off the water, ...

Got a late start this morning what with having to drive into town to pick up provisions for the week and to continue the process, (started Saturday), of attempting to buy a new car. Was on 81 heading south a little after 10:00, arriving at the Lordville Estate just after noon. Would have stopped to check out the Hendricksons in the Deposit area but for the row of anchored boats stretching from the 17 bridge down to the Men's Club and the new bag of Hershey's Kisses in the back of the car that needed protection from the heat. Had no intention of fishing the WB today, as I'd had two weeks of good fishing, mostly in the middle section, and had no desire to battle both drift boats and waders. Was two- thirty when I headed up Lordville Road. Car said it was 90 degrees and I thought the temp would drop when I got moving. It was up to 93 before I got to Hancock. I decided to drive back to Deposit and at least wade in cold water. After looking at the number of boats, fishermen, bug...

 I almost never post twice on a weekend when I'm not fishing, but I was so moved by both the number and quality of the comments today that I just had to say thank you to everyone who takes time to share their thoughts and experiences while on the river.  It's tough to catch fish on the Delaware River system. Many, many expert anglers are on the water here every day. By sharing your experiences you help everyone who comes here, understand what a challenge  it is to even hook a hot rainbow or big brown, let alone land them.  To those who dare take the challenge, I say, it's ok to come with great expectations, but never leave feeling defeated. Look at it as a learning experience, these are some of the most educated fish on the planet. If you hooked and landed one fish on a dry fly, it's cause for celebration.  While you're here, don't forget to take time to smell the sweet aroma of heifers in the pasture pool, watch an eagle try to steal a fish from either an Ospre...

With a beautiful weekend on tap, a Hendrickson hatch in full bloom in Deposit, the freestones out of the doldrums, (but still a challenge to wade), and a plethora of anglers anxious to get on the river, it's not hard to imagine this being a record breaking weekend for both shuttle operators and number of drift boats on the river. Stopped at the Troutfitter on my way back to Lafayette to chat with a group of long time fishing friends. At 10:00 am people were worried about getting a parking place at both the Red Barn and the game lands. Flies were being purchased by the dozens, boats on trailers were lined up in front of both the motel rooms and the fly shop, Anthony and Andy were spreading mulch under the hedge, and five ***** "Accommodation Specialist" Janet was trying to drive her vehicle through the congestion to prepare rooms for incoming guests. It was so busy and congested that I'm sure no one noticed that I slipped my bag of trash into the dumpster. After six da...

 With a beautiful forecast for the weekend and the Hendricksons finally arriving above Hale Eddy in numbers, I felt there was sure to be more than enough drift boats and wade fishermen on the WB. I decided to try the BK which at 900 cfs is no piece of cake to wade, but I've read reports that there have been March Browns and other assorted flies on the water with fish having actually been seen eating them. Arrived about 1:30, drove a couple miles along the river without seeing an angler in the water, selected an empty pool and waded in. The water in the BK is twice the "normal" level for this time of year. Most of the dead algae has been washed off the rocks so it's not wicked slippery, but if you decide to fish it, do not look at the rising fish on the far side, you just can't safely wade within casting distance, concentrate on what you can reach. Rose two fish blind casting, one refused, and one ate. The fish I landed had a raw wound in the top of his jaw where s...

 Let's be clear about a few things. Hendricksons don't hatch when the water is too cold. I've gone out twice when I hoped the sun would shine enough to get the bugs hatching and caught a total of one fish, and one of those times was yesterday. Today was colder and as cloudy as yesterday. My only plan was to mow the grass, which I did. I had no intention of going fishing, until I had to get some papers scanned, signed and returned. My job was to sign, called David at the Troutfitter and he took care of the rest. Was at the Troutfitter about 1:15 and rather than drive back to the Lordville Estate, I drove down along the river to the Men's Club where "Mike the Cop" was parked beside the Lee Conklin plaque, turned around at the parking area and pulled up next to Mike's car, we both rolled down our windows and shouted at one another, (we are both what might be called hearing challenged, aka deaf). Mike shouted that there were Hendricksons two days ago, (when th...

 Yesterday was a day to remember, a blizzard apple caddis hatch that was so thick you can't help but wonder how all the nymphs could possibly fit on the stream bottom, followed by very good hatches of paraleps and Hendricksons. Every fish in the river was up feeding on the Hendricksons. The wind was no factor and I imagine that up and down the river, a lot of fish got to feel the point of a hook. It didn't last a full two hours but for sure I got my money's worth. Today there was rain hitting the porch roof at 6:00 am with a forecast calling for intermittent showers and a cloudy day with a high temp of 60 degrees, "A great day to be on the river", says the DRC report. Regular readers of this missive know better. With water coming out of Cannonsville at about 44 degrees we need sunshine to get the water up to a temp where Hendricksons will hatch.  Watched the USGS real time temps on the WB creep slowly up under a light overcast sky in the morning, but around noon d...