Angler 119's Delaware River Fishing Report

  It occurred to me today that I've had no problem lately finding empty pools, trailers at put-ins and take-outs, almost none, and wade fishermen can find a shady spot to park their car at almost every parking area. Why? It's been a tough season from the get go. Water in April too low for boats, then too high for wade fishermen in May and June, poor hatches all year, and then a summer of unrelenting bright sunshine and above average temperatures. It seems that many, if not most, anglers have hung up their rods and are either playing golf, shooting their bow, or waiting for the Epstein files to be released.  Today I decided to continue my trip down memory lane, (It started two days ago, I just don't tell you everything), by fishing two places on the UEB I haven't fished in years and one on the BR for the first time this year. Got permission from at a Blue Stone Company exec. to access the river through their back lot but couldn't get through the multiflora roses and ...

  Woke up this morning with the porch thermometer showing a temperature of 69, if I'd had my hearing aids in, I could probably have heard the trico spinners falling. Cancelled the drive over to the UEB and will wait for cooler nighttime temperatures before fishing the tricos again. With the fishing a non starter I sat down and started a new to-do list. First item on the list was mow the grass, (did that yesterday but it's always nice to be able to cross an item off the list right away). By 2:00pm the list was not only finished but a couple of additional items were done and crossed off, and I decided to go fishing. Had quite enough of the WB and it's finicky trout yesterday so I headed east. The UEB had cleared up  and was back down to within 20cfs of where it was before the rain. Drove up route 30 all the way to Downsville. There was one car at "Crusher Pool" and two at Power Line". Had in mind taking the walk through the hayfield, but only if it had been mow...

  With the radar showing much needed rain coming across the state, with an expected time of arrival in Lordville of 1:00pm, I passed on the tricos in favor of mowing the lawn. Waited for the dew to dry and then had at it. Some parts were brown and brittle while others were a good eight inches long and had to be gone over twice. Finished up a little before noon, and was making lunch before I heard the thunder, (it doesn't make as much noise as it used to). Sat out on the porch and listened to the rain on the roof. Two of the big blobs of green on the radar and one small patch of yellow dumped water on the lawn. A big dark green storm with lots of red and yellow slid by just to the south. When the worst of the storms had gone by I drove over to the UEB with the thought of perhaps trying the evening fishing there. The thought was quickly scrubbed when I saw the color of the water. Some of the tribs that flow in from the north were high and muddy and with the release at 150 it doesn...

  Headed out at 8:30 this morning with the intention of fishing the BR up top in the cold water. It was a multipurpose trip. Wanted to see if there was a meaningful trico hatch, and any effect the surge, which was on it's way down the WB, would have on both bugs and fish. Was in the water by 9:00am and fished until 10:30am. The surge arrived about half way through my stay. There were tricos, not enough to garner the attention of the wax wings, in fact I think the couple of dragon flies I saw went away hungry. The surge made its presence known by sending white puffs of foam that had accumulated in eddies downstream. Neither the bugs nor the fish seemed to give a hoot about the the surge. Never saw a rise other than to my fly all morning. Saw a couple of caddis flitting around as well as the aforementioned tricos. There were no other may flies.  The fishing - Was nothing to write home about. Rose four fish, all of them ate my olive, landed a rainbow and two browns all between 11...

  Drove home Friday afternoon to pick up Jean on her return from our daughters in Florida. Picked up my car from the dealer early Saturday morning, (it was a cracked spark plug that was causing the problem). They did an oil change, put in a new set of plugs and presto, the bill came to $640.87. At noon we were on our way back to Lordville to attend a wedding reception, overnighted there, and then drove home Sunday to attend a family barbeque. Had some business to take care of this morning but was back in Lordville a little after noon. Ate lunch, watered the tomatoes, tied some badly needed olives, perhaps closed my eyes for a bit, had an early dinner, and was ready to head out to fish at 6:15.  The fishing - With nary a bug, rising fish, drift boat or angler to be seen, I felt no need to rush into the water to claim "my spot". The PA fish and wildlife people had two vehicles parked at Shehawken and at least six people shocking for fingerlings just up river from the take out, ...

Where to go - Tricos are warm water flies and won't be found in the upper WB or above Shinhopple on the UEB. Look on the WB below the game lands and on the BR down to Stockport. Below Stockport you get into water that is too warm to fish.   When do tricos hatch - The hatch begins in mid to late July and can continue into early fall. The flies hatch daily with the spinner fall occurring over the riffles in early morning as the fog burns off. Most of the spinners fall as the temperature climbs through the sixties. When and where do the fish feed on them - As the spinners hit the water in numbers, the fish will appear in the slow water pools below the riffs, often forming a line of a dozen or more fish slowly moving upstream gulping the trico spinners. How to fish a trico spinner fall - Try to cast downstream to the feeding fish. For a trout to take your fly, it has to be floating drag free and right at a fish. If your fly isn't eaten, slowly retrieve the line and if the fish are...

  It's noon on Friday, wasn't going to fish this morning but I will be heading back to Lafayette this afternoon to pick Jean up at the airport so I decided to give the tricos another try. Yesterdays early spinner fall brought into serious question the Orvis pronouncement that trico spinners fall at 69 degrees. Some of them do for sure but a good many run out of gas earlier in the morning. Arrived streamside at 8:45am today with the car showing it to be 64 degrees. Found tricos on the water and fish rising. How'd I do? Fished about as well as I an capable of fishing. Hooked ten fish, two came unstuck right away, two more were lost during the fight. Landed six fish, five rainbows and one brown. In previous years, my trico fishing was mostly to pods of yearlings, (8 to 10 inchers), with an occasional hatchery holdover and rarely a wild brown to add excitement to the event. This year I'm fishing to adult rainbows, and haven't hooked a juvenile fish. As was the case Tues...