Angler 119's Delaware River Fishing Report

  Someone needs to step up and tell it like it is. I understand that most people writing Delaware River reports have a horse in the race. They paint a picture of beautiful fall colors, speak of "tinted" water helping the streamer fishing, talk of olive sipping fish in the evening, all in an effort to get fishermen up to their lodges for one last fling. Other, perhaps more ethical writers, just don't update their reports from August 'til October. The truth is that the water currently being released from Cannonsville at 1,150cfs, closely resembles coffee with two creams, and it is unsafe for most to wade. Despite the mud, almost all fish can identify the pattern and tier of every streamer thrown, and virtually no fish are rising to eat size 22/26 size olives in the current high water sea of mud. The UEB. EB and Bk on the other hand, are so low and clear that a false cast puts fish down. There is no good justification for spending money on lodging and a guided trout fish...

  If today was still the end of the trout fishing season, as it was many years ago, I could have hung up my waders without shedding a tear. To be sure it's been a difficult and challenging season, I've been skunked a good many times, but today was somehow worse than a skunking.  My GHOF came down and we decided to join forces and show the trout who was boss. Walked down the tracks from Bouchouxville to Cold Flats at about 10:00 this morning. Hooked a two year old brown on my third blind cast and never rose, or cast at, another fish the rest of the day. My GHOF hooked two fish, landing a brown that was about the same size as mine. In three hours of fishing neither of us saw a fish rise. Trudged back up to Bouchouxville, drove back to the Lordville Estate and rested up for the evening olives. My GHOF went back to his house on the WB and fished the "home pool" for an hour without seeing a fish rise. At 5:30pm we drove up to the gamelands, which were deserted. With the fl...

  Fished another split day with a couple hours of yard work in between. Fortunately with the sun subdued by a high haze it kept the streams fishable and it stayed cool enough to work. Drove over to the Bk this morning and found a few fish. Also became reacquainted with an adult bald eagle that patrols the bottom few pools. Last May he was sitting in a tree across the river from me when I hooked a fish. When the fish jumped the eagle flew right over and circled above the fish, I let the line go slack, the eagle flew back to his tree and I landed the fish without further incident. Seemed to encounter the eagle almost every time I fished the lower pools. He would be flying up or down the river and would land in a tree near me, caught fish in front of him, but had no further acts of aggression. Until today! Hadn't given the eagle a thought since back in June. Didn't see him today until I had hooked and was playing a 12/14 inch rainbow. Had the fish on a tight line and was reaching ...

  Started out this morning with the spike horn and what seems to be a gramma, mom, (a yearling that was bred as a fawn), and her fawn, nosing around the base of the apple tree looking for drops. At nine-thirty I headed out to fish and had to stop while two hen turkeys and at least five of their young crossed the road. While in the middle of the EB fishing, I looked up and there was a bear swimming across the river not more than 50 yards downstream from me. Returned to the fishing camp for lunch, shot the bow, picked the last of the tomatoes, left the fence open so the deer could dispose of the tomato plants, and at about 3:30 on a bright sunny, 84 degree day, left to go fishing. Had to stop again on Lordville Road, this time for a covey of Partridge, four of them flew, all in different directions. That ended the glut of wildlife sightings, (not counting eagles, osprey, great blue herons, kingfishers, and mergansers that are every day occurrences), until my return to the Lordville E...

  Thought I'd been Kimmeled this morning when the report hadn't appeared by 11:00am. The Troutfitter management said that an attempt was made to post it at 7:30am but apparently a wrong button was pushed. I'd prefer to think that the Troutfitter phone rang off the hook with room cancellations and demands that the report be posted in timely fashion. The Syracuse vs Duke football game - If anyone had any doubts about who the most important player on a football team is, they were laid to rest by today's game. With their starting quarterback out for the season, the Syracuse offense ran up a total of three points, while Duke, led by their $4,000,000.00 a year quarterback scored 38. The bugs - One thing is very clear. Olives love cold water and overcast, rainy days. With the temperature of the Cannonsville release water continuing to climb, the air temperatures, (both day and night), well above normal, and the sun doing it's very best to give the trout an excuse for not r...

  We finally got some rain in the water system, the BR hit 2,500cfs, the EB 1,800cfs while the BK peaked at 800cfs. The flows were dropping rapidly today, but I would bet the fish are on their way to their home pools, if not there already. The rain provided a big boost to the tribs where many of the yearlings have been stranded. Stopped and looked at two of the pools in Humphrey's Brook that each held 15/20 yearling rainbows Tuesday, and didn't see a fish, hopefully they found their way out into the BR.  With the river at Montague up over 3,500 cfs the release from Cannosville was cut back to the FFMP post September 1st rate of 350cfs, where it will stay unless or until the River Master calls for an increase to once again meet minimum flow. With the decrease in the release, the addition of what was very warm rain water, and an afternoon of bright sunshine the WB water temp spiked up to 65 degrees, and while this poses no threat to the trout, the olives that had been hatching a...

With the Cannonsville release cut back to 380cfs in anticipation of the rain, I stopped at both Buckingham and Shehawken on the way home to see what, if anything was happening. Buckingham was like a mill pond with neither bugs nor rising fish in the still water. It was a little after noon when I pulled into Shehawken and a drift boat was being taken out. They had been streamer fishing but said there were both bugs and rising fish all the way down. I suited up and gave it a try. There were olives and a few rising fish in a misty rain. Three of the first four fish I cast to ate. When the sky started to brighten both the bugs and rising fish slowed down. Got several refusals and hooked two more fish. Landed the 9 incher but lost a really nice rainbow that was eating duns and gulped mine down without hesitation. Reeled it in at 2:00 and headed for home. If the release stays down and the rainy conditions continue, I'll be back sometime Friday and may fish part of the weekend. The water ...