Angler 119's Delaware River Fishing Report

 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...