Angler 119's Delaware River Fishing Report

 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...