Angler 119's Delaware River Fishing Report

 If anyone thought the Hendricksons were in trouble, think again. I spent the last 10 days of April looking for them on the freestones and didn't find them. The apple caddis that are supposed to appear about the middle of the Hendrickson hatch, came and went, and still no Hendricksons.  When reports of good Hendrickson hatches on the UEB started to be heard, I was relieved. When I fished a Hendrickson hatch on the lower WB, I was thankful. One morning last week, I walked out on the back porch in Lordville and saw two to three dozen Hendrickson spinners on my screens, a good 10 days after they should have been done hatching.. Talked with a guide, (of questionable character and veracity), who said he's been seeing both Hendricksons and March Browns hatching on the BR below Lordville. Talked with a fisherman on the 97 bridge in Hancock, (a much more reliable source), and he said he caught six fish in a mixed hatch of, (you probably already know the answer), Hendricksons and March...

 Do any of you understand why it's good to have a Joe Btfsplk, (who, beside Ed S. remembers who Joe B. was, or why Li'l Abner was cancelled), contributing to the blog? He's said lots of things that we all know are true, the Delaware system is more crowded than anyone wants, and the fish are beat-up and stressed, unfortunately he also states, as truth, many things that have little basis in fact. His beliefs are no doubt sincere, 2012, the year he referenced for example, was also my best year on the Delaware. Why? The river had one of its biggest populations of trout ever, the bugs came early and in big numbers, there weren't nearly as many boats or people fishing as today, and the river system didn't suffer a single "blow out " from a rainstorm all year. BUT, at the tender age of 81, my second best year on the Delaware was 2024. There were boats galore and wade fishermen everywhere, the fish were beat-up and stressed but, as Hackelhouse said last year, you ...

Was taken by surprise when I looked at the stream flows this morning, either the weatherman forgot to mention that the river system would get an inch of rain yesterday, or, I forgot to look at the forecast. At any rate, the only part of the system that could be comfortably waded this morning was the UEB, yes you could get in the Willow and Neversink, but neither fishes well a todays levels. So, I decided to take a tour. People are so obsessed with the Delaware and it's trib's that lots of little streams get ignored. Drove east, either caught up with yesterday's rain, or found some that the weatherman wasn't talking about. Saw a lot of little brook trout streams, half a dozen waterfalls, several lakes/reservoirs with tiny camps side by side million dollar second homes, and two buck deer standing beside the road with horns just starting to grow. Never saw a fisherman, a rise, or for that matter, even a bug hatch. Crossed the Neversink, Willow, BK, BE without seeing more t...

 Left the Lordville Estate at 7:15 this morning. Why? My GP spends Mondays with his grandchildren,  so I have to get my annual  physical on a Friday. The good news is that he scheduled me again for next year. It was cold, windy and rainy on the drive home this morning, (there were even a few flakes of snow here in Lafayette). Saw that the temp in the lower WB did get up to bug hatching level, but the upper and even the middle sections were probably too cold for Hendricksons. Had time to read all of the comments from the last few days and if you piece together the contributing anglers experience it sorta all makes sense. On most days there are places in the 90 miles of river system where there are bugs hatching and fish feeding. Being in the right place at the right time is obviously the key to success. The worst thing you can do is go to the same place every time you fish, (except perhaps during summer sulfurs). The best advise I can give is both read and contribute to th...

 Nobody ever accused me of being smart, but today for sure, I was smarter than yesterday. A front blew through two days ago while we were fishing, dropped the temp from 78 to 63, but it stayed in the 60's all night. Never gave the water temp a thought in the morning. Went out, sat streamside on AN OVERCAST, CLOUDY, (I'm being redundant to make a point), day and never saw a bug hatch or a fish rise. Why? 'Cause the air temp doesn't mean manure when it comes to raising water temps, it's the SUNSHINE that counts. The water yesterday, where I was, never got above 46. Today, I woke to bright sunshine and 35 degrees, watched the gauges like a hawk and when a place I wanted to fish got to 48 by 12:30, I left camp, sure there would be fish feeding on the paraleps and Hendricksons. The bugs - Arrived at 1:45 and there were a few apple caddis popping, but nary a fish stirred, (they knew what was coming), by 2:15 the paralep scouts were on the water, by 2:30 the entire army ar...

 It's 5:14, the Perfect Manhattan is on the table beside me. Mark headed for home at 8:30 this morning, (he hates fishing in the rain), and should arrive within the next couple of hours. Did a little house work this morning and intended to take it easy and limit my fishing to the Hendrickson hatch. Left early enough to drive over to Roscoe to pick up a 100 1x long, 12 and 14 dry fly hooks, (using 1x long hooks gives me the illusion that there will be room behind the eye to neatly finish the head). Neither fly shop had them, so much for buying local.  Drove back 17 to the WB, arriving streamside after a 15 minute walk, at 2:35. The water was "snow melt green", and judging by last year's Knotweed floating by, was rising. There were Hendrickson spinners in the air and both paralep and Hendrickson spinners on the water. Sat until 3:45 without seeing a rise, gave both the bugs and the fish a three fingered salute, and headed for the Lordville Estate. (The WB water temp at ...