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I Love Mayfly Hatches!

 Mark departed early this morning for a family reunion celebrating his mom's ninetieth birthday, (if Mark shows you this, Happy 90ith Carol Hellen).  Woke to a frost covered back yard with the thermometer on the back porch at 31 degrees. With bright sun the frost quickly disappeared and I was able to spend an hour raking up areas of dead grass from the grub invasion of last year and then planting grass seed where the grass was killed. The frosty night dropped the water temps into the low forties, but by one this afternoon the sun had the water back up to a temperature that both paraleps and Hendricksons will hatch in. Morphed back into my wade fisherman persona and headed for an area in the middle section of the WB that I am comfortable wading at current levels. Walked down to the river at 1:30 expecting to sit streamside and wait for the hatch to begin. Wasn't there two minutes when a fish rose not 100 feet out from shore. On her third rise I was close enough to make a cast a...
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After Two Days Of Fishing, Mark Has Still Not Caught A Fish AS Small As His Biggest Fish Of The Year On The South Holston.

The rain didn't stop this morning until after I was finished with breakfast. It was a cold rain, (the red stuff in the thermometer on the porch couldn't get above 44). The forecast for today was grim, high of 49, with winds out of the north at 10 to 15. Mark and I sat in the Lordville Estate, with the fire going in the wood stove, and tied flies. At noon we were bored enough to begin assembling our gear from the various places it was hung to dry after yesterdays fishing.  Where to fish?  We knew the lower BR was entering the doldrums, the upper WB still had very few reports of bugs and risers, and that the caddis spinner fall had been called off due to wet grounds yesterday. On the positive side, the launch/takeout sites from Balls Eddy to Buckingham had but a third of the trailers they had last week. We decided to fish where there were still massive numbers of caddis egg layers primed to do their thing, both paraleps and Hendricksons were reported to be hatching in sufficient...
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Every Day's A New Day.

 After spending Tuesday mostly driving around looking for rivers we couldn't find, Mark and I decided  to save gas, pay for a shuttle, and float an area where we felt certain there would be a good caddis spinner fall. A Hendrickson hatch would be a nice bonus, but if we had fish up eating caddis spinners during the last hour of the day, everything would be just fine. Put in at 1:30, (heard from a fisherman that he had Hendrickson's in the same water  at 2:00 the day before), and saw a few Hendrickson's already on the water at the launch site. Despite the presence of Hendrickson's on the water we did not see a single rise for almost two hours. At about three we started see rising fish, not many, but enough to keep us interested.  From 3:30 until we arrived at our take out at about 7:45, we were  occupied trying to entice both one and doners and feeding pods to eat our dry flies. We met with varying degrees of success. Mark is an able boatman, but is still learnin...
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If You Don't Mind An Ass Kicking, Come Join The Fun.

 My long suffering bonefish partner Mark showed up lastnight, mostly because his family was gathering in Syracuse to celebrate his Mom's 90th birthday and the Lordville Estate is right on the way. Coincidentally my GHOF was also on the river fishing with his son Adrian. The good news is that the two vehicles transporting the four anglers both made it safely back to their respective fishing camps without a head on crash. Every river in the system was either fished in or looked at for both rising fish and hatching bugs, almost none of either were found. The bugs -  There were some Hendrickson spinners seen on the UEB, and there were unconfirmed reports of a modest Hendrickson hatch on the WB. The glut of caddis in the BR is waning and the BR up to Buckingham appears to be headed into the doldrums. The BK, for the most part, has been caddis only and in the lower reaches the caddis are waning. The EB also is seeing mostly caddis egg layers at this time. The fishing - If you see He...
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Without A Hendrickson Hatch, Catching Early Season Trout Becomes Challenge.

 First of all, thanks to everyone who jumped in with their on river experiences, it all helps to form a more accurate picture of what is happening. The past two years have produced very few stories of heavy Hendrickson hatches, which is concerning. I've found fishable Hendrickson's both years on the Neversink but, so far, not on the Delaware. Today, I drove around a lot. Wanted to get a feel for the pressure, the hatches and angler success. There were far fewer boats/trailers/cars, at the launch sites than late last week. Despite the higher water levels there were quite a few wade anglers having at 'em. There were caddis throughout the river system. The freestones had the lions share, but there were caddis on both the UEB and the WB. Saw rising fish in quiet pools that were out of the wind and sun. Saw very few mayflies and nothing resembling a Hendrickson hatch. Other anglers - Talked with an angler taking out at Shehawken who had put in at Balls Eddy and had caught fish, ...
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So How'd Everybody Do This Weekend?

 It's 6:10 on Monday morning, I'm at the breakfast table catching up on the fishing reports, and no one has posted a comment on the weekend fishing. In fact only the assoc. editors, Rich T. and Smitty have filed reports so far this year. I will not be found standing shoulder to shoulder with a group of wade fishermen, or in a place where a seemingly unending string of boats floats by 100 yards apart. I do the best I can to keep you appraised of what's happening on over 90 miles of trout water, BUT, I need your help. The past few days the launch sites had trailers parked out on the road, wade fishermen were everywhere and no one took the time to make a comment about the fishing.  If you are happy just reading about what a nice day it is to be on the river or being wished "Lotsa luck.", fine, perhaps I'm wasting my time. If this site is to continue to be the best and most accurate source for what's happening on the river system - it needs input from everyone...
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It'll Take More Than Three Shirts to Keep you Warm Tomorrow!

 Left the Lordville Estate at 1:30 today, drove up the PA side of the river. There were four boats in sight below the Lordville bridge and over a dozen between Lordville and Buckingham. Both the Buckingham and Shehawken launch sites were packed with cars and trailers. The One Bug Tournament is this weekend. I don't know where the boats are floating but the river is sure to be crowded.  Had a place in mind to fish but took the time to look for bugs on the BR, WB, EB and the BK. In the hour and a half before I started fishing I saw just caddis on the water. The only fish I saw rising were at the 97 bridge in Hancock where three fishermen were wading out to fish them. The fishing - Spent from 2:30 until 4:00 casting at rising fish. There were but a few mayflies, (quill Gordons ??), and a mix of hatching apple caddis and egg laying caddis. Found a bank with five sippers all of whom ate my offerings, (landed four). When I got to the side of the river that the boats travel, there we...
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