Angler 119's Delaware River Fishing Report

Had several items to cross off the to-do list so I got up early, had breakfast and got to work. Put up the ladder and unplugged the gutter on the backside of the house, turned the ladder around, got the chain saw and cut off two dead limbs on the apple tree, then went down to the back yard and cut down and cut up the dead plumb tree, disposed of the remains of both trees, took down the storms and put them away, came in, took a shower, sat down at the fly tying bench and replenished my iso box, before I knew it it was lunch time. (I did that last sentence just for Mrs. Haskins, a long time admirer of my run on sentences.) May have dozed off for a bit in the recliner after lunch 'cause when I walked out to the kitchen the clock said 2:15. With the sun shining brightly, the freestones were given a reprieve and I headed for Deposit. Stopped at the Hale Eddy bridge for a "look see" and ended up having a good conversation with two guys from the USGS who were checking the river ...

 Awoke this morning with two bruises the only evidence of yesterday's encounter with the EB's rock strewn shoreline. Had plans to fish one of my favorite places on the freestones today, but they were put in the TBD category last night. The trip was back on the schedule this morning. Spent a couple hours replenishing my Invarias and Cahills, (always a sign of prior success on the river), and was ready to go. Left the fishing camp promptly at two with the sky overcast and the freestones all showing temps around 60 degrees. To say I felt great would be a lie, (nobody over eighty ever feels great), but I never gave taking an Advil a thought and took on one of the more difficult pieces of water that I still fish.  Never saw a mayfly on the water or in the air, there were a few caddis and but an occasional rising fish. It was evident from the start, however, that the fish were hungry, rising fish ate, and two fish that refused my first offering came back and ate the second. The Cahi...

 Drove down this morning in a steady rain with the temperature in the mid 50's arriving at the Lordville Estate just after noon. Had lunch, did the Monday puzzles and at 1:30 headed out to fish the freestones.  With a cold rain and no sunshine the freestone water temps were down to about 60 degrees and I wanted a break from the chorus line of anglers up in Deposit.  Started on the BR, there were no bugs, and no rising fish. Fished for an hour and a half got two refusals and hooked five fish, (one being a 9 inch yearling rainbow). Drove over to the BK and looked at four different pools, never saw a rise. Tried one for a half hour never saw a bug or a fish. Went from there to the BE and fished two pools from 5:00 until 8:30. There were some small olives on one pool and I saw no more than a couple dozen Cahill's in the two pools combined. Was refused on both an iso and a small olive, but the fish gleefully, (until hooked), ate my Cahill's with nary a refusal. Lost two flies ...

 As promised  - With apologies as some of the questions deserved prompt answers. John H - Who gave us many detailed reports during his stay, asked when the black caddis fell. I don't know. Saw the day after day up river migration, saw a couple of days of the caddis milling around over the water but not on the water, and did get to experience one night with some spent black caddis on the water, (that night the fish ate my black caddis fly like cotton candy). Ann wanted to know what BR stood for. Sorry Ann, thought someone jumped in and answered, (they explained what EB was). BR is the Delaware from Junction Pool down to Callicoon. It's also often referred to as the Main Stem. Harry Luke asked about identifying flies. The best way is to collect them in a small container, take them home and compare them to the pictures in Weamer's book Pocket Guide to New York Hatches. May flies appear on the river in an orderly sequence and when you are familiar with the order of things you l...

 Today is the longest day of the year and I'm not fishing. Yesterday was two seconds shorter than today and tomorrow will be one second shorter. Probably no one but me will notice or care. For me, however, the pendulum has started to swing towards the dark days of December and it saddens me a bit. On the other hand I will take joy in the knowledge that on December 21 the days start to get longer. The Invaria have been the stars of the show for the last few weeks and are in their full glory up above Deposit. Have seen a few Dorothea's on the lower WB, hopefully the Invaria will hold on until the Dortheas arrive up river, usually sometime in the first week of July. Right now there are consistent afternoon hatches on the upper WB, with little else going on until the last hour of light when there are both bugs hatching and spinners falling throughout the WB.  Have not been over to the EB in over a week but the format there is generally the same.  The fishing report has gotten...

 Have been enjoying the entertainment provided by the local deer population here in Lordville. Ten days ago mom showed up with her two yearlings and her brand new fawns. Watched the fawns explore the back yard for almost an hour while mom made half hearted efforts to chase the yearlings away. The yearlings, a buck with sprouting spikehorns, and a very pregnant doe, are around constantly but they now keep their distance from mom and the new kids. Started thinning the peaches and the buck ended up right under the ladder eating the peaches almost as fast as I threw them down.   It's the weekend and a holiday to boot. Didn't drive down to Barking Dog which is being enlarged but Balls Eddy and Shehawken were mad houses again, Stockport had its usual half dozen trailers and Buckingham was more than half full. The tiny parking area at Stilesville was full and cars were parked along the road, the Red Barn had its usual half a dozen cars. From Cold Springs Brook down to the tailou...