Angler 119's Delaware River Fishing Report

  Left Lordville yesterday intending to fish the afternoon sulfurs in Deposit and then drive back to Lafayette. Started raining on my arrival at the Troutfitter and after almost two hours of conversation with Troutfitter regulars, all waiting out the rain, I decided to head for home. Drove over the town bridge and couldn't see the water for the fog. Greg T. - Wanted to know how to tell the age of fish. Fishery biologists count the growth rings on  the scales which works on younger fish. It is my understanding that on older fish, they have to be killed and an ear bone examined to get the exact age of the fish. Hopefully not many trophy fish are killed for this purpose.  For us fishermen, aging fish is an inexact science at best. Growth rates vary from stream to stream and in the case of tailwaters, from the coldest water, (slower growth), to the warmer water. Here's the way I age them.  Both browns and rainbows are usually born sometime in May. The first year they are fingerling

  With sulfurs hatching with regularity and the fish eating them at both lunch and dinner, I've settled into a routine. Tie new sulfurs and repair salvageable ones each morning, drive up to Deposit in time for the mid- day hatch, return to Lordville for R & R, and then head back to Deposit for the seven 'til dark feeding bonanza. The results vary depending mostly on what pools are available, and how well  you fish, or so I thought. Tonight Mother Nature took things into her hands and summoned up a rainstorm, perhaps to give the fish a break. At 7:00pm it was pouring in Deposit, and the fog was enveloping the air above the river when I made my U-turn and headed downstream hoping the storm was heading east and not south, it was. The mid-day fishing -  The unit of  Troutfitter regulars assigned to the pool I was fishing certainly did themselves proud, as I witnessed two doubles and saw bent rods and fish in the net of each of the anglers. The hatch started slowly and the fish

In the "Cold Blow From Out Of The North" page, I said that when Jean and I drove by the red barn there were hordes of anglers, and I assumed they were fishing to a hatch of sulfurs like I was, down at barking dog. When Ed Smith said he fished a sparse sulfur hatch at the red barn and there weren't many anglers there, I began to wonder. Left a river full of sulfurs and rising trout, (a Troutfitter regular had had his way with them yesterday, and in 45 minutes of fishing today, I got one eight inch rainbow to eat my fly), and drove up river in search of the missing sulfurs. Never found them. There were sulfurs but as Ed Smith said, it was a modest hatch at best. When I got a couple of refusals, I put on an olive, (thanks Ed), and caught two nice rainbows. At 2:30 it was as dead as a road killed porcupine, and I retreated to the Lordville Estate to gather my strength for the evening fishing. At 6:30, still not convinced, I tried the run across from the blue stone plant. Agai

  Don't know what I did this morning  but it wasn't very productive. Forgot to tie more sulfurs until the last minute and when I took the time to tie three of them, it made me late for the mid-day sulfur hatch. Actually the sun and the warm water were the principal culprits, but if I'd just got it in gear a little sooner --- Anyway, it's too early to tell for sure, but my money is on this being a really good summer sulfur hatch. Why? I really don't know. Last years hatch was poor. The year before, very good. Last year's smoke from the Canadian fires kept the water temp down and maybe the bugs didn't mature. Perhaps the warm weather last winter helped the bugs to mature early. The sulfurs are two weeks ahead of last year, they are hatching in good numbers midday and again around 7:00 pm. If you think the river isn't full of fish, be in the "Sulfur Zone" from 7:00 'til dark, It's amazing! Most people would say that the fishing conditions

  Jean came down and we spent the weekend watching wildlife in the backyard, driving around the area and enjoying two "nights out", one with David and Maryann, (the apprentice Troutfitter Inn cleaning lady). A shout out of thanks to her for spending four hours on the road to have dinner with us. Not sure the company or the meal was worth the drive. We drove up to Stilesville to witness the hordes of anglers, and then along the reservoir all the way up to Walton, where we usually stop and go in some of the shops. It was threatening to rain so we elected to keep going. It was raining on top of the mountains but we took route 206?? to Downsville anyway. We hit the rain part way up the mountain and then drove down the other side to Downsville in a torrential down pour. Came out of the rain at Downsville and drove down route 30 with the intention of checking  out the trout in some of the BK's thermal refuges, saw the muddy water at "Jaws" and drove back to the Lordvi