Angler 119's Delaware River Fishing Report

A check of my fishing logs revealed that the only time I've been skunked for April was back in 1993.  (In 2011 I managed to land but one fish.)  The best April fishing comes when the reservoirs are below the lip of the dam and there is plenty of sunshine and warm temps.  This April has seen cold, cloudy, windy weather with lots of snow run off and this week, rain. With water levels as high as they are there are few safe wading opportunities.  Boat fishermen are at a huge advantage and some throwing streamers have done well.  There are alewives in the river and the trout (both river fish and the big washovers) are dining on them. That said, the bugs are having trouble waiting any longer.  I can't be everywhere every day but this week I've spent a lot of time driving up and down the river system looking for bugs and rising trout.  Until yesterday I'd seen nothing.  Yesterday in a 10/15 mph wind there was a fishable hatch of paraleps on the West Br...

Spent the warmest day of the year (so far) opening up the fishing camp. For those of you that care, the 27 year old camp refrigerator started right up again.  With no apparent leaks in the water pipes and the heat turned on I left to take a look at the river system. To date it's been the coldest April in 75 years.  The water temps have been hard pressed to get above 40. The banks of the Beaverkill and East Branch below "jaws" are still lined with huge blocks of ice. Yes, there are micro caddis hatching and flying around but I never saw a fish rise.  There were a handful of boats on both the West Branch and  big river and a few wade fishermen on the Beaverkill. The shad bush and redbud are a long way from blooming, the knot weed that lines the banks of the river has yet to poke new shoots up out of its subterranean tubers and the only dandelion blooms  (Hendrickson precursors) I saw were wedged between the pavement and south facing wall of the Circle E Dine...

They say a picture's worth a thousand words - - -  here's one of a big brown that'll be waiting for you whenever you make your first trip to the Delaware. As for myself?  My bags are packed and early tomorrow I will be on a flight bound for Deadman's Cay, Long Island in the Bahamas for a week of bonefishing.  It's rumored that the Troutfitter may be in the process of securing a week at the camp for next season.  The camp is sold out every year and openings are as hard to come by as 50 yard line seats at the super bowl.  Why?  The camp isn't fancy.  It just has the best guides in the Bahamas, lots of fish, no rough rides in the open ocean waters and is very reasonably priced.  If you are interested, best get your name on the list at the troutfitter.. I expect to be opening the fishing camp sometime during the third week of  the month  and will commence Angler 119 reports shortly thereafter.  Best of luck if you get on the ...

Returned to camp after six days to find the north facing hills a barren gray with isolated spots of color where a lone aspen or oak is making it's last stand.  The oak trees on the south facing slopes which were green when I drove home last Friday are now a beautiful combination of burnt orange and burgundy interspersed with the green of the pines.  If you enjoy fall foliage it's your last chance 'til next fall to take in nature's art work. After yesterday's fishing it became an easy decision to finish the camp shut down.  Yes there were olives and rising fish but the adult browns are busy spawning and the risers were all fingerlings and yearlings.  If water conditions improve there may yet be chances to hook some rainbows sipping pseudos in slow water pools but it's time for me to call it a season. For the record it was one of my better years (fourth out of twenty six).  I didn't catch as many fish over 17 inches as some years but there were lots of two...

Most people probably thought today was a beautiful day.  Why not?  A mid October day with bright sun and the temp pushing 70.  What's not to like?  Well, standing in a trout stream you sometimes see things differently.  The "delightful' 10 mph breeze blew so many leaves into the river that there was no place to even land a fly.  Trying to cast a size 20 olive to a rising fish on 7x tippet was mission impossible.  Several times when I picked up my fly it was more than 10 feet from where I thought it was.  That said, three fish ate that little size 20 olive during the delightful afternoon I've been describing (two of them even have a souvenir olive to prove it).  (Don't fish small flies on 7x tippet in the wind). At about 5:00 the wind died down and the olives started to hatch.  It was still warm and the spinners said "tonight's the night".  The fish began to go in earnest.  Boils everywhere.  There just couldn't be that m...

I admit it. The last two days of fishing didn't sit well with me.  I had some good fish rising Monday that I couldn't fool and I fooled some good fish Tuesday that I didn't land. Gave it a little thought, tied up a few new olives, re-rigged my leader using 7x tippet and headed out. Took a look at the WB which resembled the Mississippi in color, stopped to chat with Lloyd Hornbeck  at his shop in Deposit and headed back over to the UEB seeking revenge.  The day offered bright sunshine, no wind and air temp between 65 and 68 (in the sun).  Didn't have to worry about the sun, by the time I got to the river at 3:00 it was in shadow.  When I left the car in full sunshine two shirts seemed fine.  With the sun off the river I was cold long before I reeled it in at 5:00. The fishing?  For October it was a WOW.  There were olives of various sizes on the water and feeding fish (mostly eating emergers).  With the water at 80 CFS scrunching gravel sp...

Cool temp, negligible wind and bright sun (at this time of year with cool air temp, sun is a good thing) had me on one of the Beaverkill's two little "no-kill stretches.  (With well over 90% of the trout anglers "no-kill" why do the "meat fishermen"  get to strip the trout from the rest of the river?  But, I digress. Found enough olives (mostly pseudos) to get the good fish up and sipping.  In the first hour of fishing I got a hook into five big fish.  Also cast to and was refused by several others.  Gone were the little guys that  occupied me on the UEB yesterday. How'd I do?  Landed a 12 inch rainbow just before dark to keep the circling skunks out of my waders.  The five "good ones" all came unstuck, each in a different way, which I choose not to discuss. With cool air temps the fly hatch is a two to five affair.  Gone are the 10 fish days.  You have fish to throw at but there are just not enough hours to hook (let alone la...