Posted on May 31 2019
With the sun shining for a change this morning, I stayed at camp and mowed the lawn. This eliminated any opportunity for me to again fish the Hendrickson spinner fall. I'm heading home for the weekend so it'll probably 2020 before I fish Hendricksons again.
May - Mostly because of the high water, this May was, as of the 24th, on course to be my poorest since I bought the camp. Then NYC lowered the releases from both reservoirs. The transformation is still hard to believe. Instead of walking the banks, looking for a fish you could cast to, you were in the water almost anywhere you wanted to be, casting at fish (lots of them). It was the best fishing (considering both size and numbers caught) that I have ever had on the Delaware River System. Those five days transformed May from a complete disaster into a low average month.
The bugs - Hendrickson boxes can be put away. If you are a nervous Nellie, put a few duns in with your olives and keep some Hendrickson size spinners handy just in case. But it's over. What's next? Why, march browns, gray foxes and sulfurs. They are on the BE now and fish are eating them. The hatches of gray foxes and sulfurs are late in the day, so the best fishing is seven till you can't see anymore. On cloudy days all three can hatch all day long.
The fishing - In an effort to provide you with up to date information (and to get my lawn mowed), I concentrated on the BE, BR and WB today. The news is not great.
BR - A dud. Arrived at prime time and walked along the beautiful path downstream from the Buckingham launch site (way too far). It was evident from the start that there were neither bugs nor rising fish.
WB- Got there after the Hendrickson hatch and saw some trout in the Deposit area chasing caddis. Talked with a Troutfitter regular who had fished there most of the day. He said there were but a few Hendricksons and that rising fish appeared to be chasing caddis in the water column all day.
BE - The best bet for anglers this weekend. In bright sunshine, in the early afternoon there were the aforementioned trio (MB, GF and Sulfurs) plus caddis hatching (all in moderation). Hooked and lost one good fish and hooked and landed a couple of hot rainbows. Returned after the BR fiasco (about 8:00) and found fish rising to a fair to good hatch of the trio. Hooked four fish before time ran out. If it's cloudy this weekend this is where I would be. If it should be sunny, I might be reading a book 'til about seven.
Have at 'em.
May - Mostly because of the high water, this May was, as of the 24th, on course to be my poorest since I bought the camp. Then NYC lowered the releases from both reservoirs. The transformation is still hard to believe. Instead of walking the banks, looking for a fish you could cast to, you were in the water almost anywhere you wanted to be, casting at fish (lots of them). It was the best fishing (considering both size and numbers caught) that I have ever had on the Delaware River System. Those five days transformed May from a complete disaster into a low average month.
The bugs - Hendrickson boxes can be put away. If you are a nervous Nellie, put a few duns in with your olives and keep some Hendrickson size spinners handy just in case. But it's over. What's next? Why, march browns, gray foxes and sulfurs. They are on the BE now and fish are eating them. The hatches of gray foxes and sulfurs are late in the day, so the best fishing is seven till you can't see anymore. On cloudy days all three can hatch all day long.
The fishing - In an effort to provide you with up to date information (and to get my lawn mowed), I concentrated on the BE, BR and WB today. The news is not great.
BR - A dud. Arrived at prime time and walked along the beautiful path downstream from the Buckingham launch site (way too far). It was evident from the start that there were neither bugs nor rising fish.
WB- Got there after the Hendrickson hatch and saw some trout in the Deposit area chasing caddis. Talked with a Troutfitter regular who had fished there most of the day. He said there were but a few Hendricksons and that rising fish appeared to be chasing caddis in the water column all day.
BE - The best bet for anglers this weekend. In bright sunshine, in the early afternoon there were the aforementioned trio (MB, GF and Sulfurs) plus caddis hatching (all in moderation). Hooked and lost one good fish and hooked and landed a couple of hot rainbows. Returned after the BR fiasco (about 8:00) and found fish rising to a fair to good hatch of the trio. Hooked four fish before time ran out. If it's cloudy this weekend this is where I would be. If it should be sunny, I might be reading a book 'til about seven.
Have at 'em.
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