Angler 119's Delaware River Fishing Report

Earlier this week I said guides would be leaving for gigs out west and that many fishermen would be hanging up their rods for the season.  With everyone who was floating or wading limited by high water temps to the WB and the BR down to Stockport you would think the drakes had just begun. It was nothing I wanted to be a part of and for the most part I wasn't.

This morning I drove over to the EB...

Today would have been a great day to have my wanderings around the river system on film just to show those of you who still go to your "spot" every time you visit the Delaware just what you are missing.

The AM trip was to the BE. Water temp was 66 when I got there at 9:00 and 67.8 when I left two hours later. The entire time I was there there were fish feeding like crazy sub surface with hard...

For several years my wife has had to remind me that "It's only six weeks, it'll be over soon". What's only six weeks? The "Big Bug Season", and I couldn't wait for it to end. Why? With the high water we had the past few years there were boats on every river. There was no where to fish without looking over you shoulder for the next boat. Thankfully, with lower water levels this year, the B.B.S was,...

With thunderstorms and rain predicted for this afternoon and evening I decided to try to get some fishing in this morning. Was thwarted by a tractor trailer that was trying to turn half of a sectional house around right in front of the Lordville bridge (and across the railroad tracks). Did a U-turn, drove back to the camp and walked down to the river.

The water was covered with the same little...

Left home about 6:00 this morning so that I could get in a couple of hours of fishing before things heated up. Was on the EB (water temp 65) by 8:15 and had rising trout shortly thereafter. Problem was they weren't rising to my fly. They were eating pseudo spinners. My smallest spinners are at least 2x's as big as the pseudos and the trout let me know they did not pass muster. By 10:30 it was over...

 The New York State hatchery system has come a long way in improving the trout they stock. Fifty years ago when the limit statewide was ten fish a day and everybody's goal was to keep ten, the state stocked hundreds of thousands (if not millions) of battleship gray yearling trout between 6 and 8 inches long. They were the prey and everything and everybody caught and ate them.

Two major improvements...

Learned a lesson today - When you've only been on the river two of the last five days you shouldn't be making statements about the status of the drake hatch. It's true that there are both green and brown drakes hatching on the UEB.  It's also true that they are hatching in the lower portion of the WB. Where I went wrong was saying that the drakes were done on the freestones.

Have seen Drakes...

Drove back to camp early this morning after a nice day spent with two daughters and three youngest grand kids. Went out about 11:30 with no clue where I was going to fish. Drove up the PA side and saw no risers on the river and almost no trailers (three) at Buckingham (it was way early so you can discount the number). Turned right in Hancock and took a leisurely drive up old rte. 17. Stopped to...

Am back in Lafayette and have found enough time to answer your questions. 

Just an aside before the answers. Was walking along the BK yesterday, "kinda" following a vague trail in the leg high grass along the shore, eyes on the river looking for risers, when I stepped over a hummock right on to the rear end of a beaver that was happily eating his dinner. Thankfully we both went in different...

It's June 1st, the peak of the deer fawning season and yearling carcasses are showing up along the side of the road in increasing numbers. Mom is busy with her new kids and the yearlings are on their own. They are apt to be up and around at all times of the day and haven't a clue how to cross the road safely. Be alert. Yesterday a doe was trying to get her wobbly legged fawn across 97 on a curve...

Anybody who was on the river system this weekend knows, that every species of bug known to mankind was hatching on the Delaware River system. Not all in profusion mind you, but rain, bright sun, cold and wind made no difference, they hatched. The fish? They ate. Coming out of the "Doldrums" not ten days ago, many of the fish were long and lean. Today all the fish (except those closest to the...

Returned to the "Lordville Estate" this AM after watching granddaughter #3 (ranked by age) play a JV lacrosse game. The rules for girls lacrosse are from the stone age and don't begin to take into account the athleticism and physicality that the girls bring to the game today. Change the rules give 'em helmets and pads and let them play. As the recipient of a yellow card (never be the one to throw...

 The bugs are hatching everywhere. The yellow stones were all over the streamside grass along the bank of the BR in Lordville and on the BE in Hancock this morning.  There were isos hatching in the BK and I saw gray foxes and green drakes at Buckingham at noon today. This morning my screens had more brown drakes on them than I've seen since the flood of '06.

Left camp before noon expecting, with...

By now regular readers know what I think about the day after a front pushes through. With high pressure, a clear blue sky, bright sun and a 15 mph wind out of the north, the trout just won't rise, its a waste of time to even go. I went anyway. This morning I only lasted about an hour. There were march browns and gray fox hatching but not a fish to be seen. Was back in time to tie flies before...

Spent the morning fishing a series of pools on the BK. Why? Yesterday I saw a few iso husks on the rocks along the shore line and wanted to be one of the first to throw an iso at 'em. The sun was hot and the only bugs I saw were a handful of march browns. Rose three nice rainbows all of whom happily ate the iso (so did several large fall fish). Should have quit at ten but fished two more pools...

Having met my contractual minimum daily word requirement with the "Tell me Why?" offering, the fishing report can, comparatively speaking, be short and sweet. The freestones are alive and well with black caddis, sulfurs (well after dark tonight) and gray foxes. There is also an opportunity in the am for spinner fishing. However, with the temp predicted to be well into the 80s tomorrow most of the...

 With little going on midday today I decided to try to answer your questions.

Jeff and Dennis - The hatches move up stream and the upper WB is the last place where you see a hatch. Also some of the bugs (green drakes, ephrons and tricos for sure and I think march browns, to some extent, do not do well in cold water. They seldom appear in numbers above Hale Eddy and so they are not used as an...

Last Tuesday night I was standing on the BE shore looking for a rise when I heard the first toad of the year start to sing. On the way back to the "Lordville Estate" the road was covered with toads on their way to the river. Wednesday night found me on the BR where the toads were in full voice. After fishing I sat on the porch with my perfect Manhattan just listening to the sound. Thursday found...

We are on the cusp of the big bug finale for 2021. Within the next 15 days everything will hatch. The dragon flies (which feast on the may flies) will lead the parade. The grass along the banks on the BR and EB is knee high which is about the time for the golden stones to exit the river, climb up the grass and emerge. The spring sulfurs have almost surely started their march up the river system...

With another hot sunny day on tap, I got out early to try the BR.  One 10 inch rainbow and three fall fish later I was in the car heading for the BK.  Fished two pools there, saw three fish rise and got them all to eat. Drove from there to the UEB and followed Rte. 30 all the way up to Corbett.  Never saw a bug or a rise.  

It was noon and I debated heading home for lunch or going west on 17 to...

NYC has cut back the releases from both reservoirs. That coupled with air temps 15 to 20 degrees above normal and bright sunshine has put a damper on the fishing. Current water temps will push the hatches back to near dark everywhere but the uppermost sections of the UEB and the WB. With the low water, boats floating the WB will be in the main channels and will disrupt fishing. Hard to believe but...

When I'm out in the river I have a habit of picking up hatching flies and putting them in a little plastic container which goes into the fridge when I get back to camp. The flies are torpid but alive the next day and serve as models for my fly tying. As a result I have many flies in my boxes that I never use. One of them is the Chimarra, until today, when I used it and then had to change it's name...

The key to giving good reliable information as to when to come and fish is to tell the fishermen the day before it's going to be good, not the day after.  Monday is a dead cert for "The day I caught the most fish in 2021," and Sunday will probably finish second. Today I didn't come down a peg or two, I fell into a deep abyss.

Why? The water level has come from unwadeable to one where boaters are...

Last week I stopped at a friends camp to discuss the days fishing. Didn't return to my abode until late and didn't enter the days fishing report until the next morning. My wife reads the blog during the early morning hours and was worried that something bad had happened to me (at least that was her story), when there was no report posted. Tonight it's 10:30, the company has left, and I'm writing...

If this weekend is any indication, wade fishermen are fast becoming dinosaurs. Boats alone outnumbered them and if you count all the people in the boats it wasn't close. Maybe the waders saw all the high water and made other plans but there has been an obvious trend towards more boats and fewer waders for several years. As long as floaters are courteous I'm fine with it. This weekend dozens and...

I don't know what happened to all the wade fishermen that I thought would be on the river this weekend but they just didn't appear in the numbers I expected. Perhaps they all bought boats or were being rowed down the river in one of the countless guide boats on the water today. The Balls Eddy and Shehawken takeouts were all filled with trailers and anytime you got a view of the WB there was a line...

Friday was something of a transition day on the river system. The UEB release was cut back Thursday and and most of the ethical drift boaters opted to fish other water. The waders were quick to see the change and both Long Flat and Powerline pools were lined with cars. The rest of the UEB had fishermen in every pool. Thursday I found apple caddis, Hendricksons and rising fish. Friday I saw the...

With all river flows out of my comfort zone, it was an easy decision to go home and spend time with my wife. When the weather prediction for the next few days called for reduced wind, warming temps and no rain, my wife "suggested" that we do the shopping for the new couch that is to go in her "Fem Den" yesterday afternoon, so I could, "get an early start in the morning". I obliged, we did and then...

With all rivers in the Delaware system well above safe wading levels I decided to spend the day catching up on things that have been neglected with my irregular comings and goings. Did some yard work, put one and a half coats of red paint on the new screen door, did a good camp cleaning, spent a delightful hour on the phone with a fellow Delaware River fisherman who I have scarcely seen since the...

The rain last night didn't help wade fishermen one little bit. When I first looked this morning the Hale Eddy gage was at 2,400 cfs which is well above my cut off point for wading the WB. The rain had stopped sometime before 5:00 this morning and I watched the Oquaga gage go steadily down. By about 9:00 the Hale Eddy gage was also dropping rapidly. When I left the house at noon the Hale Eddy gage...

It's Sunday evening, a time when I'm usually home with my wife. Tonight, I'm down at the fishing camp. Why? The stars aligned. The USGS gage at Hale Eddy reported the flow at 1,900 cfs, (below my personal 2,000 cfs cut off point for wading the WB). The weather forecast was predicting an all night rain of about 3/4 of an inch (which will probably send me home again tomorrow morning). Rumors were...

So, I drove down to the fishing camp this morning, no, not to fish, that was never a possibility.  I went to mow the grass, level the concrete floor on the porch before the new carpet arrives, fill the bird feeders and put the primer coat on the new screen door.  Arrived about 10:00 and at 2:15 I was on the road heading back home.

There were but a modest number of boats to be seen both on the way...

Hung the new porch screen door yesterday.  Escaped with a couple of minor scrapes and one brused finger.  If things ever dry out I'll paint it, put the screening back in and cross that job off the list.

Forgot to mention that the Hummingbird showed up at the feeder Monday. Saw a Northern Oriole in the apple tree this morning and put his feeder out. Within an hour he was having a drink. Will pick up...

Yesterday I spent the day mostly just driving around. Most parts of the river were to high to wade effectively, some had too many boats and the BK had too many fisherman. It was nobody's loss but mine. I'd been spoiled. From the time I got here until last Thursday, I could fish wherever I wanted, boats were limited by the low water. There were bugs hatching with fish up eating them. The worm has...

When I retired over 20 years ago there was no further use for an almost full box of business cards.  They sat untouched on a shelf in the closet for several years. Was about to toss them away when I thought of a way to use them.  They are small, sturdy and the back side is blank just perfect for recording the size of the fish I catch.  Have been using them for years (in fact they are almost gone).

...

 With the rivers high and muddy and a cold wind blowing I decided to cross items off of the camp to-do list today rather than drive around looking for a place that I could get into the water and fish.

First on the list was the annual cleanup of the upstairs bunk room where a significant portion of the world's population of lady bugs spend their winter. They have no trouble finding their way in in...

The river system got a badly needed soaking today. Much of the river has been too low for drift boat fishing and with FUDA's "One Bug Tournament" scheduled for this weekend the rise in water levels was a God send. That said, the forecast for tomorrow leaves something to be desired. Twenty to thirty mile per hour winds with gusts up to fifty-five are predicted. If you were planning on coming to...

Forgive me for I have sinned. Left Lordville at noon, stopped on the LV bridge and there were fish going everywhere. Drove up the PA side towards Buckingham to see what the incoming boat traffic looked like, did a U-turn and headed back to fish the "Home Pool". It wasn't meant to be. I could only see one angler in the pool but the parking lot under the bridge was full and there was a four car...

With the prediction calling for a warm sunny day I went looking for caddis. They aren't hard to find as there are both hatchers and egg layers on all of the freestones (BK,BR, BE). Went out at noon with the little red line in the thermometer at 60 (up from 32). The egg layers were active but I didn't see apple caddis duns on the water until about two. The Hendricksons made but a token appearance...

Got an early morning call that my tooth cleaning appointment was moved back from 10:00 to 11:00. If the temperature wasn't still in the 30's I might have been p---ed. If the cold temperature wasn't enough, another blue norther pushed the car all over the road on the way down. Got to the river about two with one plan - try to get out of the wind. Thankfully, the sun had done it's magic on the...

Today dawned overcast with a steady drizzle. The rain ended mid morning but it stayed in the low 50's with heavy cloud cover until mid afternoon. Left camp around noon and drove around the river system for over two hours without seeing a bug or a rise. It appeared that most of the weekend fishermen had departed as the parking lots weren't full and there were only a modest number of boats and wade...

Today was a Big River day all the way. At the present water levels everything is wadable and there is nowhere I'd rather fish than the BR. For peace of mind, however, I shy away from the area between junction pool and Buckingham during the "big bug season" ( Hendricksons through Green Drakes). There are just too many boats. There were about 20 trailers in the lot when I drove past Buckingham on...

There is no other way to put it.  Today was not a nice day to be on the river.  To begin with there was a brutal north wind that blew a gusty 15 to 25mph.  There was also high pressure with bright sunshine that appears the first day of a new frontal system  AND TROUT DO NOT LIKE IT. They just won't rise.

Were there bugs? Yep. The water started off in some sections below 40 degrees but with the...

Yesterday at 11:45 the temp was 54 degrees and I was ready to go fishing. At noon when I got in the car the temp was 48. When I reached the Sunoco station in East Branch it was 38 and snowing. I did a U-turn drove back to the camp, closed it up and headed home in a snow storm with the temp at 34 degrees. It's 24 here in Lafayette this morning and I have nothing better to do than provide an update...

If you don't think I was a bit antsy sitting in the Dr.'s office at 12:00 noon today, you don't know me. Sunday was near biblical. Monday, I dutifully returned to Syracuse for an eye exam that didn't exist. Today was the last day to fish before hell freezes over. Was on the road by 12:45, stopping only at the rest area near Marathon to lighten the load and thus save fuel. When I got to Hancock it...

 Just six days ago I got skunked.  Threw at the only riser I saw and was refused.  Yesterday the skunk left quietly, hopefully not to return again this year.  But it's still spring and it's the Delaware so you never know.

Unfortunately I'm home again. Annual eye doctors appointment was today and my semiannual trip to the internist is tomorrow morning. Was sorely temped to call and cancel the eye...

It's been ten days since I opened up the camp. First trip was just to get things up and running. Second trip was made with the hope of finding rising fish - I found him. When the weatherman predicted low 40's with rain/snow, I headed home. Found Paraleps and Hendricksons hatching with rising fish in Butternut Creek, some of which found their way into our trout pond, where either they will be eaten...

The sun came out this morning and burned off the fog, the air temp zoomed up from the 30's to the 60's, the clouds came in about one with water temps already in the 50's. The water levels are great for wading and with the exception of the UE, for floating. At 1:00pm the ten boats heading to Buckingham were all anchored on pods of fish, just sitting and waiting for it to happen - - - it never did.

With a forecast calling for rain/snow on Thursday and Friday, I decided to take advantage of the nice weather predicted for today and tomorrow. Drove down to camp with the new lawn mower this morning, unloaded it, put away the mower and the weeks supplies and had lunch. Before setting out I checked the water temps for the past week and headed for a place that had the warmest water. It paid off,...

After cleaning up a good portion of the winter debris, (the Town snow plow deposits about a third of the road surface on my lawn each winter), I left for an afternoon drive up the WB. Stopped and chatted with an old river friend and sat in one of his streamside chairs for about twenty minutes looking for bugs. Saw a number of tiny live specs , one stone fly, two paraleps, three boats and not a...