It's not official yet, what with the forecast for the next several days back up in the high eighties but today I took the first step. Quit cold turkey, never set foot in the sulfur zone. Fished four different places in three different rivers and found fish at all but one stop (the Beaverkill). There were not a lot of bugs and very few risers. I didn't catch a lot of fish but the ones I caught were...
Angler 119's Delaware River Fishing Report
Times they are a changin
Posted on August 18 2020
Fished the sulfur hatch up in Deposit this afternoon. It didn't start until after 12:30 (they have bumped up the release so it takes longer to warm the water up to the 50's). Bugs got going fairly well but so did the wind. The fish? They seemed tired of eating sulfurs, there were a few brief flurries of feeding but it was mostly quiet. I left to mow the grass just before two. When I left there...
And you think a guided float is expensive!
Posted on August 17 2020
It's Monday night at 9:30 and I'm feeling no pain! "Well into his Perfect Manhattan", you say, which may well be true but that's not it. Had an 8:00am appointment with a periodontist/ implant specialist to consult about old number 14 molar. He took a look at the xray and the tooth and said "The only thing I can do for that tooth is to administer the last rights". Said I'd like to schedule the...
An info exchange.
Posted on August 15 2020
It's time once again to try to answer questions and this week thank people for sharing their on river experiences.
Jim - I've caught well over 90 percent of my fish during the sulfur hatch on a size 18 sulfur dun tied with either a yellow, orange or yellow/orange body and a CDC upright wing. A lot of fish in the Sulfur Zone now recognize it and are happy to let me know it's not as good as the real...
TGIF
Posted on August 14 2020
Things seem to be getting back to normal after the latest flash flood. The rivers have cleared up quite a bit and have returned to ideal flows. What we need now is for the air temps to cool down so we can all spread out and enjoy the rest of the river system.
The midday sulfurs were late to the table with the bulk of them hatching, where I was, from about 1:30 to 2:30. There were sulfurs on the...
One less fly to tie.
Posted on August 13 2020
After yesterday's futile drive around the river system that produced nothing but wet waders and one 9 inch juvenile brown, I was ready to get even. For once my prediction of water conditions was at least close to accurate. The WB above Oquaga was relatively clear and fishable. At 3:00 today the river below Oquaga was still muddy (or "stained" as those with a vested interest in filling rooms and...
Maybe tomorrow a new - - -
Posted on August 12 2020
As I'm sure you all know, the third major rain event in nine days hit the river system about nine last night. The WB was hardest hit as the water level at Hale Eddy exceeded both of the previous storms. The BK and EB got off lightly and both would be fishable tomorrow if it wasn't so d--- hot. The UE was also spared the worst of the rain and was actually at a fishable level with water clarity...
So maybe the "sulfur zone" isn't so boring.
Posted on August 11 2020
Well I got it out of my system. Was on the big river fishing the WB cold water side before the fog burned off. Hoped to find enough tricos to get some fish up. Never saw a one. Didn't see any bugs of any kind for that matter. Blind cast a caddis and to my surprise rose a dozen rainbows, hooked eight and landed five. Before anyone gets excited they were all juveniles between eight and nine inches...
Blow you ol' blue norther.
Posted on August 10 2020
We have had six weeks of some of the best sulfur fishing I ever remember. Two hatches a day with lots of rising fish. It's been crowded at times but you can usually find a pool in the "Sulfur Zone" with plenty of both space and rising fish. So what's wrong? I'm tired of it. It's a same old, same old kind of thing. Love the bugs and rising fish but enough is enough. I fish five days a week and am...
Back on track
Posted on August 09 2020
Last week was a tough one if you were a fly fisherman on the Delaware what with hurricane Isaias blowing out the eastern half of the system on Tuesday and then a severe thunderstorm dumping even more water on the WB Friday.
Drove home on Friday and spend a quiet couple of days with Jean. We tackled another 500 piece puzzle on Saturday evening not expecting to finish it until next weekend. It...
Musings from the recliner back home.
Posted on August 08 2020
Freestone - Thanks for your very generous offer. This makes three times I've gotten in trouble "adding staff". I'm retired, spend an unconscionable amount of time fishing and enjoy writing the blog. It's my way of giving back to the sport I love. Hopefully the blog is more helpful and entertaining than it is misleading and confusing. The past week, unfortunately more the latter than the former.
Time to hit the "honey do" list.
Posted on August 07 2020
Game called - field was deemed unplayable. Game has tentatively been rescheduled for Sunday.
Just an any old kind of day.
Posted on August 06 2020
After a good 8 hours of fishing yesterday I slept until 8:00 this morning. With the late start I had to delete something from the schedule so I left the cover on the paint can. Drove along the river on the back side from Hale Eddy up to Deposit. Didn't see sulfurs or rising fish until the big pool below the town bridge. Seemed like the hatch was just starting so I kept on driving and ended up at...
It's not my fault, I didn't know.
Posted on August 05 2020
Looks like I'll be painting tomorrow.
Posted on August 04 2020
While the new flow regime has provided a huge thermal refuge in the BR by keeping the temp below 75 at Lordville, the EB and BK have suffered the lethal (to...
Will Isaias be a game changer on the Delaware?
Posted on August 03 2020
Dave and Rick from the Troutfitter tried to fish...
Stats vs ouija board.
Posted on August 02 2020
As I anticipated both months were very good. June of 2020 was nosed out by June of 2011 by a mere 2 fish. July also finished second all time...
It's Q and A time again.
Posted on August 01 2020
Chris Z - The mousing craze has sure resulted in an increased demand for mouse patterns at the Troutfitter. It is a nighttime...
Damn those fish counters, all of them.
Posted on July 31 2020
With apologies to Ed Smith (and I'm sure many others), it's time to come clean. I'm a fish counter. I have kept journals for over 60 years and the information has proved invaluable on...
Maybe it was the mayo on the ham sandwich ?
Posted on July 30 2020
By eleven thirty I was tired of looking at Utube videos and doing crosswords. Went out and did the painting I had planned for the morning. By 2:30 I was ready to kick back in the recliner again.
Jean...
Love the sweet smell of - - -
Posted on July 29 2020
Sulfur fishing just can't get any better!
Posted on July 28 2020
They are fussy, a lot of them refuse your flies, many are feeding subsurface and don't look up but...
Wouldn't have it any other way.
Posted on July 27 2020
Q and A time.
Posted on July 25 2020
Fireworks brightens the evening sky in Hancock.
Posted on July 24 2020
Fished the pool until the hatch got going and then made my way down river. It was...
The lightning bugs are gone.
Posted on July 23 2020
Should have left earlier as both the sulfurs and...
Back in the "Zone" again.
Posted on July 22 2020
You know it don't come easy.
Posted on July 21 2020
Peach jam on my toast in the morning.
Posted on July 20 2020
If you don't go, you'll never know.
Posted on July 19 2020
Its' that time again.
Posted on July 18 2020
Fred Z. - Good to hear you're still a loyal reader. I never have kept track of the miles. I start from home with a full tank (down and back equals about 2/3's of a tank) and I always have to fill up once during the week. Sometimes need...
All's well that ends well.
Posted on July 17 2020
Went out to the car and got my olive box and two of the...
The sweet smell of heifers at the pasture pool
Posted on July 16 2020
Cleansed.
Posted on July 15 2020
Yesterday was not much fun for me. Couldn't...
Never drive past an empty pool in the No Kill, during sulfur season.
Posted on July 14 2020
Angler 119's day.
Posted on July 13 2020
Went to the...
This'n , that and the other thing.
Posted on July 11 2020
Dennis - You are at least in the game having both bugs and rising fish. If you are getting fish to come to your fly but refusing to eat it, you have joined the ranks of summer sulfur fishermen. If the fish aren't coming to your fly it's either the fly or the cast. Summer sulfurs are small (think 18s and 20s). The cast has to drift drag free down the trouts two inch wide feeding lane. If you've...
It's my party, you can - - -
Posted on July 10 2020
Slopping the hogs.
Posted on July 09 2020
Plan went like clockwork, tied flies until the lawn dried, mowed, ate lunch and headed to the upper WB. Was in the water at 2:00 and didn't come out until 6:00. The hatch was slow...
Thunder storms shorten my day.
Posted on July 08 2020
Time to gird my loins.
Posted on July 07 2020
The river that was deserted yesterday was crowded with both boats and anglers...
Self isolation can be very nice.
Posted on July 06 2020
As is often the case,...
This and that.
Posted on July 04 2020
There's no skunk in my waders.
Posted on July 03 2020
The immaculate conception.
Posted on July 03 2020
For all I know the sulfurs might have hatched like crazy this afternoon. All I do know is that there has been a very good sulfur spinner fall every night for over a week. The time of the hatch remains a mystery but there can't be spinner falls without hatching.
Left camp at...
It was the pulse!
Posted on July 01 2020
Got done with the work (forgot to mix new fly float and to tie more flies) and went out about 4:30. Got...
Who needs olives anyway.
Posted on July 01 2020
Seemed like a good olive day from the get go - it wasn't. Drove...
Adrenalin is no friend of the dry fly fisherman.
Posted on June 29 2020
Set out for the WB where I enjoyed good fishing last week. First stop was one of my secret places - the Hale Eddy Bridge....
For what it's worth.
Posted on June 28 2020
Chris Z and Kip H - When I write of the UE I'm talking of the East Branch from Downsville to East Branch. It...
The sulfurs are hatching (and their spinners are falling).
Posted on June 26 2020
Painting (and cleanup)...