Angler 119's Delaware River Fishing Report
Sometimes free advice is worth more than you had to pay for it.
Posted on April 11 2023
Tyng stone flies isn't as easy as it looks. Yes, I can tie them with the wings lying along the shank of the hook, but what the trout want is wings at right angles to the water, flapping like crazy as the fly heads for shore. I'll work on it...
Floating stones.
Posted on April 10 2023
Never add up my catch totals at the end of the year in case I happen to come down and fish another day or two. Last year the 20/20 fish was the last one I caught. Today I spent a little time adding up both October's catch and the 2022...
it's early days.
Posted on April 05 2023
Down in the Florida Keys the signs of spring are subtitle and go unnoticed by most. The sun gets higher in the sky, the days get longer, and you need a higher SPF number sun screen. Yes, all that's true, but it's not what I'm talking about. The first male...
April fools!!!
Posted on March 31 2023
At 2:30 Monday morning Jean and I backed out of the driveway down in the Florida Keys and headed home. Why such an early start? It's the only way to avoid the stop and go traffic in the Keys and the six lane wide (in each direction) commuter nightmare around...
There's no tick-tock on your electric clock, but still your life runs down
Posted on March 17 2023
Will be starting my eighth decade on the planet before the "traditional" April 1st trout season opening day. Looked at pictures from my high school classes' last reunion along with the obit notices posted on the class web page and came away feeling lucky. As I've no doubt mentioned before,...
The closure.
Posted on November 04 2022
Picked one of the most beautiful November days imaginable to drive down to Lordville and shut down the estate. Bright sun, early morning fog, with flocks of geese on their way out to cut cornfields to feed. Temps varied from 45 to 35 depending on the fog density. The trees...
A note to the faithful diehards.
Posted on October 28 2022
Home in Lafayette watching a logging company take down some enormous dead and dying ash trees along with some other trees that pose a hazard to the house, driveway and power line. Will not be back down to the "Lordville Estate" until at least Tuesday but thought it worth mentioning...
The 20/20 club.
Posted on October 25 2022
Continued work on the camp shutdown, am at the stage where everything can be finished with one overnight stay. Am not anxious to shut things down as the fishing has been good and the bucks have not made an appearance in Lafayette since mid September. Am heading home either tomorrow...
The hourly rate was great!
Posted on October 24 2022
Learned a long time ago that you earn every fish you catch in the Delaware. Don't know if I earned todays two hours of fishing during my two days in purgatory last week or if I'm going to be paying for them later this week but it was grand. Drove...
Dermatologist's liquid nitrogen on Monday was nothing compared to today's cold wind!
Posted on October 20 2022
Today was just not a pleasant day to be on the water. It was overcast, cold and windy, a deadly combo for the hapless fly fishermen. Got in the water about noon and saw but two other anglers all day. The car thermometer never got above 47 and it spent...
It's time to tip your cap to the trout.
Posted on October 19 2022
Much to my surprise the air conditioning instillation crew that came to correct a D- instillation job done last August was finished by noon. A look at the job left me just shaking my head, the finished job is a C- at best. I paid the crew the balance I...
Wind knots and tailing loops.
Posted on October 17 2022
Home with commitments that will keep me here until at least Friday and by then maybe the deer will be moving and I'll be up in a tree instead of being frustrated by fish scorning my pseudo offerings. Dennis wanted to know when the fall caddis peak. Easy answer, they...
If you are keeping score, I got a 10!
Posted on October 15 2022
Today I'm a day tripper. Drove down this morning and arrived in Deposit at 12:00, far too early for the pseudo hatch but like most day trippers I suited up and fished. There was nothing on the water and of course nothing rising. Fished an October (a/k/a pumpkin) caddis for...
Pool hop a flop, river hop hits the spot.
Posted on October 13 2022
On battery saver mode. Will try to get the report out. Had planned, with the wind blowing 10/15, to do a pool hop on the BK. At it's current level the fish are easily spooked and often catching one fish sends the others for cover. Caught one and did nothing...
All you need to know.
Posted on October 12 2022
This will have to be short. Drove down yesterday with the PC but without the charger and the PC isn't fully charged. Left after my eye exam (still 20/15 corrected in each eye). Leaves are beautiful as was the bright sunshine (which came through the car side window at 12:30)....
I'll drink to that!
Posted on October 08 2022
A social engagement preempted Thursday's fishing. Would liked to have been there today as there was an all day drizzle here that kept me from crossing things off the to do list. Tomorrow Jean and I are driving down to take in the fall leaves that are now at near...
Why drive from Deposit all the way over to the Beaverkill?
Posted on October 06 2022
When the release from Cannonsville is only 130 cfs, 90 cfs of muddy water from Oquaga is more than enough to "stain" up the WB. Drove up to Stilesville, not really because I wanted to fish there but rather to see what Dennis was talking about. Usually trout are willing...
Slip slidin' away.
Posted on October 05 2022
Personally I like to fish in the rain. Thins out the crowd, covers up poor casts, gets the bugs hatching and the fish up feeding. Yes, it makes my CDC flies harder to fish but I learned a long time ago that life is full of tradeoffs, it's why I...
Covid booster delays return to LordvilleEstate.
Posted on October 03 2022
It's Monday and I'm somewhat frustrated sitting home waiting for my 5:00pm covid booster shot appointment. Just talked with a logger that is going to come and remove some large dead ash trees from around the house and he has covid, no he didn't get the shots and he said...
Cant believe I just did that!!!
Posted on October 02 2022
Todays schedule didn't allow for fishing, (NDSU) volleyball game at 11:00 and the SU scrimmage at 5:00), so I decided to take time to answer questions between games and perhaps lower Dennis' blood pressure. If you are wondering what the hell I'm talking about - - well I just copied...
Sincere thanks to all who posted on yesterday's blog.
Posted on October 01 2022
Usually I'm careful about not naming specific pools where I fish. Wednesday I fished three pools on the Willow and BK. Let me be clear, the pools are not a secret. What was unusual was that the puddles in the Hazel Bridge parking lot were gin clear, there were no...
Mortgaging The Future Fishing.
Posted on September 30 2022
With the last day of September at hand it's probably time for my sporadic/ intermittent warning page. Bow season opens tomorrow and I will be dividing my time between wading the river and sitting in a tree with my stick and string. With the rivers at good fishing levels and...
Chasing rainbows in the rain.
Posted on September 29 2022
Those of you who have read the blog for the past few years should all have known where I would go today. I drove up the PA side of the BR and checked out the WB at Shehawken and again at the Rte. 191 bridge but safe money was on...
Hit the trifecta - low water, bugs and rising fish.
Posted on September 28 2022
Drove east at about 2:00 this afternoon in hopes of finding fall bugs and rising fish in either the Willow or the BK. Went to Hazel Bridge on the Willow where last year at this time the river was wall to wall fish and fishermen. There were two anglers in...
Ian('t) liken any more rain.
Posted on September 27 2022
After a three day stay at home and a busy Monday morning which got in the way of an early departure, I drove down I-81 through a series of Thunderstorms coupled with high winds that required two hands on the wheel at at all times. The rain probably didn't amount...
Blow you ol' Blue Norther
Posted on September 23 2022
If you're wondering, I'm home. No matter what DRC might say it's not a nice day to be on the river. It was 40 degrees on the camp porch this morning with a 20/30 mph wind out of the north. The rivers are up, and the WB water from the...
The fishing was nothing to write home about.
Posted on September 22 2022
The average temp for today is a high of 68 and a low of 45. It was in the high seventies with bright sunshine today with a predicted low of sixtyone tonight. A beautiful early fall day most would say. Not us fishermen. The bright sun and warm nighttime temperatures...
Is Bengay a performance enhancing drug?
Posted on September 21 2022
Woke up with a bit of a sore shoulder this morning. No, not from fighting fish. It came from patting myself on the back for putting myself in two places yesterday, both with rising fish willing to eat my flies. Buoyed by yesterday's success I opted to fish the BR...
You need good eyes to see the flies.
Posted on September 20 2022
With the Cannonsville release down to about 300 cfs I was anxious to get back down to fish. Why? The release water is cold enough for bugs and at 300 cfs the fish will come up for even the smallest ones. Arrived at 11:30 and there were heads coming out...
Both the SU football game and the NDSU women's volleyball game start at 12:00 tomorrow.
Posted on September 17 2022
As luck would have it our granddaughter's NDSU team won the 5:00 o'clock match in three sets. At 6:30 I put the second coat of paint on a beam on the front of the garage, put away the paint, washed the brush and at 6:45 headed out into the Lordville...
Even Noah wouldn't have floated the Beaverkill.
Posted on September 16 2022
A bright sun beaming down from a cloudless sky, a sky high barometer and a piping wind out of the north is a combination that chills the heart of of most dry fly anglers in the best of times. Add no bugs to the equation and you begin to get...
How many rabbits can you pull out of one hat???
Posted on September 15 2022
Took another day off Tuesday, no I'm not showing my age, the rivers were up, "stained" as they like to say, and there were no bugs. Having done most of my weeks allotment of camp chores yesterday I was ready to go right after lunch today. Headed east on 17...
You know it don't come easy.
Posted on September 13 2022
Didn't fish last Friday. Our granddaughter's volleyball team was hosting a tournament and they were streaming the games. Turned out to be six hours of volleyball Friday (both matches went five sets) and another two and a half hours for the third match on Saturday. At 8:00pm Saturday I was...
The way things are.
Posted on September 09 2022
From the beginning of May until the middle of August the fishing was as good as I've ever seen. Then things came to a halt. Actually they didn't really come to a halt, conditions changed, it was harder to catch fish and I didn't adjust my expectations. No longer were...
Will be at the driving range tomorrow.
Posted on September 08 2022
It's 6:30 and I'm rattling my glass in hopes that a mermaid will magically appear and "top off" my Perfect Manhattan. Didn't fish today. Why? Checked DRC's most recent report and they said everyone would be throwing streamers this afternoon and that the water up at Stilesville was still at...
The fish are all heading home.
Posted on September 07 2022
It wasn't a hurricane (or even a tropical depression for that matter), but it did the job and threatens to do more. Twenty four hours of rain, much of it no more than a light mist but it sure helped. Unfortunately the rivers above the reservoirs didn't seem to receive...
Rainy days on Mondays, always make me glad.
Posted on September 06 2022
Left Lafayette with a plan. It wasn't complicated. Saw David's video and read Dennis' report. I would be at Deposit by noon and fish the olives in 375 cfs of relatively cold water. Drove down in what you would call a heavy mist until I turned the corner at Binghamton....
If ifs and buts were candy and nuts, everyday would be Christmas.
Posted on September 04 2022
After basically meeting minimum flow requirements at Montague for two days and then substantially exceeding them for the next five days the River Master has allowed NYC to reduce the release from Cannonsville to 357 CFS. It takes about 40 hours for the Cannonsville release water to reach Montague so...
Finding rainbows in the sun.
Posted on September 03 2022
Took Thursday off as Jean came down and I enjoyed spending the time with her. We sat on the back porch in the evening and watched the deer come for the apples under the tree on the corner of the porch. A couple of the old girls seem to now...
So far I can drink my PM at the Lordville Estate.
Posted on September 01 2022
For those of you that are just looking for a new blog post to read with your morning Joe, or worse yet, those of you that are still fishing, I'd say it's time to get out the honey-do list and start crossing items off. Never, in the thirty-two years that...
Time to shoot the bow.
Posted on August 28 2022
On August 16th I was in the penthouse, on August 22nd I moved to the outhouse. How did this come about? Well, the River Master ran from 900 to over 1,100 cfs of water down the WB for five days. The cold water resulted in large hatches of olives and...
At least I got the lawn mowed.
Posted on August 26 2022
To be fair my heart just wasn't in it today. At 5:30 I hadn't fished and was still driving around looking in awe at the number of fishermen crowded into the WB from the barking dog take out up to Butler Brook. Didn't even drive past the red barn, maybe...
Frozen in the summer
Posted on August 25 2022
Clearly the River Master needs a remedial course in basic math. The minimum average daily flow at Montague is supposed to be 1,750 cfs. Yesterday the flow ranged from a high of 1,600 to a low of 1,380 and today's high appears to be peaking at 1,630. Why do I...
How Do You Think He Does It, What makes Him So Good?
Posted on August 24 2022
Forgive me, but I just couldn't resist using the title. Chris asked a good question, answered most of it himself but it gives me another opportunity to stress what I believe are the things you need to do to catch more fish on in the Delaware River. Casting - First...
The Humbler
Posted on August 23 2022
Tonight I'm sitting here drinking a Perfect Manhattan and it's not a celebratory one. I would say I was drowning (just learned there's no d at the end of drown), my sorrows but Dennis would surely accuse me of mewling. As an aside - My college freshman year English teacher...
Sunday morning coming down.
Posted on August 22 2022
Got back to the fishing camp about 8:45 last Thursday night to find the phone light blinking and a message from Jean to call whenever I got in (almost never good news) but this time it was. The company installing our mini split AC had called at 4:30 to say...
All the changes keep on changin'
Posted on August 19 2022
As everyone who fishes the Delaware (or any other stream for that matter) knows, things change. Yesterday I tried to follow a trail into the river that a Troutfitter regular opened up with pruning shears in early May. The last time I fished there ( probably ten years ago) you...
Wind Knots, Tailing Loops and " ya shoulda been here yesterday"
Posted on August 18 2022
In looking back over your comments I was surprised to see that the last Q & A session was back in July. Since I have ample free time so there really is no excuse for not doing a better job answering questions promptly. Dennis - The word is mewling and...
It's as close to a dead cert as it gets!
Posted on August 17 2022
Given the seemingly steady release of 1,100 cfs from Cannonsville coupled with the 200 cfs flow from the EB one could assume that Wallenpaupack Reservoir has been drawn down as far as allowed during the summer (I'll try too check on this tomorrow), and that the Delaware system will be...
It's a game changer
Posted on August 16 2022
On Friday they bumped the flow up to 625 cfs, on Monday it was raised to 925 cfs, then dropped back to 600 cfs. Why? Minimum flow requirements at Montague. Pursuant to an agreement reached by those parties affected by the Delaware River flow the River Master is to maintain...