Posted on July 29 2025
Arrived at the Lordville Estate right at noon, had lunch and then went out and mowed the back lawn, (did the two sides and front yard Friday. It's apparent that the tomatoes need a fence around the fence as the deer have been sticking their noses in between the wires and chowing down on the plants. Will deal with that in the am.
I like to pat myself on the back when I find myself "in the right place at the right time" on the river. The reality of it is that it's a combination of having almost 35 years figuring things out, being here five days almost every week, and bullshit luck, (I won't try to apportion the %'s). Today, I had ample warning. Fished the same place early in the week three weeks in a row. First week was the "112" inches night which will almost certainly be my best big fish night of the year. The second week it was a bit cooler, the hatch shut off early and I didn't do nearly as well.
Today I returned for the last of a three game series. Maybe yesterdays surge, (needed to keep the temp under 75 at Lordville), which had the water still dropping at Hale Eddy tonight, affected either the sulfurs, the fish, or both. Maybe the sulfurs are on the wane that far down river, or maybe A-119 ignored the signals given by both bugs and fish last week.
How'd I do? Got an ass kicking. Yearling trout would have starved to death if all they had to eat was the sulfurs that came down the river tonight. There was next to no rising. For half an hour I fished to occasional risers in a pool tailout and was ignored. Hooked and lost the only other fish I saw eat a sulfur. Hooked three fish blind casting attractor flies, landed two. It was foggy and I didn't like the fog nearly as much as I did last time I fished in it.
Missed the fun this weekend..Harry C..was a good choice again..:-)
My rule of thumb is that whenever a “pulse” happens it’s likely to affect the fishing closest to the dam more dramatically than downriver. Sometimes that’s for the better and sometimes it’s for the worse (all depends on hatches and bugs, temps, flows from downstream tribs and water clarity)-up to you to figure that part out.
On most trout rivers, it’s you against the trout. On the upper Delaware it’s you against both the trout and the NYC water authority. With reservoirs at >90% full almost into August, there’s zero reason to not just crank it. Are they still planning to do the stupid aqueduct replacement again this fall or did they finally chicken out?
Angler119’- Boy , what a tough night. No bugs, not many fish working. Today for me I’m thinking of trying to sort through the mob at the red barn( my addiction) or maybe check out another place. I’ll post a report tomorrow. Ed
A119,
Looks like another 12hr pulse today.
Does this help or hurt the fishing?
I’m sure it confuses the fish a bit.