Posted on May 08 2026
Nobody ever accused me of being smart, but today for sure, I was smarter than yesterday. A front blew through two days ago while we were fishing, dropped the temp from 78 to 63, but it stayed in the 60's all night. Never gave the water temp a thought in the morning. Went out, sat streamside on AN OVERCAST, CLOUDY, (I'm being redundant to make a point), day and never saw a bug hatch or a fish rise. Why? 'Cause the air temp doesn't mean manure when it comes to raising water temps, it's the SUNSHINE that counts. The water yesterday, where I was, never got above 46. Today, I woke to bright sunshine and 35 degrees, watched the gauges like a hawk and when a place I wanted to fish got to 48 by 12:30, I left camp, sure there would be fish feeding on the paraleps and Hendricksons.
The bugs - Arrived at 1:45 and there were a few apple caddis popping, but nary a fish stirred, (they knew what was coming), by 2:15 the paralep scouts were on the water, by 2:30 the entire army arrived. They were followed around three, (was too busy to check my phone for the exact time), by what could only be described as a massive Hendrickson hatch. I've fly fished for longer than most of you have been born, I've seen heavier Ephron hatches, ()Rick at the Syracuse Troutfitter was with me for one), but when the clouds came the water was covered with bugs, when the sun came out, you needed to close your mouth, they were under my glasses, in my ears, up my nose, and down my shirt.
The fishing? Lets be real here. What chance does one fly have of being eaten if there are thousands upon thousands of flies on the water to choose from and the one you want eaten has a hook sticking out of its keister, and the wind is never blowing less that 15, and often 20? Actually, reasonably good. Your fly, no matter how exquisitely tied, (sorry Jim N.) is different from the real things, and unless it's tail is caught under the bend in the hook, being different attracts attention and attention often mean success, (just ask Madonna).
How'd I do? At 2:30, I hadn't even made a cast. At 4:30 I was back in the car, (a 20 minute walk for an old person), after first watching unsuccessfully for at least 15 minutes for the next fish to rise. During the hot period, I hooked 12 and landed 9. Almost half were two year olds, (11 to 13 inches), with the biggest landed being a 17 incher.
Just to prove that I'm not as smart as I thought I was at say 3:45, I spent the rest of the day driving around, looking for the 10th fish, even though the air temp had dropped into the low fifties, not a spinners was over the water and the guides had all rowed their sports to the takeouts.
Fished the lower gamelands section of the WB yesterday afternoon….arrived late after I go a check engine light and a flashing 4LO light. The garage checked it out and ordered the O2 sensor for today’s installation. When I got on the water a little after 3pm the Hendrickson were there and sufficient fish were working to keep me busy until around 430. Haven’t found any zombie feeders yet this year or large pods of fish, but sufficient numbers to keep me interested. Was all done by 5pm and the boats had all past through. Broke off two fish and missed several more.
This is for Jim N:
What do I do when you see a heavy hatch? I usually go smaller and often with something that stands out like a cripple pattern or even a spinner.
The fish will be looking for some level of vulnerability. A perfectly hatched Dun not as easy as a dun with its wings not properly formed as an example.
Also, sometimes trying to time your cast to feed it to an active fish works.
Out West the trick seems to be try a royal coachmen or a bright pattern and it does work. Not sure that works on our Delaware fish!
At 11am I saw a decent number of Paraleps above the town bridge but only one rise. I relocated down Airport road a ways and got situated and around 2 pm started seeing some risers just below a riffle. They were not that consistent and I did see naturals float by untouched. Three boats below me were targeting the bank. There were enough bugs to get some fish up and I was able to connect with two rainbows and a brown. Looked like the boats got into some fish as well.
A119
So what is your strategy for fly selection during a heavy hatch? Do you go a tad bigger to stand out? Do you choose a pattern that you can identify from the naturals (real bugs don’t have a parachute post)?
Angler119’- Bugs, bugs and more bugs. Fish rising and many fish landed. Fantastic. What a great day especially given the conditions. And as you highlighted, water temps play a critical role in insect and fish activity. Thanks . Ed
We must have been fishing con the same area, because I saw what you saw. Just didn’t catch as many as you, but it was a sight to behold.
Funny, I talked to a guide who floated above me who said all he saw was caddis ?
The bugs I saw had almost a creamy olive body.
A119 congrats on hitting the jackpot!!! Nice day on the water. I will be out this weekend and hopefully have half the hatch you did. I will report. Thanks for writing