Posted on July 17 2018
When fishing the Delaware River system it's usually best not to plan anything in advance. Wanted to try a piece of the upper WB that I hadn't fished yet this year. Left camp early enough to stop at FUDR and ask why there had been no flow increases when the gauge at Montague showed levels reaching almost as low as 1,400 CFS. CEO Jeff Skelding patiently explained that the 1750 CFS flow requirement was an average daily flow not a one time reading.
Having got my head around that issue, I continued on the journey to my "planned" destination for the day's fishing. Hadn't gotten far out of Hancock when I ran into a shower that was heavy enough to slow traffic on 17. It was the most rain I had seen in the two day period that was supposed to give us over an inch of rain. It made no impression whatsoever on river levels. What it did do, however, was roll in the fog. I did another U-turn and headed for the UEB.
The rain was mostly south of Rte 17 and I was hopeful that the UEB would be fog free. Drove up Rte 30 on dry pavement with no fog on the river. The farther up river I went, however, the more fog there was. When I spotted rising fish through the swirling mist, I parked the car and got at it. Put the raincoat over the vest this time and had rising fish from the get go. It got dark and rumbled once and I put the hood up but it never rained. There were a few sulfurs, a few olives and lots of midges. The fish rose and I threw for six hours. The fog thickened and neither fish nor fisherman called time out. Some fish ate flies with hooks in them, some didn't. Some (too many) fish came unstuck pre netting others let me take the hook out. Two 18 inchers, one a wild trout, the other a holdover hatchery fish tied for fish of the day. It was the first time since Hendricksons that I'd seen the UEB let loose enough bugs to make both fish and fisherman happy.
Having got my head around that issue, I continued on the journey to my "planned" destination for the day's fishing. Hadn't gotten far out of Hancock when I ran into a shower that was heavy enough to slow traffic on 17. It was the most rain I had seen in the two day period that was supposed to give us over an inch of rain. It made no impression whatsoever on river levels. What it did do, however, was roll in the fog. I did another U-turn and headed for the UEB.
The rain was mostly south of Rte 17 and I was hopeful that the UEB would be fog free. Drove up Rte 30 on dry pavement with no fog on the river. The farther up river I went, however, the more fog there was. When I spotted rising fish through the swirling mist, I parked the car and got at it. Put the raincoat over the vest this time and had rising fish from the get go. It got dark and rumbled once and I put the hood up but it never rained. There were a few sulfurs, a few olives and lots of midges. The fish rose and I threw for six hours. The fog thickened and neither fish nor fisherman called time out. Some fish ate flies with hooks in them, some didn't. Some (too many) fish came unstuck pre netting others let me take the hook out. Two 18 inchers, one a wild trout, the other a holdover hatchery fish tied for fish of the day. It was the first time since Hendricksons that I'd seen the UEB let loose enough bugs to make both fish and fisherman happy.
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