Angler 119's Delaware River Fishing Report

While I encourage comments from followers of my (non alcohol related) ramblings, I was nevertheless somewhat confused, puzzled, even wounded - take your pick - by Dr Manhattan's most recent comment. He/she has commented favorably in the past and if memory serves me well even issued a warning of the consequences of giving out too much information. Perhaps the most recent comment is yet another...

With all of the freestones sporting temps that resembled respectable rounds of golf (Bk 77, BE 77, BR 74), and the UE unplayable due to lack bugs and no rising fish, I had no choice but to take my game to the upper reaches of the WB. At 11:30 there was no waiting time on the first tee.. Nor were there any bugs or risers to be seen. Decided to forego the afternoon fishing and get the lawn mowed.

Rid...

First of all I'd like to thank ED S. Dennis, Maxwell, Dick, Jim and Jim V. for their reports from the river and/or their kind words. 

Marty - The entire procedure took twenty minuted with little to no soreness or swelling.  Truly amazing.

The head of Buckhorn already had three cars too many when I drove by. There were tricos no doubt but you won't find me fishing tricos in that kind of a crowd.

Denni...

There's no other way to say it, the fishing has gone from the penthouse to the outhouse in one short week. Yes, by the end of last week the fish in the sulfur zone were getting pretty hard to fool but this week was another level of tough. The only fish that would even look at your fly were the yearlings and most of them refused it. If the big fish fed at all they did so after 8:30. The two year...

Spent the morning grinding peeling paint off the facia boards on the back porch and the last two garage windows. More than enough trips up and down the ladder. It was 12:30 by the time I cleaned up and had lunch. The last few days the Stilesville temp has struggled to get into the 50's and I thought maybe that was the reason for the subdued hatches. Drove up to the red barn and confirmed Ed S's...

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...

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...

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...

 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...

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...

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...

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...

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...

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...

 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...

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.

 Game called - field was deemed unplayable. Game has tentatively been rescheduled for Sunday. 

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...