Angler 119's Delaware River Fishing Report

 The bugs are hatching everywhere. The yellow stones were all over the streamside grass along the bank of the BR in Lordville and on the BE in Hancock this morning.  There were isos hatching in the BK and I saw gray foxes and green drakes at Buckingham at noon today. This morning my screens had more brown drakes on them than I've seen since the flood of '06.

Left camp before noon expecting, with...

By now regular readers know what I think about the day after a front pushes through. With high pressure, a clear blue sky, bright sun and a 15 mph wind out of the north, the trout just won't rise, its a waste of time to even go. I went anyway. This morning I only lasted about an hour. There were march browns and gray fox hatching but not a fish to be seen. Was back in time to tie flies before...

Spent the morning fishing a series of pools on the BK. Why? Yesterday I saw a few iso husks on the rocks along the shore line and wanted to be one of the first to throw an iso at 'em. The sun was hot and the only bugs I saw were a handful of march browns. Rose three nice rainbows all of whom happily ate the iso (so did several large fall fish). Should have quit at ten but fished two more pools...

Having met my contractual minimum daily word requirement with the "Tell me Why?" offering, the fishing report can, comparatively speaking, be short and sweet. The freestones are alive and well with black caddis, sulfurs (well after dark tonight) and gray foxes. There is also an opportunity in the am for spinner fishing. However, with the temp predicted to be well into the 80s tomorrow most of the...

 With little going on midday today I decided to try to answer your questions.

Jeff and Dennis - The hatches move up stream and the upper WB is the last place where you see a hatch. Also some of the bugs (green drakes, ephrons and tricos for sure and I think march browns, to some extent, do not do well in cold water. They seldom appear in numbers above Hale Eddy and so they are not used as an...

Last Tuesday night I was standing on the BE shore looking for a rise when I heard the first toad of the year start to sing. On the way back to the "Lordville Estate" the road was covered with toads on their way to the river. Wednesday night found me on the BR where the toads were in full voice. After fishing I sat on the porch with my perfect Manhattan just listening to the sound. Thursday found...

We are on the cusp of the big bug finale for 2021. Within the next 15 days everything will hatch. The dragon flies (which feast on the may flies) will lead the parade. The grass along the banks on the BR and EB is knee high which is about the time for the golden stones to exit the river, climb up the grass and emerge. The spring sulfurs have almost surely started their march up the river system...

With another hot sunny day on tap, I got out early to try the BR.  One 10 inch rainbow and three fall fish later I was in the car heading for the BK.  Fished two pools there, saw three fish rise and got them all to eat. Drove from there to the UEB and followed Rte. 30 all the way up to Corbett.  Never saw a bug or a rise.  

It was noon and I debated heading home for lunch or going west on 17 to...

NYC has cut back the releases from both reservoirs. That coupled with air temps 15 to 20 degrees above normal and bright sunshine has put a damper on the fishing. Current water temps will push the hatches back to near dark everywhere but the uppermost sections of the UEB and the WB. With the low water, boats floating the WB will be in the main channels and will disrupt fishing. Hard to believe but...

When I'm out in the river I have a habit of picking up hatching flies and putting them in a little plastic container which goes into the fridge when I get back to camp. The flies are torpid but alive the next day and serve as models for my fly tying. As a result I have many flies in my boxes that I never use. One of them is the Chimarra, until today, when I used it and then had to change it's name...

The key to giving good reliable information as to when to come and fish is to tell the fishermen the day before it's going to be good, not the day after.  Monday is a dead cert for "The day I caught the most fish in 2021," and Sunday will probably finish second. Today I didn't come down a peg or two, I fell into a deep abyss.

Why? The water level has come from unwadeable to one where boaters are...

Last week I stopped at a friends camp to discuss the days fishing. Didn't return to my abode until late and didn't enter the days fishing report until the next morning. My wife reads the blog during the early morning hours and was worried that something bad had happened to me (at least that was her story), when there was no report posted. Tonight it's 10:30, the company has left, and I'm writing...

If this weekend is any indication, wade fishermen are fast becoming dinosaurs. Boats alone outnumbered them and if you count all the people in the boats it wasn't close. Maybe the waders saw all the high water and made other plans but there has been an obvious trend towards more boats and fewer waders for several years. As long as floaters are courteous I'm fine with it. This weekend dozens and...

I don't know what happened to all the wade fishermen that I thought would be on the river this weekend but they just didn't appear in the numbers I expected. Perhaps they all bought boats or were being rowed down the river in one of the countless guide boats on the water today. The Balls Eddy and Shehawken takeouts were all filled with trailers and anytime you got a view of the WB there was a line...

Friday was something of a transition day on the river system. The UEB release was cut back Thursday and and most of the ethical drift boaters opted to fish other water. The waders were quick to see the change and both Long Flat and Powerline pools were lined with cars. The rest of the UEB had fishermen in every pool. Thursday I found apple caddis, Hendricksons and rising fish. Friday I saw the...

With all river flows out of my comfort zone, it was an easy decision to go home and spend time with my wife. When the weather prediction for the next few days called for reduced wind, warming temps and no rain, my wife "suggested" that we do the shopping for the new couch that is to go in her "Fem Den" yesterday afternoon, so I could, "get an early start in the morning". I obliged, we did and then...

With all rivers in the Delaware system well above safe wading levels I decided to spend the day catching up on things that have been neglected with my irregular comings and goings. Did some yard work, put one and a half coats of red paint on the new screen door, did a good camp cleaning, spent a delightful hour on the phone with a fellow Delaware River fisherman who I have scarcely seen since the...

The rain last night didn't help wade fishermen one little bit. When I first looked this morning the Hale Eddy gage was at 2,400 cfs which is well above my cut off point for wading the WB. The rain had stopped sometime before 5:00 this morning and I watched the Oquaga gage go steadily down. By about 9:00 the Hale Eddy gage was also dropping rapidly. When I left the house at noon the Hale Eddy gage...

It's Sunday evening, a time when I'm usually home with my wife. Tonight, I'm down at the fishing camp. Why? The stars aligned. The USGS gage at Hale Eddy reported the flow at 1,900 cfs, (below my personal 2,000 cfs cut off point for wading the WB). The weather forecast was predicting an all night rain of about 3/4 of an inch (which will probably send me home again tomorrow morning). Rumors were...

So, I drove down to the fishing camp this morning, no, not to fish, that was never a possibility.  I went to mow the grass, level the concrete floor on the porch before the new carpet arrives, fill the bird feeders and put the primer coat on the new screen door.  Arrived about 10:00 and at 2:15 I was on the road heading back home.

There were but a modest number of boats to be seen both on the way...

Hung the new porch screen door yesterday.  Escaped with a couple of minor scrapes and one brused finger.  If things ever dry out I'll paint it, put the screening back in and cross that job off the list.

Forgot to mention that the Hummingbird showed up at the feeder Monday. Saw a Northern Oriole in the apple tree this morning and put his feeder out. Within an hour he was having a drink. Will pick up...

Yesterday I spent the day mostly just driving around. Most parts of the river were to high to wade effectively, some had too many boats and the BK had too many fisherman. It was nobody's loss but mine. I'd been spoiled. From the time I got here until last Thursday, I could fish wherever I wanted, boats were limited by the low water. There were bugs hatching with fish up eating them. The worm has...

When I retired over 20 years ago there was no further use for an almost full box of business cards.  They sat untouched on a shelf in the closet for several years. Was about to toss them away when I thought of a way to use them.  They are small, sturdy and the back side is blank just perfect for recording the size of the fish I catch.  Have been using them for years (in fact they are almost gone).

...

 With the rivers high and muddy and a cold wind blowing I decided to cross items off of the camp to-do list today rather than drive around looking for a place that I could get into the water and fish.

First on the list was the annual cleanup of the upstairs bunk room where a significant portion of the world's population of lady bugs spend their winter. They have no trouble finding their way in in...

The river system got a badly needed soaking today. Much of the river has been too low for drift boat fishing and with FUDA's "One Bug Tournament" scheduled for this weekend the rise in water levels was a God send. That said, the forecast for tomorrow leaves something to be desired. Twenty to thirty mile per hour winds with gusts up to fifty-five are predicted. If you were planning on coming to...

Forgive me for I have sinned. Left Lordville at noon, stopped on the LV bridge and there were fish going everywhere. Drove up the PA side towards Buckingham to see what the incoming boat traffic looked like, did a U-turn and headed back to fish the "Home Pool". It wasn't meant to be. I could only see one angler in the pool but the parking lot under the bridge was full and there was a four car...

With the prediction calling for a warm sunny day I went looking for caddis. They aren't hard to find as there are both hatchers and egg layers on all of the freestones (BK,BR, BE). Went out at noon with the little red line in the thermometer at 60 (up from 32). The egg layers were active but I didn't see apple caddis duns on the water until about two. The Hendricksons made but a token appearance...

Got an early morning call that my tooth cleaning appointment was moved back from 10:00 to 11:00. If the temperature wasn't still in the 30's I might have been p---ed. If the cold temperature wasn't enough, another blue norther pushed the car all over the road on the way down. Got to the river about two with one plan - try to get out of the wind. Thankfully, the sun had done it's magic on the...

Today dawned overcast with a steady drizzle. The rain ended mid morning but it stayed in the low 50's with heavy cloud cover until mid afternoon. Left camp around noon and drove around the river system for over two hours without seeing a bug or a rise. It appeared that most of the weekend fishermen had departed as the parking lots weren't full and there were only a modest number of boats and wade...

Today was a Big River day all the way. At the present water levels everything is wadable and there is nowhere I'd rather fish than the BR. For peace of mind, however, I shy away from the area between junction pool and Buckingham during the "big bug season" ( Hendricksons through Green Drakes). There are just too many boats. There were about 20 trailers in the lot when I drove past Buckingham on...

There is no other way to put it.  Today was not a nice day to be on the river.  To begin with there was a brutal north wind that blew a gusty 15 to 25mph.  There was also high pressure with bright sunshine that appears the first day of a new frontal system  AND TROUT DO NOT LIKE IT. They just won't rise.

Were there bugs? Yep. The water started off in some sections below 40 degrees but with the...

Yesterday at 11:45 the temp was 54 degrees and I was ready to go fishing. At noon when I got in the car the temp was 48. When I reached the Sunoco station in East Branch it was 38 and snowing. I did a U-turn drove back to the camp, closed it up and headed home in a snow storm with the temp at 34 degrees. It's 24 here in Lafayette this morning and I have nothing better to do than provide an update...

If you don't think I was a bit antsy sitting in the Dr.'s office at 12:00 noon today, you don't know me. Sunday was near biblical. Monday, I dutifully returned to Syracuse for an eye exam that didn't exist. Today was the last day to fish before hell freezes over. Was on the road by 12:45, stopping only at the rest area near Marathon to lighten the load and thus save fuel. When I got to Hancock it...

 Just six days ago I got skunked.  Threw at the only riser I saw and was refused.  Yesterday the skunk left quietly, hopefully not to return again this year.  But it's still spring and it's the Delaware so you never know.

Unfortunately I'm home again. Annual eye doctors appointment was today and my semiannual trip to the internist is tomorrow morning. Was sorely temped to call and cancel the eye...

It's been ten days since I opened up the camp. First trip was just to get things up and running. Second trip was made with the hope of finding rising fish - I found him. When the weatherman predicted low 40's with rain/snow, I headed home. Found Paraleps and Hendricksons hatching with rising fish in Butternut Creek, some of which found their way into our trout pond, where either they will be eaten...

The sun came out this morning and burned off the fog, the air temp zoomed up from the 30's to the 60's, the clouds came in about one with water temps already in the 50's. The water levels are great for wading and with the exception of the UE, for floating. At 1:00pm the ten boats heading to Buckingham were all anchored on pods of fish, just sitting and waiting for it to happen - - - it never did.

With a forecast calling for rain/snow on Thursday and Friday, I decided to take advantage of the nice weather predicted for today and tomorrow. Drove down to camp with the new lawn mower this morning, unloaded it, put away the mower and the weeks supplies and had lunch. Before setting out I checked the water temps for the past week and headed for a place that had the warmest water. It paid off,...

After cleaning up a good portion of the winter debris, (the Town snow plow deposits about a third of the road surface on my lawn each winter), I left for an afternoon drive up the WB. Stopped and chatted with an old river friend and sat in one of his streamside chairs for about twenty minutes looking for bugs. Saw a number of tiny live specs , one stone fly, two paraleps, three boats and not a...

You couldn't have ordered up a more perfect day.  Beautiful bright sunshine with temp in the low 70's and a light breeze that  I would have killed for just last week on the bonefish flats.  

Bought supplies and crammed the car full of "stuff" for the camp. Arrived about 12:30 and found everything in good order. Turned on the well pump and filled the system with no apparent leaks. Fridge and hot...

After getting the required negative Covid-19 test, I was able to obtain a Bahamas health visa and head for Long Island for a week of bone fishing. The wind blew over 20mph most of the week and unfortunately the number of bonefish we see on the flats seems to be less each year. On the positive side, the guides are excellent and put us in front of enough fish to make it once again a successful trip....

 Last year at this time my wife and I were driving up I-95, heading for home.  The country was shut down and the interstates were empty but for snow birds, with Quebec license plates, trying to get back into Canada before it's borders were closed.

A year later things have changed. Jean and I have both gotten our two shots of Pfizer's vaccine, as have a substantial percentage of those over 65. With...

This winter, with Covid still raging and time on my hands, I decided to compile the year's blog pages into a book. "A Season On The Delaware" follows Angler119 as he fishes the Delaware through the progression of fly hatches from the first little stone flies of April to the last paraleps of November. It provides enough information to enable readers to better enjoy and appreciate their time on the...

 Doubt anyone will see this but it's probably something worth noting.  If there has ever been an extended period with more sunshine and warm temps in upstate New York during the last 77 years, I was somewhere else and missed it.  It has been beautiful beyond belief, unless you are a deer hunter.  It is simply too warm for the deer to be moving during the daytime.

Made another trip down to Lordville...

Two weeks ago I had the best week of fall fishing I've ever had. That weekend I wrote the "This will be the last time - - " page. I was totally satisfied with the years fishing (It was the fourth best year I've had on the Delaware). I had turned the last page. It was time to close the book and move on to a new season. My tree stands beckoned but the deer just weren't moving and I was bored. With...

Spent the morning driving back to Syracuse to get my flu shot and  archery equipment.  Have seen more deer in downtown Lordville in two days than I have in three weeks in Lafayette. Might just hunt here. Spent time crossing off items on the camp close down list and sighting in the  pins on the new bow.

The fish were rising again below the Lordville Bridge today so I decided to give them a try. Not...

It's been 10 days since I last was at the Lordville Estate. I try to schedule appointments and meetings during the fall archery season as I am more likely to be home. Took care of most of the items on the list, cut up two of the trees that had blown over during the high winds two weeks ago but did not yet kill a buck. Had a one horned crotch horn walk out in front of me opening day and I gave him...

It's hard for me to believe that a month has gone by since the last Q & A offering. With most fishermen having hung up their gear for the season it makes sense that the number of questions would be reduced. Thankfully some of the hard core regulars have continued to share their experiences both good and bad. The increased participation this year has made the writing far more enjoyable for me,...

I am no computer wizard but for the third time with my new laptop I have erased three paragraphs of a blog with one touch of something I'm not even aware of touching. Pisses me off!!!!

Awoke this morning to a bright sun burning through the fog. Decided to clean out the blue bird boxes (they are on the shut down list). Assembled the necessary tools and walked out to the back yard where the two...

Didn't fish today and it didn't bother me a bit. Why? After four back to back days of the best fall pseudo/iso fishing I have ever had there was no need to punish myself. Today was that high pressure day that follows the previous frontal systems departure. It's marked by bright sun, below normal temps, brisk winds and high pressure. The fish just don't like it and are reluctant to rise. Today...

It was an unusual day to say the least. With the prediction of gale force winds there was little likelihood of getting in any meaningful fishing. Looked out in the morning and not a leaf was stirring. Filled the car with trash and headed to the dump then drove up to Oquaga Lake to help Jean unload a car full of household goods she was delivering to a friends house. When I drove through Deposit...