Angler 119's Delaware River Fishing Report
Turn Out The Light's The Party's Over
Posted on August 19 2025
Enjoyed a weekend at home with Jean that included a quiet 40th anniversary dinner at Dashers Pub in Homer. Ran well water into the trout pond all last week as both the inlet to the pond and our little stream, Rainbow Creek are bone dry. The fish perked up with...
An Increased Release In August Is Seldom A Bad Thing
Posted on August 17 2025
If you are looking for something positive to pin your hopes on, the River Master started calling for increased releases from Cannonsville on Thursday. The releases are required to meet minimum flow requirements at Montague down in Jersey. Why now? The additional flow is needed because the hydro generation at...
Memories Are Made Of This.
Posted on August 16 2025
It occurred to me today that I've had no problem lately finding empty pools, trailers at put-ins and take-outs, almost none, and wade fishermen can find a shady spot to park their car at almost every parking area. Why? It's been a tough season from the get go. Water in...
Would Welcome Some Cool August Nights.
Posted on August 15 2025
Woke up this morning with the porch thermometer showing a temperature of 69, if I'd had my hearing aids in, I could probably have heard the trico spinners falling. Cancelled the drive over to the UEB and will wait for cooler nighttime temperatures before fishing the tricos again. With the...
And The Thunder Rolls - - -
Posted on August 14 2025
With the radar showing much needed rain coming across the state, with an expected time of arrival in Lordville of 1:00pm, I passed on the tricos in favor of mowing the lawn. Waited for the dew to dry and then had at it. Some parts were brown and brittle while...
On A "Hot August Night".
Posted on August 13 2025
Headed out at 8:30 this morning with the intention of fishing the BR up top in the cold water. It was a multipurpose trip. Wanted to see if there was a meaningful trico hatch, and any effect the surge, which was on it's way down the WB, would have on...
Fishing Olives After Dark Is Like Trying to Find Truffles Without A Pig.
Posted on August 12 2025
Drove home Friday afternoon to pick up Jean on her return from our daughters in Florida. Picked up my car from the dealer early Saturday morning, (it was a cracked spark plug that was causing the problem). They did an oil change, put in a new set of plugs and...
What You Need To Know To Fish Tricos.
Posted on August 10 2025
Where to go - Tricos are warm water flies and won't be found in the upper WB or above Shinhopple on the UEB. Look on the WB below the game lands and on the BR down to Stockport. Below Stockport you get into water that is too warm to fish. ...
Looking For Rainbows In the Morning Fog.
Posted on August 09 2025
It's noon on Friday, wasn't going to fish this morning but I will be heading back to Lafayette this afternoon to pick Jean up at the airport so I decided to give the tricos another try. Yesterdays early spinner fall brought into serious question the Orvis pronouncement that trico spinners...
Save The Last Dance For Me.
Posted on August 08 2025
Woke this morning and looked out at the plum tree branches. Mom, her sister and the two kids were walking around looking for a leaf they might have missed. The branches were as bare as they were last January. Headed back to the UEB this morning intent on proving that...
Humble Pie Is Served Up Daily On The Delaware, (could have titled it The Turkey Trot).
Posted on August 07 2025
Headed back to the UEB at 9:00 fully expecting to duplicate yesterdays fish catching bonanza. Picked a riff that required a walk almost three times as long as yesterday's, just knew that the fishing would be at least three times as good. Turns out I'm not well versed in the...
I Like It Like That.
Posted on August 06 2025
With a family of skunks following me around after my two one fish days, I got out of bed this morning resolved to do better. Had breakfast, checked the temperature, (62), and left for the UEB hoping to find tricos. It was 65 when I headed up route 30 past...
Smoke Gets In Your Eyes.
Posted on August 05 2025
It was an eventful weekend. On Saturday Jean drove down and we took in the Summerfest at the Fly Fishing Museum in Livingston Manor. Watched some of the casting competition, looked at the displays of old fishing rods, reels and miscellaneous other equipment, chatted with a few old friends, and...
Dorotheas Are a Cold Water Fly That Hatches When The Water Temp Hits 52 Degrees.
Posted on August 02 2025
A tip of the fedora to two new contributors to "name that tune". Don K. has proved his worth in the country western genera as well as being able to pick out Harry Chapin lyrics with ease. While Ed S. deserves partial credit for recognizing yesterday's title as an altered...
When Will I Ever Learn - - -
Posted on August 01 2025
With the rain scheduled to arrive at 10:00 this morning I got what little yard work I had to do out of the way early and when it did start to rain, just before eleven, I made a sandwich, sat out on the porch and listened to the rain on...
Turned Out To Be Another Great Day To Be Alive, (isn't every one?).
Posted on July 31 2025
I've been fascinated watching the gentleman who is in charge of the releases designed to keep the water temp at Lordville under 75 degrees hit the nail on the head two days in a row. The factors that go into the calculations are endless, (EB temperature and water volume, predicted...
Being In The Right Place, At The Right Time, Is No Guarantee Of Success.
Posted on July 30 2025
Yesterday either the surge sent down river to maintain the thermal refuge in the BR stifled the sulfur hatch, or the hatch, (which progresses upstream over time), has just moved past the Hale Eddy area. I fished bugless water. This afternoon I made the decision that it was better to...
Changes, Keep On Changin' And The Good Old Days They Say They're Gone -
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...
Two Outa Three Ain't Bad
Posted on July 26 2025
True to my word, I went out this morning searching for a place to fish that had bugs, fish, and solitude. Selected a spot on the PA side of the BR where the WB water and the EB water haven't mixed yet. I was the only one there. Entered the...
Goin' Searchin', Gonna Find 'Em.
Posted on July 25 2025
Got another good night's sleep, (may be ready to play before Caitlin Clark), and tackled the lawn before the heat got serious. That onerous task out of the way, I tied the days quota of flies and wondered what to do next. Fortunately the phone rang and I had to...
Maybe I'm Becoming A Late Inning Relief Pitcher.
Posted on July 24 2025
With another late August like night with a predicted low of around fifty, it was my intention to fish another spot on the BR this morning. It could well be another month before the water temperature affords us the opportunity again. Alas, it didn't happen. The triple play yesterday took...
Life's A Dance You Learn As You Go.
Posted on July 23 2025
Todays fishing took on the guise of a three act play, one that ran the the gamut from romance to comedy to tragedy. A-119 was the stand-in for the fisherman who just never showed up. Act I - With the air temperature at dawn 47, and the water temp at...
It's A Great Day To Be Alive - - Why Can't Every Day Be Just This Good?
Posted on July 22 2025
Arrived at the Lordville Estate right at noon today with plans to fish the afternoon sulfurs, it didn't happen. Spent yesterday afternoon reconstructing the dams and repairing the plumbing that feeds water into the trout and bass ponds in Lafayette. Yesterday the bass pond feeder was dry, the trout pond...
Wind Knots And Tailing Loops.
Posted on July 21 2025
Sitting home looking at the fishing reports, couldn't help but notice that since July 1st, the Delaware River Club's fish of the day photos have shown a total of four fish, only one of which contained the notation that it was caught on a dry. DRC has experienced guides and...
Forgot How Much Fun It Is To Have Rising Fish To Cast At.
Posted on July 19 2025
Just so you know, I read and learn from the comments. I have heard of numerous encounters with stripers this year following the two months of high water. Butch's post about someone catching 5 is still unsettling. Hopefully anyone catching one above Callicoon makes sure that it has eaten it's...
Will Wage War On The Crab Grass Tomorrow.
Posted on July 18 2025
It's been three weeks since the groin pull and last night was the first full night's sleep that I've had. It felt great. After yesterdays yard work blitz I decided to concentrate on the back porch. Vacuumed up dead bugs, filled the wood pile and prepared things for the "Home...
Thank The Lord For The Nighttime, Forget The Days.
Posted on July 17 2025
Got up early today, in part because the ache from the groin pull makes it hard to sleep and in part because I wanted to do the yard work before it got too hot. Had the peach tree remains stacked up under the porch before 8:30, pruned the Holly tree...
Sharing Memories With Fellow Fishermen Is Always Time Well Spent.
Posted on July 16 2025
Spent an hour this morning cutting down the cling peach tree that succumbed from a combination of the harsh winter and the ravages of brown rot. My lack of knowledge about the need to prune full sized peach trees didn't help either. Came in hot and sweaty and made the...
When The Fog Is On The River, There Is No Wind.
Posted on July 15 2025
There has been considerable grumbling this season about having to fish in the fog. I've written about it as recently as June 30th. My only complaint about the fog is that it seems to negatively affect my depth perception and hence the accuracy of my casts. I did my best...
This, That And The Grammarian.
Posted on July 14 2025
For about a week I was content congratulating myself on yet another perfect report, not a single of the Grammarian's terse comments, (listing the days typos or spelling errors), was to be found). Then reality sunk in. On June 27, the second T was added to Corbet. Not a single...
The Bench Of Redemption Has Put Splinters In Lots of Keisters.
Posted on July 12 2025
It being the last day of my fishing week, I decided to give it my all, groin pull be damned. Encouraged by all the empty sulfur nymph husks floating by the Hale Eddy Bridge last evening, I wanted to give the sulfurs a chance to redeem themselves. About 1:30 I...
Just An Any Old Kind Of Day.
Posted on July 11 2025
Was unable to work up any enthusiasm for the afternoon hatch in the sulfur zone. I don't blame the wade fishermen who were kept off the river all of May and June by high water. Just maybe, the drift boaters might might show a little consideration and not anchor up...
The Last Hour Of Daylight Needs To Be Two Hours Long.
Posted on July 10 2025
Called Vicki's Unisex Hair Salon this morning and asked for an appointment between 11:00 and 12:30 anytime this week. Vicki said she was going to be closed Thursday and Friday and all she had today was 3:30. I took it. Half an hour later the phone rang, it was David...
It's Not Always Easy Being Me!
Posted on July 09 2025
It's 7:00 pm, and it's raining. It's a gentle rain with little or no wind, the kind I enjoy fishing in, and here I am typing a fishing report. Why? The Chiropractor just may have overdone the stretching of my pulled groin muscle yesterday and the groin muscle took it...
I Feel Lucky
Posted on July 08 2025
It was hard to get enthused about anything today, two doctors appointments, a sweltering hot day with temps well into the nineties, and on the road too late to fish the Dorotheas. Bought a new dehumidifier for the basement at the Lordville Estate and lugged it down the cellar stairs...
It's Not Easy Getting A Delaware River Fish To Eat Your Fly.
Posted on July 06 2025
Jean departed for Lafayette mid morning. I did a little yard work, watered the tomatoes, ate lunch, and at about 1:30 headed for Deposit. My normal procedure is to stop at the Hale Eddy bridge, then drive up the back side of the river looking for both bugs and rising...
Hope You Had A Bang-up Fourth Of July.
Posted on July 06 2025
Jean came down to take in the world famous Lordville Fourth of July Parade. When the roads were reopened we took a ride into the area between route 17 and route 97. Some beautiful scenery with expensive second homes surrounding small lakes and reservoirs. It being a holiday weekend the...
It Ain't Over Till The Spinners Fall.
Posted on July 03 2025
Left the Lordville Estate at 10:00 after first checking the water temp at Lordville. High water has kept me from wading the BR and now that it is low enough to wade safely, the water temp is approaching the 70 degree no fish mark. Never saw a boat or wade...
There Only Was One Choice.
Posted on July 02 2025
Had the same kinda afternoon today as exquisite fly-tyer Jim N. did yesterday, sans the fat 19 inch brown. Between yesterday and today I caught half a dozen yearlings, all but one of which were rainbows. The biggest one was over 10 inches long which is interesting only because yearling...
Sometimes It's Not Just Your Mind That's In A fog.
Posted on July 01 2025
As late as 2:30 today, there was talk about putting me on injured reserve. A "strained groin muscle", (incurred either during an over enthusiastic workout or by sneezing), led to 5 virtually sleepless nights. I'd like to point out that I did fish with the injury on Thursday and Friday...
All I Have To Do, Is Dream, Dream, Dream - - - -
Posted on June 28 2025
Fluky little rainstorms continue to slow the descent of the water levels. One hit the Willow another Oquaga. Cannonsville is not spilling, but only because the release is equal to or greater than what the spill would be. The forecast is decent for the next week and perhaps the rivers...
I'd Rather Not Go To Montana.
Posted on June 27 2025
It's only 8:15 and I'm back at the Lordville Estate writing the fishing report, and it will be short. Drove up to Deposit around 12:30 to see if the Dorotheas were going, they weren't. Returned to the LVE without seeing a bug or a rise and but two waders and...
Don't Care What Anyone Says, The Fish I'm Catchin' Are Huge.
Posted on June 26 2025
After taking two personal days, (high water and mid 90's temps), I was anxious to get back down to the Lordville Estate, if for no other reason than to cut the grass before the next deluge. Got the grass cut, put things away, had lunch, looked out at the bright...
Can Anyone Conjure Up An Ice Age?
Posted on June 23 2025
Spent a couple hours on the phone with Tim Pokorny of the DEC, (Chris Van Maaren, gave him the unenviable job), and Jeff Skelding of FUDR. Tim heads the shocking program that has expanded to include the UEB/EB this year. When I talked with him the release had been increased...
Here's Something You Can Do While Not Fishing
Posted on June 23 2025
With the Cannonsville Reservoir spilling hot water, (the Stilesville gage shows the water temperature to already be approaching 70 degrees), and with the air temperature predicted to be in the mid- nineties for the next two days, the West Branch fishery will be threatened. The FFMP plan states that if...
I've Learned My Lesson, Now All I Have To Do Is Remember It.
Posted on June 21 2025
Today was the longest day of the year, tomorrow will be one second shorter. Strangely I only fished two hours today and the last half hour was in the dark. Love long days and am always bummed when we take the first step towards the dark days of winter. On...
On The Road Again.
Posted on June 20 2025
Today started out better than yesterday. Jean's 8:00 o'clock call woke me up to bright sunshine and by noon the lawn was dry enough to finish cutting. Spent the early afternoon flies, put them in one of those little round plastic boxes that you get at the Troutfitter when you...
Sometime A change Of Scenery Isn't A Bad Thing.
Posted on June 19 2025
As most who follow the reports know, I've been fishing the east side of the system. Why? Better water levels for wading, next to no boats, very few fishermen, decent bugs, and enough 'bows and browns to keep me happy. So today I went west. Why? Because the BK, if...
The Delaware River System, A Better Place To Be.
Posted on June 18 2025
Want to thank everyone who has taken the time to post about their experiences both on the Delaware River System and " Out West". Some of the comments bring back fond memories of my many trips. The Henry's Fork is a delightful river to fish, if the wind isn't blowing....
If Catching A "Big One" Is your Goal, Step Up To The Plate And Take Your Swings.
Posted on June 17 2025
It's 10:05 pm, do you know where your fly boxes are? Mine, (the metal ones), are on the shelf next to the stove pipe and yes I have a fire going. When I left the fishing camp, the radar showed a thin band of light green passing through the area....