The freezing temperatures broke last night and it’s actually comfortable outside this morning.  We should hit 50 degrees today with a possibility of 1/2″ of rain.  This will be great for the reservoirs and the system as a whole.  We will have to deal with some wind once the weather pushes in so your best bet for dryfly action will be in protected areas.  The rivers did warm up a bit last night but it will take a while to peak today- especially with the overcast skies.  Nymphing may be a better option.  If the rain begins to cloud the river we may get some decent streamer action.

The nymphs will get more active as the water warms up

Hatching:
Blue Quill #16 – 18 – Paraleptophlebia adoptiva
Blue Winged Olives #16 – 18 – Baetis vagans (updated name: Baetis tricaudatus)
Quill Gordons #14 – Epeorus pluralis
Tiny Black Stoneflies #18 – Capniidae sp.
Early Black and Brown Stoneflies #14 – 16 – Taenopteryx & Strophopteryx spp.

The sun is out this morning and air temperatures should hit the mid 40’s for the next couple of days.  It will feel like Summer after the last few nights in the teens.  We are still cold this morning so nymphing and slow swinging streamers will be the most productive methods until the water temps come up in the afternoon.  We may see a very small bump in flows as the rest of the snow melts today.  We did have some sun poking through the clouds yesterday that melted quite a bit of it already.  The system is still running low so it won’t take much to warm it back up.  A few hours of sun hitting the exposed rocks will bring the water temps back up.  Nights will be cool for the while still but we shouldn’t dip back into the teens.  Pheasant Tails, Hare’s Ears, and Copper Johns are all working well for nymphing.

It won’t be long before we see these wings back on the surface

Hatching:
Blue Quill #16 – 18 – Paraleptophlebia adoptiva
Blue Winged Olives #16 – 18 – Baetis vagans (updated name: Baetis tricaudatus)
Quill Gordons #14 – Epeorus pluralis
Tiny Black Stoneflies #18 – Capniidae sp.
Early Black and Brown Stoneflies #14 – 16 – Taenopteryx & Strophopteryx spp.

Last night was a cold, cold one.  Most of the system is starting off with water temperatures in the 30’s this morning.  It looks like our air temperatures will stay below freezing today and even drop back into the teens tonight.  We do have some sun right now which feels good. We start a warming trend tomorrow and should see overcast skies with air temperatures in the 40’s.  Thursday should hit 50 with some light rain.  The only benefit of the low water is that it will warm up quicker.
If you do fish today it looks like a nymphing game.  You may pick up some fish slow swinging streamers in the larger pools.  Either way dress warm and be prepared to clean the ice out of your guides.

We should see the hatches start again this week as the weather warms up

Hatching:
Blue Quill #16 – 18 – Paraleptophlebia adoptiva
Blue Winged Olives #16 – 18 – Baetis vagans (updated name: Baetis tricaudatus)
Quill Gordons #14 – Epeorus pluralis
Tiny Black Stoneflies #18 – Capniidae sp.
Early Black and Brown Stoneflies #14 – 16 – Taenopteryx & Strophopteryx spp.

We have a few fresh inches of snow on the ground and it’s still coming down lightly this morning.  The plows are out cleaning up the roads already but it’s messy.  There is no wind this morning so it feels warmer than it has over the past few days.  Accuweather is calling for the snowfall to continue until early afternoon. We should have a high air temperature approaching 40 today.  The air temperature begins to fall late afternoon and we will hit a low in the teens overnight.  If you can’t wait for the warm up beginning Wednesday it looks like another good day to nymph.  The wind gusts should stay around 6 – 7 mph which will feel like nothing after the last 5 days.
A few people braved the wind yesterday and were nymphing protected areas.  Most of the big pools had white caps which dashed any hopes of decent dryfly fishing.  There may be some bugs on the water late this afternoon so bring the dry fly box just in case.  The snow, runoff, and dropping afternoon air temps will cause the water temps to drop – especially at the current low levels.  If you decide to fish drive carefully and fish slow and methodically.

The Mainstem this morning. We should begin to warm up Wednesday

Hatching:
Blue Quill #16 – 18 – Paraleptophlebia adoptiva
Blue Winged Olives #16 – 18 – Baetis vagans (updated name: Baetis tricaudatus)
Quill Gordons #14 – Epeorus pluralis
Tiny Black Stoneflies #18 – Capniidae sp.
Early Black and Brown Stoneflies #14 – 16 – Taenopteryx & Strophopteryx spp.

We found fish rising yesterday despite the wind and the brief period of sleet.  During breaks in the wind the sun would pop out and we were seeing a mix of stoneflies, Quill Gordons, Blue Winged Olives, with a  few Blue Quills mixed in for good measure.  Nymphing was also productive in the riffles.

We woke up to a little snow on the ground this morning.  It looks like 1/4″ fell overnight and we’re still seeing some lightly fall this morning.  We did not receive the 1 -5″ predicted.  Wind gusts will hit 26 mph today with a high air temperature of 32 degrees.  The water temperatures dropped overnight and may keep falling this morning.  If you are going to fish today it definitely looks like a nymphing day.  Dress really warm and bring a thermos of coffee at the least.  It’s cold out there this morning!  It looks like we are in for a few days of extreme cold with the temperatures beginning to improve on Wednesday.

The recordings lists the release from Cannonsville at 48 cfs.  This appears to be incorrect since the flow at Stilesville has been steady around 110 cfs.  We are still under the ridiculous Chart 4A under the FFMP.

Peter with a nice brown yesterday. Photo by Bruce Miller

Hatching:
Blue Quill #16 – 18 – Paraleptophlebia adoptiva
Blue Winged Olives #16 – 18 – Baetis vagans (updated name: Baetis tricaudatus)
Quill Gordons #14 – Epeorus pluralis
Tiny Black Stoneflies #18 – Capniidae sp.
Early Black and Brown Stoneflies #14 – 16 – Taenopteryx & Strophopteryx spp.

We’re checking on the Cannonsville release to verify the recording.  We will update that information as soon as possible.  We ended up with just a brief shower on the West Branch yesterday with a little more light rain overnight and into this morning.  There were fish rising in the afternoon mostly eating early brown and black stoneflies.  Nymphing was the most productive method with pheasant tails in #16 – 18.  There are a few hendricksons popping out here and there on the lower sections but nothing to get excited about yet.  We’re still seeing mostly Quill Gordons and the early Blue Winged Olives.  Blue Quills shouldn’t be too far behind.  Today should be mild with highs in the mid- 50’s.  The temps will drop significantly overnight into the 20’s.  We should stay cooler until Wednesday- then see a slow increase in temperatures.

Jim with another nice fish from last week. Photo by Bruce Miller

Hatching:
Blue Winged Olives #16 – 18 – Baetis vagans (updated name: Baetis tricaudatus)
Quill Gordons #14 – Epeorus pluralis
Tiny Black Stoneflies #18 – Capniidae sp.
Early Black and Brown Stoneflies #14 – 16 – Taenopteryx & Strophopteryx spp.

Well this winter was an exact opposite of what we experienced last year.  March was warm and we have already caught fish on the surface on a mix of stoneflies, Quill Gordons, and Blue winged Olives.  We have seen some impressive swings in temperature so far this Spring and it looks like we are in for some cool weather for the next 5 days.  This may slow the hatching down but won’t stop it.  Nymphing has been productive with a mix of pheasant tails and hare’s ears in #12 – 18.  It is shaping up to be an early Spring so we’re expecting the mayfly hatches to really kick up once the cold snap passes.

So here we are on opening day and already we need rain.  According to the recording we are on table 4A of the FFMP which gives us a current release from Cannonsville of 110 cfs.  This is the “no Forecast Based Available Water” table so they are using their backroom voodoo to assume we won’t get any precip to refill the reservoirs.  The current NYC Water Supply  storage is 93%.  Normal for this time of year is 93%.

Weather.com is calling for an 80% chance of rain today with a little over 1/4″ of rain.

Jim with a good March fish. Photo by Bruce Miller

Hatching:
Blue Winged Olives #16 – 18 – Baetis vagans (updated name: Baetis tricaudatus)
Quill Gordons #14 – Epeorus pluralis
Tiny Black Stoneflies #18 – Capniidae sp.
Early Black and Brown Stoneflies #14 – 16 – Taenopteryx & Strophopteryx spp.

Join us January 29th, 30th, and 31st in Somerset, NJ at The Flyfishing Show.  Like normal, we will be discussing the upcoming season’s prospects and booking rooms and guides for 2016.  We will also have a limited supply of our Spectrumized Dubbing and books. Our booth location is C22 &C23 in the Main Hall.

Delaware River Club Guides Bob Lewis and Steve Shen will be presenting:

The Upper Delaware: Strategies For Success

Friday, January 29th – 1:00 PM, Hillsborough Room
Saturday, January 30th –12:00 PM, Hillsborough Room
Sunday, January 31st –11:00 AM, Hillsborough Room

We’ve reached the end of the season for daily reports.  Click on the gauge links below for up to date flow information.  We are looking at a warm week with little precipitation so we should continue to see some little olives hatching until the cold really sets in.  This turned out to be one of the oddest years on the Delaware with the best fishing happening in July.  Hopefully we’ll return to a more “normal” season this coming Spring.  We will do periodic updates here as conditions warrant.

We’d like to thank everyone who got involved in the current fight for a better plan when they cut the release from Cannonsville.  While that is a worthy distraction hopefully we can settle that issue quickly and move back to the real fight for better releases under the FFMP plan.

Hatching:
Tiny Blue Wing Olives #22-26 – Pseudo sp. (now classified as Acentrella sp.)
Charcoal Caddis #14 -16 – dark Brachycentrus sp.
Tan Caddis #16-18 – Hydrosyche sp.
Blue Winged Olives #16 – 18 – Baetis sp.

We have a decent frost on the ground this morning and the river temperatures dropped overnight.  It will take a little longer for the system to warm up today.  The flows are dropping back and now the West Branch is in great shape for wading with a flow at Hale Eddy of 374 cfs.  It will be higher as you move down stream due to the runoff from the tributaries.  Clarity isn’t bad throughout the system.  We should see some sun today with air temperatures in the low 50’s.  Winds shouldn’t be a factor with gusts to 4 mph.  We may have some light rain moving in overnight but we should see any precipitation until after dark.  Hopefully the lower water on the West Branch concentrates the small olives enough to get the fish looking up.

Hatching:
Slate Drake #14 – Isonychia bicolor
Olive Sulphur #18 – 20 – Heptagenia hebe
Light Cahills #14 – various steno species (invaria, etc)
Tiny Blue Wing Olives #22-26 – Pseudo sp. (now classified as Acentrella sp.)
Charcoal Caddis #14 -16 – dark Brachycentrus sp.
Tan Caddis #16-18 – Hydrosyche sp.
Blue Winged Olives #16 – 18 – Baetis sp.

The upper sections of the system have dropped back quickly after the rain.  The West Branch is now 473 cfs at Hale Eddy.  There is still a lot of water coming in from the tributaries so the river will be definitely be higher as you move downstream.    Sections are definitely wadeable this morning and looking decent.  It seems like the whole East Coast is in a cool down right now and we are looking at air temperatures reaching 50 today with some sun breaking through in the afternoon.  Winds will be manageable with gusts going just above 10 mph.   Streamers worked well yesterday in the higher off color water.  Hopefully the olives come off today as the water drops more.

Flick Ford landed a nice brown yesterday. Photo by Jared Makowski

Hatching:
Slate Drake #14 – Isonychia bicolor
Olive Sulphur #18 – 20 – Heptagenia hebe
Light Cahills #14 – various steno species (invaria, etc)
Tiny Blue Wing Olives #22-26 – Pseudo sp. (now classified as Acentrella sp.)
Charcoal Caddis #14 -16 – dark Brachycentrus sp.
Tan Caddis #16-18 – Hydrosyche sp.
Blue Winged Olives #16 – 18 – Baetis sp.

We were hit with some heavy rains overnight and the flows throughout the system jumped considerably.  This would be fine if they would have slowly ramped down the releases rather cut them off in anticipation of the rain and risk exposing redds and trapping fish.  As usual the West Branch came through the storms in the best shape with a flow of 1,250 at Hale Eddy.  There is a lot of water coming down the small tributaries so the flow is actually much higher than that on the lower West Branch.  If you do fish today pick your wade spots carefully.  Generally the West Branch recovers quickly so we should be in fine shape for the weekend.  The Beaverkill flow jumped from under 100 cfs to over 5,000 cfs.  That water still has not hit the lower East Branch so expect that part of the system to continue to rise during the day.  The Beaverkill generally throws a lot of color into the East Branch side after a big rain event.  The flow on the Mainstem should also increase during the day as the East Branch flow makes it’s way downstream.

The fog it too thick this morning to take a river picture

Hatching:
Slate Drake #14 – Isonychia bicolor
Olive Sulphur #18 – 20 – Heptagenia hebe
Light Cahills #14 – various steno species (invaria, etc)
Tiny Blue Wing Olives #22-26 – Pseudo sp. (now classified as Acentrella sp.)
Charcoal Caddis #14 -16 – dark Brachycentrus sp.
Tan Caddis #16-18 – Hydrosyche sp.
Blue Winged Olives #16 – 18 – Baetis sp.