Delaware River Report / Conditions September 20, 2015

Yesterday was tough for dry flies without a lot of hatching.  There were some very, very tiny olives out but the fish didn’t seem interested.  Nymphing and streamers were the most productive methods.  We had a front push through that gave us a little rain overnight but the flows didn’t budge much.  It did bring cooler air temperatures with today’s high forecasted to be 67 degrees.  We need a little cold weather to kick off the fall hatches of isonychias and heptagenias so this is a welcome change.  The winds are shifting to downstream today with gusts around 11 mph.

Hope and Morale on the Delaware providing respite and recreational opportunities for wounded service members engaged in the long process of recovery.

Hope and Morale on the Delaware providing respite and recreational opportunities for wounded service members engaged in the long process of recovery.  It’s been a great weekend!

Hatching:
Slate Drake #12 – Isonychia bicolor
Sulphur #18-20 – E. dorothea
Tricos #22 – 26 – Tricorythodes sp.
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.
Flying ants #16-24

West Branch at Stilesville, NY 1,020 cfs 55°
West Branch at Hale Eddy, NY 1,140 cfs
54°
East Branch at Harvard, NY 110 cfs 59°
East Branch at Fish’s Eddy, NY 164 cfs 65°
Mainstem at Lordville, NY 1,340 cfs
62°
Beaverkill at Cooks Falls, NY 77 cfs N/A
Cannonsville Reservoir Release 1,007 cfs
West Branch at 191 Bridge  N/A 56°
West Branch at Walton (Cannonsville inflow) 67 cfs
Cannonsville Reservoir Capacity 63%
Pepacton Reservoir Capacity 78.6%

Delaware River Report / Conditions September 19, 2015

The West Branch release has been cut back slightly to 1007 cfs.  Not much of a change overnight so pick your wade spots carefully.  The water coming out of Cannonsville is now above 50 degrees.  The release has some color to it and it is pushing some of the weeds and algae down river.  A lot of that seems to filter out by Hale Eddy but check and clean your fly often even down in Hancock.  Small olives and sulphurs are making up the bulk of the hatches with just a few isonychias and cahills thrown in for good measure.  We are still hearing reports of tricos in the morning so keep a few with you if you are heading out early.
If Accuweather is correct we are looking at sunshine today with a high around 80 degrees.  We may see a brief shower overnight with negligible precipitation.

Hatching:
Slate Drake #12 – Isonychia bicolor
Sulphur #18-20 – E. dorothea
Tricos #22 – 26 – Tricorythodes sp.
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.
Flying ants #16-24

West Branch at Stilesville, NY 1,030 cfs 53°
West Branch at Hale Eddy, NY 1,140 cfs
53°
East Branch at Harvard, NY 110 cfs 57°
East Branch at Fish’s Eddy, NY 166 cfs 64°
Mainstem at Lordville, NY 1,400 cfs
61°
Beaverkill at Cooks Falls, NY 79 cfs N/A
Cannonsville Reservoir Release 1,007 cfs
West Branch at 191 Bridge  N/A 54°
West Branch at Walton (Cannonsville inflow) 65 cfs
Cannonsville Reservoir Capacity 63%
Pepacton Reservoir Capacity 78.6%

Delaware River Report / Conditions September 18, 2015

And up we go this morning.  The release from Cannonsville Reservoir is being stepped up to 1,071 cfs by 10 am this morning.  The increases have added some color to the river and there is some weeds and algae floating down.  Most of that filters out downstream and the West Branch remains fishable this morning.  It’s time to choose your high water wade spots.  Once the water settles in over the next few hours the fish should get comfortable again.  Small olives and small sulphurs.  We are still seeing some flying ants in the late afternoon but they are unpredictable.  It would be nice if they took some of our directed release and passed it on to the East Branch and work a nice balance between the two rivers.

and up we go

and up we go

Hatching:
Slate Drake #12 – Isonychia bicolor
Sulphur #18-20 – E. dorothea
Tricos #22 – 26 – Tricorythodes sp.
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.
Flying ants #16-24

West Branch at Stilesville, NY 923 cfs 53°
West Branch at Hale Eddy, NY 892 cfs  climbing
53°
East Branch at Harvard, NY 112 cfs 55°
East Branch at Fish’s Eddy, NY 173 cfs 63°
Mainstem at Lordville, NY 994 cfs
65°
Beaverkill at Cooks Falls, NY 81 cfs N/A
Cannonsville Reservoir Release 1,071 cfs
West Branch at 191 Bridge  N/A 56°
West Branch at Walton (Cannonsville inflow) 71 cfs
Cannonsville Reservoir Capacity 63.3%
Pepacton Reservoir Capacity 79%

Delaware River Report / Conditions September 17, 2015

NY dropped the Cannonsville release to 300 cfs yesterday only to turn around and ramp the water back up this morning.  According to the recording we should settle into a 650 cfs release this morning.  The additional water is for the downstream flow targets.  Dropping and then raising the water like this in a 24 hour period is great reminder of NYC DEP’s total disregard for downstream users.  The normal percentage of storage for NYC’s water supply on September 16th is 74.6%.  The current storage this morning is 81.1%.
The bright sun made fishing tough during the day yesterday.  Nymphing was decent early until the bright sun made it’s appearance.  We had a mid-afternoon bonus of flying ants that got things going a little earlier than the olives.  In the evening we had the normal olive hatches mixed with few sulphurs.  The ants ruled the day though.

Flying Ants coming out of the ground yesterday

Flying Ants coming out of the ground yesterday

 

Maybe someone gets a bonus for every single drop of water kept behind that dam

Maybe someone at DEP gets a bonus for every single drop of water kept behind that dam

Hatching:
Slate Drake #12 – Isonychia bicolor
Sulphur #18-20 – E. dorothea
Tricos #22 – 26 – Tricorythodes sp.
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.
Flying ants #16-24

West Branch at Stilesville, NY 538 cfs 52°
West Branch at Hale Eddy, NY 455 cfs  climbing
55°
East Branch at Harvard, NY 115 cfs 55°
East Branch at Fish’s Eddy, NY 186 cfs 62°
Mainstem at Lordville, NY 705 cfs
65°
Beaverkill at Cooks Falls, NY 88 cfs N/A
Cannonsville Reservoir Release 650 cfs
West Branch at 191 Bridge  N/A 59°
West Branch at Walton (Cannonsville inflow) 79 cfs
Cannonsville Reservoir Capacity 63.5%
Pepacton Reservoir Capacity 79.3%

Delaware River Report / Conditions September 16, 2015

The sun popped out again yesterday making nymphing the most productive technique until the sun dropped behind the hills.  We did have some small olives hatching mixed with a few flying ants.  We are coming off another cool night so river temperatures look good this morning.  Today will be sunny again with air temperatures in the low 80’s.  We should drop back into the 50’s again tonight which will be good for the system.  We should drop back to cooler daytime temps over the next couple of days.  You can feel Fall in the air.  Once we get a cool down we should see better hatches of fall isonychias, olives, and heptagenias.

Bob Shermer from the weekend.  Photo by Bob Lewis

Bob Shermer from the weekend. Photo by Bob Lewis

Hatching:
Slate Drake #12 – Isonychia bicolor
Sulphur #18-20 – E. dorothea
Tricos #22 – 26 – Tricorythodes sp.
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.
Flying ants #16-24

West Branch at Stilesville, NY 388 cfs 52°
West Branch at Hale Eddy, NY 481 cfs
53°
East Branch at Harvard, NY 151 cfs 53°
East Branch at Fish’s Eddy, NY 232 cfs 61°
Mainstem at Lordville, NY 857 cfs
62°
Beaverkill at Cooks Falls, NY 98 cfs N/A
Cannonsville Reservoir Release 394 cfs
West Branch at 191 Bridge  N/A 58°
West Branch at Walton (Cannonsville inflow) 93 cfs
Cannonsville Reservoir Capacity 63.7%
Pepacton Reservoir Capacity 79.7%

Delaware River Report / Conditions September 15, 2015

The cooler temperatures have been nice but we did have some wind to contend with yesterday as the front pushed through.  Nymphing was the most productive method until the wind finally died down in the evening.  We’re still fishing small olives and sulphurs.  We have seen a few of the Fall isonychias and heptagenias flying around.  Those hatches should pick up over the next couple of weeks.  The cool weather has dropped the water temperatures and both the Mainstem at Lordville and the East Branch at Fishs Eddy are starting off at 59 degrees this morning.  Our air temperatures will creep back up into the 80’s over the next few days but that looks short lived with very cool nights.

Jason Shermer with the largest Tiger Trout we've seen.

Jason Shermer with the largest Tiger Trout we’ve seen.

Hatching:
Slate Drake #12 – Isonychia bicolor
Sulphur #18-20 – E. dorothea
Tricos #22 – 26 – Tricorythodes sp.
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.
Flying ants #16-24

West Branch at Stilesville, NY 377 cfs 50°
West Branch at Hale Eddy, NY 485 cfs
52°
East Branch at Harvard, NY 153 cfs 50°
East Branch at Fish’s Eddy, NY 264 cfs 59°
Mainstem at Lordville, NY 924 cfs
59°
Beaverkill at Cooks Falls, NY 118 cfs N/A
Cannonsville Reservoir Release 394 cfs
West Branch at 191 Bridge  N/A 55°
West Branch at Walton (Cannonsville inflow) 119 cfs
Cannonsville Reservoir Capacity 63.8%
Pepacton Reservoir Capacity 80%

Delaware River Report / Conditions September 14, 2015

We had decent cloud cover for most of yesterday but the light intermittent showers never appeared.  The olives seemed to hatch on their sunny day timeframe in the late afternoon.  Nymphing was definitely the best technique for most of the day.  We had a few tricos in the morning but most of the dry fly action was after 4 pm.  It’s starting to feel like Fall and we are seeing seeing a few more caddis and just a few of the #14 Fall Isonychias.  We have some warm weather coming our way in a few days but it finally feels like Summer is losing it’s grip.  Accuweather is calling for cloudy skies and some decent winds gusts this afternoon.  The air temperature should be cooler today with highs approaching 70 degrees.

Joel with a nice fish from the weekend.  Photo by Bruce Miller

Joel with a nice fish from the weekend. Photo by Bruce Miller

Hatching:
Slate Drake #12 – Isonychia bicolor
Sulphur #18-20 – E. dorothea
Tricos #22 – 26 – Tricorythodes sp.
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.
Flying ants #16-24

West Branch at Stilesville, NY 388 cfs 50°
West Branch at Hale Eddy, NY 507 cfs
52°
East Branch at Harvard, NY 162 cfs 51°
East Branch at Fish’s Eddy, NY 367 cfs 60°
Mainstem at Lordville, NY 905 cfs
63°
Beaverkill at Cooks Falls, NY 174 cfs N/A
Cannonsville Reservoir Release 394 cfs
West Branch at 191 Bridge  N/A 56°
West Branch at Walton (Cannonsville inflow) 186 cfs
Cannonsville Reservoir Capacity 64.3%
Pepacton Reservoir Capacity 80.9%

Delaware River Report / Conditions September 13, 2015

We have some sad news to share this morning.  Yesterday we lost our dear friend Sandy Bing.  Many of you have probably seen Sandy on the river over the years, mostly standing on his favorite rock in Homepool.  That’s where he earned the nickname “The Great Grey Heron” for his patience and precision.   Sandy loved the Delaware and was deeply involved in the fight for better releases.  He will be missed.

Yesterday’s rain kicked off the olives (#20 – 26) and we had decent hatching for most of the afternoon.  The fish responded and were happy eating on top.  We had reports of a lot of small fish feeding but some people were able to find some decent fish.  Despite the constant rain yesterday most of the rivers in the system didn’t budge overnight.  The West Branch remains at a decent level for wading and floating.  The clarity is fine.  The cooler night and rain also dropped the water temperatures on the upper Mainstem and lower East Branch.  Both of those rivers are starting off in the low 60’s this morning.  We should have cloud cover today with a few minor showers.  The precipitation totals should be negligible.

 

Sandy Bing on the West Branch a few years ago

Sandy Bing getting it done on the West Branch a few years ago

Hatching:
Slate Drake #12 – Isonychia bicolor
Sulphur #18-20 – E. dorothea
Tricos #22 – 26 – Tricorythodes sp.
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.
Flying ants #16-24

West Branch at Stilesville, NY 401 cfs 50°
West Branch at Hale Eddy, NY 529 cfs
53°
East Branch at Harvard, NY 176 cfs 53°
East Branch at Fish’s Eddy, NY 289 cfs 62°
Mainstem at Lordville, NY 905 cfs
63°
Beaverkill at Cooks Falls, NY 277 cfs N/A
Cannonsville Reservoir Release 394 cfs
West Branch at 191 Bridge  N/A 56°
West Branch at Walton (Cannonsville inflow) 128 cfs
Cannonsville Reservoir Capacity 64.3%
Pepacton Reservoir Capacity 80.9%

Delaware River Report / Conditions September 12, 2015

The low water and bright sun made yesterday tough.  The release from Cannonsville Reservoir continues to be 401 cfs until further notice.  Nymphing on the West Branch was definitely the best technique during the day until the olives and small sulphurs hatched towards dark. The low water and bright sun also heated up the Mainstem and lower East again with both rivers having water temperatures peaking at 70 degrees or above.  Today should be cooler with air temperatures in the low 70’s.  Accuweather is calling for 1/4″ of rain to fall sporadically throughout the day followed by just under 1/2″ overnight.  Small olives, small sulphurs, a few isonychias, and a few cahills will cover the majority of the hatches.

Look for the shaded banks until the clouds roll in today

Look for the shaded banks until the clouds roll in today

Hatching:
Slate Drake #12 – Isonychia bicolor
Sulphur #18-20 – E. dorothea
Tricos #22 – 26 – Tricorythodes sp.
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.
Flying ants #16-24

West Branch at Stilesville, NY 401 cfs 50°
West Branch at Hale Eddy, NY 498 cfs
53°
East Branch at Harvard, NY 153 cfs 54°
East Branch at Fish’s Eddy, NY 224 cfs 63°
Mainstem at Lordville, NY 857 cfs
65°
Beaverkill at Cooks Falls, NY 90 cfs N/A
Cannonsville Reservoir Release 394 cfs
West Branch at 191 Bridge  N/A 59°
West Branch at Walton (Cannonsville inflow) 91 cfs
Cannonsville Reservoir Capacity 64.3%
Pepacton Reservoir Capacity 80.9%

Delaware River Report / Conditions September 11, 2015

The release from Cannonsville Reservoir is 392 cfs this morning.  We did get some decent rains yesterday but most of it soaked into the ground.   The rivers realized a slight bump from the precipitation but remain clear and fishable.  The water temperatures have dropped a bit due to the rain and cooler night.  We are looking at clearing skies and air temperatures close to 80 degrees.  Yesterday’s rain kicked of the pseudo hatches a little earlier than we’ve seen lately and the fish reacted well during the day.

Chris with a colored up brown yesterday.  Photo by Bruce Miller

Chris with a colored up brown yesterday. Photo by Bruce Miller

Hatching:
Slate Drake #12 – Isonychia bicolor
Sulphur #18-20 – E. dorothea
Tricos #22 – 26 – Tricorythodes sp.
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.
Flying ants #16-24

West Branch at Stilesville, NY 394 cfs 50°
West Branch at Hale Eddy, NY 511 cfs
52°
East Branch at Harvard, NY 156 cfs 52°
East Branch at Fish’s Eddy, NY 226 cfs 63°
Mainstem at Lordville, NY 895 cfs
63°
Beaverkill at Cooks Falls, NY 95 cfs N/A
Cannonsville Reservoir Release 394 cfs
West Branch at 191 Bridge  N/A 54°
West Branch at Walton (Cannonsville inflow) 88 cfs
Cannonsville Reservoir Capacity 64.4%
Pepacton Reservoir Capacity 81.2%

Delaware River Report / Conditions September 10, 2015

Well it seems our dream of NYC DEP slowing ramping down decreases in releases is dead.  The release from Cannonsville is 392 leaving the flow at Hale Eddy 477 cfs.  The current total storage for New York City’s water supply system is 81.6%.  Normal storage level for September 9th is 75.1%  Despite the dry weather I believe they could have spared a little extra water to ramp us down gradually.  Despite the lip service some things never change.
We did receive some rain overnight but most of it was soaked into the ground.   Accuweather is calling for rain over the next few days.  Hopefully they are correct.  Hatches were sparse yesterday as the water dropped.  We did see decent olives and small sulphurs towards dark.

stiles9_10

Kind of an aggressive drop

 

Hatching:
Slate Drake #12 – Isonychia bicolor
Sulphur #18-20 – E. dorothea
Tricos #22 – 26 – Tricorythodes sp.
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.
Flying ants #16-24

West Branch at Stilesville, NY 361 cfs 50°
West Branch at Hale Eddy, NY 477 cfs
53°
East Branch at Harvard, NY 159 cfs 56°
East Branch at Fish’s Eddy, NY 221 cfs 67°
Mainstem at Lordville, NY 886 cfs
65°
Beaverkill at Cooks Falls, NY 81 cfs N/A
Cannonsville Reservoir Release 392 cfs
West Branch at 191 Bridge  N/A 58°
West Branch at Walton (Cannonsville inflow) 65 cfs
Cannonsville Reservoir Capacity 64.7%
Pepacton Reservoir Capacity 81.5%

Delaware River Report / Conditions September 9, 2015

According to the DEP recording the release from Cannonsville has been dropped t0 664 cfs this morning.  The Hale Eddy flow will drop over the next few hours and level out around 700 cfs – unless they drop the release further during the day.   This will make wading a bit easier in some of the pools and floating is still fine.  The West Branch is still the best bet since the East Branch at Fishs Eddy peaked at 75 degrees yesterday and the Mainstem peaked around 68 degrees at Lordville.  The upper East Branch near Pepacton Dam is cool but it is very low and clear making fishing tough.  The hatches seem to come in minor flushes yesterday and never built into one decent hatch.  The bugs are still the same with olives, sulphurs, cahills, and some isonychias.  We found some fish rising on the slow edges and patience was definitely the key.  We did have a lot of green weeds / slime floating own the West Branch yesterday.  There is some color to the water coming out of Cannonsville but the clarity is fine for fishing.  Both seem to be the norm for Fall fishing over the last few years.

Tony with a respectable fish yesterday

Tony with a respectable fish yesterday

Hatching:
Slate Drake #12 – Isonychia bicolor
Sulphur #18-20 – E. dorothea
Tricos #22 – 26 – Tricorythodes sp.
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.
Flying ants #16-24

West Branch at Stilesville, NY 676 cfs 50°
West Branch at Hale Eddy, NY 931 cfs
51°
East Branch at Harvard, NY 148 cfs 57°
East Branch at Fish’s Eddy, NY 208 cfs 68°
Mainstem at Lordville, NY 1,350 cfs
65°
Beaverkill at Cooks Falls, NY 79 cfs N/A
Cannonsville Reservoir Release 664 cfs
West Branch at 191 Bridge  N/A 53°
West Branch at Walton (Cannonsville inflow) 65 cfs
Cannonsville Reservoir Capacity 65.2%
Pepacton Reservoir Capacity 81.9%
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