Delaware River Report / Conditions September 27, 2015
The release on the West Branch has been stepped down slightly again this morning. The water remains off-color but is clearing slowly and there has been less algae. Streamers continue to be the best bet. If the cloud cover sticks around, that may help get the bugs going today. Look for olives and isos especially as the sun goes down.
Jesse with a nice brown. Photo by Jared Makowski.
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 | 1,230 cfs | 57° |
| West Branch at Hale Eddy, NY | 1,400 cfs | 56° |
| East Branch at Harvard, NY | 103 cfs | 54° |
| East Branch at Fish’s Eddy, NY | 139 cfs | 59° |
| Mainstem at Lordville, NY | 1,520 cfs | 59° |
| Beaverkill at Cooks Falls, NY | 65 cfs | N/A |
| Cannonsville Reservoir Release | 1,210 cfs | |
| West Branch at 191 Bridge | N/A | 56° |
| West Branch at Walton (Cannonsville inflow) | 47 cfs | |
| Cannonsville Reservoir Capacity | 58.2% | |
| Pepacton Reservoir Capacity | 76.3% |
Delaware River Report / Conditions September 26, 2015
The release and the conditions on the West Branch remain the same this morning. Expect turbid water and less insects than we would like. The East Branch is clear but very low. We’ve had success fishing streamers, even with all the sun, due to the off-color water on the West Branch. We’re anticipating another sunny day with temperatures in the low 70’s and light winds. Have your dry flies ready in the evening.
Lee and Rob found a nice brown. 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 | 1,280 cfs | 57° |
| West Branch at Hale Eddy, NY | 1,440 cfs | 56° |
| East Branch at Harvard, NY | 103 cfs | 54° |
| East Branch at Fish’s Eddy, NY | 141 cfs | 61° |
| Mainstem at Lordville, NY | 1,520 cfs | 60° |
| Beaverkill at Cooks Falls, NY | 65 cfs | N/A |
| Cannonsville Reservoir Release | 1,259 cfs | |
| West Branch at 191 Bridge | N/A | 56° |
| West Branch at Walton (Cannonsville inflow) | 48 cfs | |
| Cannonsville Reservoir Capacity | 58.2% | |
| Pepacton Reservoir Capacity | 76.3% |
Delaware River Report / Conditions September 25, 2015
The release on the West Branch has dropped marginally this morning but it shouldn’t make much of a change to the conditions. Looks like it will be a carbon copy of yesterday with highs in the low 70’s, sun and low winds. The cool evening temperatures continue to keep the river in good shape. We’re still seeing mainly olives on the river during the day and cahill and iso spinners in the evening. Be ready when darkness falls.
Dave with a West Branch brown on a sunny day. Photo by Jared Makowski.
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 | 1,280 cfs | 56° |
| West Branch at Hale Eddy, NY | 1,440 cfs | 56° |
| East Branch at Harvard, NY | 103 cfs | 55° |
| East Branch at Fish’s Eddy, NY | 144 cfs | 61° |
| Mainstem at Lordville, NY | 1,550 cfs | 61° |
| Beaverkill at Cooks Falls, NY | 66 cfs | N/A |
| Cannonsville Reservoir Release | 1,259 cfs | |
| West Branch at 191 Bridge | N/A | 56° |
| West Branch at Walton (Cannonsville inflow) | 50 cfs | |
| Cannonsville Reservoir Capacity | 59% | |
| Pepacton Reservoir Capacity | 76.6% |
Delaware River Report / Conditions September 24, 2015
The release on the West Branch has been increased this morning. This is another day it would be better for the system if NYC DEP would release the extra water needed for the down stream flow targets from the Pepacton Reservoir. We are coming off another cool night but the daytime temperatures are warming up a bit with highs expected in the mid to high 70’s today. We should be mostly sunny with winds only gusting to 7 mph. Sounds like a pleasant Fall day ahead of us. We should see olives mixed with a few sulphurs in the evening. It seems like a good forecast for a spinner fall this evening so if you are out on the water at dark bring your isonychia and cahill spinners.
Patrick with a nice start to Fall. 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 | 1,280 cfs | 56° |
| West Branch at Hale Eddy, NY | 1,370 cfs | 55° |
| East Branch at Harvard, NY | 103 cfs | 53° |
| East Branch at Fish’s Eddy, NY | 146 cfs | 59° |
| Mainstem at Lordville, NY | 1,390 cfs | 59° |
| Beaverkill at Cooks Falls, NY | 68 cfs | N/A |
| Cannonsville Reservoir Release | 1,300 cfs | |
| West Branch at 191 Bridge | N/A | 55° |
| West Branch at Walton (Cannonsville inflow) | 53 cfs | |
| Cannonsville Reservoir Capacity | 63% | |
| Pepacton Reservoir Capacity | 78.6% |
Delaware River Report / Conditions September 23, 2015
The sun didn’t make things easy yesterday but some people did find success. Streamers have been moving some fish on the West Branch. We have that Fall chalky color in the river right now making the fish feel a little safer in the sunshine. If you find them chasing but not committing try dropping down a fly size or two. Nymphing has been productive in certain areas- look for edges and drop offs in water knee deep or less. Olives are the main hatch right now. We are still seeing some tricos but fewer and fewer each day. Today should be another great Fall day with air temperatures approaching 75 degrees and some sunshine. The cool nights will continue to be in the 40’s which is great news for the lower rivers in the system.
Fred with a nice fish 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 | 1,130 cfs | 55° |
| West Branch at Hale Eddy, NY | 1,240 cfs |
55° |
| East Branch at Harvard, NY | 105 cfs | 51° |
| East Branch at Fish’s Eddy, NY | 148 cfs | 57° |
| Mainstem at Lordville, NY | 1,400 cfs |
58° |
| Beaverkill at Cooks Falls, NY | 69 cfs | N/A |
| Cannonsville Reservoir Release | 1,114 cfs | |
| West Branch at 191 Bridge | N/A | 54° |
| West Branch at Walton (Cannonsville inflow) | 55 cfs | |
| Cannonsville Reservoir Capacity | 60.4% | |
| Pepacton Reservoir Capacity | 77.3% |
Delaware River Report / Conditions September 22, 2015
The system seems to be in the same shape today as yesterday morning with a slight drop in water temperature. We had another cool night that really felt like Fall. There was some hatching during the day yesterday but it seemed scattered and light. Olives are still making up the bulk of the mayflies hatching but we have seen some oddball sulphurs still out there. The cooler weather should bring the fall isonychias and heptagenia flies. We have noticed an increase in caddis activity – definitely a sign of Fall!
Jonathan watching the slick for a nose. Photo by Fred Nelson
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 | 1,130 cfs | 55° |
| West Branch at Hale Eddy, NY | 1,250 cfs |
54° |
| East Branch at Harvard, NY | 108 cfs | 53° |
| East Branch at Fish’s Eddy, NY | 156 cfs | 59° |
| Mainstem at Lordville, NY | 1,320 cfs |
59° |
| Beaverkill at Cooks Falls, NY | 71 cfs | N/A |
| Cannonsville Reservoir Release | 1,114 cfs | |
| West Branch at 191 Bridge | N/A | 57° |
| West Branch at Walton (Cannonsville inflow) | 60 cfs | |
| Cannonsville Reservoir Capacity | 61.1% | |
| Pepacton Reservoir Capacity | 77.6% |
Delaware River Report / Conditions September 21, 2015
The cooler weather has helped drop the water temperatures and we are looking pretty good this morning. The Cannonsville release was increased slightly to 1,114 cfs so basically no change from yesterday. Accuweather was incorrect and instead of cloud cover we had a decent amount of sun for most of the day. The hatching definitely improved from Saturday and we saw decent numbers of olives (#16 -26) in the evening. We saw a number of isonychia and cahill spinners right before dark. The isonychias went back to the trees but enough cahills hit the water to get the fish interested. Our cool weather should continue today with highs close to 70 with light winds from the east.
Bruce Miler enjoying the Fall weather
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 | 1,150 cfs | 55° |
| West Branch at Hale Eddy, NY | 1,230 cfs |
53° |
| East Branch at Harvard, NY | 108 cfs | 55° |
| East Branch at Fish’s Eddy, NY | 156 cfs | 61° |
| Mainstem at Lordville, NY | 1,320 cfs |
59° |
| Beaverkill at Cooks Falls, NY | 74 cfs | N/A |
| Cannonsville Reservoir Release | 1,114 cfs | |
| West Branch at 191 Bridge | N/A | 53° |
| West Branch at Walton (Cannonsville inflow) | 62 cfs | |
| Cannonsville Reservoir Capacity | 63% | |
| Pepacton Reservoir Capacity | 78.6% |
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. 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
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
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
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% |
