Man, what a night – Tornado warnings, insane winds and some of the loudest thunder claps we have ever heard – and remember we now have a Texan in the shop! Our weather may in fact be bigger – who knows? But, with all that bluster and driving rain, the rivers made it through remarkably well, with barely a bump in the flows, keeping the levels great for boats, and decent for wading. We had bug soup on the water again, with several different kinds of Stenos, the occasional Hendrickson spinner, tan caddis, and a few sulphur / light cahills in the mix.

Guide Wiley Paul holds Tony May's awesome WB Brown. Photo by: Tony May

Hatches:

Ephemerella Subvaria (Hendrickson) – #14

Emphemerella “x” (Dark Hendrickson) #16 (slowly fading)

Brachycentrus sp. (Apple Green Caddis)- #16 – #18

Brachycentrus sp. (Dark Grannom) #16- #18

Stenonema vicarium – March Brown- #10-2xl

Stenonema fuscum – Grey Fox #12-2xl

Ephemerella dorothea – Sulphur- #16/18/20

Pseudocloeon - Little BWO’s- #22-#26

Sorry for the delay, running late this morning! The bright sun and warm temperatures did not deter the bugs from hatching yesterday – March Browns, Dortheas, Grey Fox, Tan Caddis, even Hendrickson spinners and pseudos were in attendance! Today looks to be similar, with the chance of a heavy thunderstorm late in the day- the pressure drop and cloud cover should encourage even more activity – looks like a great day on the water!

Hatches:

Ephemerella Subvaria (Hendrickson) – #14

Emphemerella “x” (Dark Hendrickson) #16 (slowly fading)

Brachycentrus sp. (Apple Green Caddis)- #16 – #18

Brachycentrus sp. (Dark Grannom) #16- #18

Stenonema vicarium – March Brown- #10-2xl

Stenonema fuscum – Grey Fox #12-2xl

Ephemerella dorothea – Sulfur- #16/18/20

Pseudocloeon - Little BWO’s- #22-#26

March Browns!!!!                    Now that I have your attention…..bright sun and warm temps today, but the rivers are still high and cold, which should yield a great late afternoon-evening of fishing today. The big bugs will be popping throughout the day sporadically, and fish may be found as a result!

Jim Rogers with a WB Brown Photo by Mike Rogers

Ephemerella Subvaria (Hendrickson) – #14

Emphemerella “x” (Dark Hendrickson) #16 (slowly fading)

Brachycentrus sp. (Apple Green Caddis)- #16 – #18

Brachycentrus sp. (Dark Grannom) #16- #18

Stenonema Vicarium – March Brown- #10-2xl

Stenonema Fuscum – Grey Fox #12-2xl

Ephemerella Dorothea – Sulfur- #16/18/20

Pseudos- Little BWO’s- #22-#26

Misty with a bit of fog here at the club this morning -great for river temps! The West Branch has stabilized and is dropping slightly, whilst the East Branch / Beaverkill system appears to have caught a bit of the precipitation that came to the area last night. We are anticipating a bit more rain, which will not (fingers crossed) significantly affect our flows. Give us a call if you need up-to-the-minute reports!

Marc DeJong of the Sporting Gentlemen with a fine specimen. Photo by: Steve Shen

Hatches:

Stenonema vicarium (March Brown) – #10-2XL (sporadic, but fish finding them)

Emphermerella subvaria (Light and Dark Hendricksons) #12 -14 (slowly fading)

Paraleptophelbia adoptiva (blue quill)- #16 – #18

Epeorus pluralis (Quill Gordon) #14

Brachycentrus sp. – Apple Green Caddis #16

Chimarra sp – Little black Caddis #16-18

Baetis vagans – blue winged olives #16-18 (ending soon)

The river is still high, unsafe to wade in most places, but the water is clear, and rising fish could be found throughout the system in the slack water. Streamer fishing was definitely the ticket yesterday, and many fish were moved close the the banks and off any structure one could find. Should be a carbon-copy today.

Also, we’d like to welcome David Burgher to the club as one of our 2011 interns. Just because he felt like showing all previous interns up, he shut off his car, marched down to home pool, and proceeded to catch an awesome brown on a brown Cheech Leech. 5 Damn minutes after he got here. Over achieving already. We’ll fix that.

New Intern David Burgher with his first Delaware Trout! Caught 5 minutes after arriving. You have to be kidding! Photo by: David Burgher

Hatches:

Stenonema vicarium (March Brown) – #10-2XL (sporadic, but fish finding them)

Emphermerella subvaria (Light and Dark Hendricksons) #12 -14 (slowly fading)

Paraleptophelbia adoptiva (blue quill)- #16 – #18

Epeorus pluralis (Quill Gordon) #14

Brachycentrus sp. – Apple Green Caddis #16

Chimarra sp – Little black Caddis #16-18

Baetis vagans – blue winged olives #16-18 (ending soon)

It is starting to feel like late April all over again – the water is high but clear, streamers are working, and fish feeding on dry flies can be found as well – great fishing if you have a boat! Still too big for wade fishing, unfortunately, but for those with watercraft (or going out with a guide) the rivers are fishing great, and should continue to do so!

Bruce Miller, One-Bug Guide of the Year with a nice brown caught on his day off. Photo by: Nate Eckhaus

Emphermerella subvaria (Light and Dark Hendricksons) #12 -14

Paraleptophelbia adoptiva (blue quill)- #16 – #18

Epeorus pluralis (Quill Gordon) #14

Brachycentrus sp. – Apple Green Caddis #16

Chimarra sp – Little black Caddis #16-18

Baetis vagans – blue winged olives #16-18 (ending soon)

HOLY $&#%!!! That’s what all of us said this morning after taking a look at the river. We have an estimated flow out front of our shop around 9 to 10,000 CFS, while Hale Eddy is at 5,520 CFS, meaning the feeder streams are just raging – pumping about 6,000 CFS into the West Branch between Deposit and Home Pool. The water looks like Nestle Quik, but is dropping rapidly. Needless to say, wading is completely impossible throughout the system. We are hoping to see it drop significantly throughout the day today. Feel free to give the shop a call to get the most up-to-date reports. All that we’ll be doing is staring at the torrent out side.

Emphermerella subvaria (Light and Dark Hendricksons) #12 -14

Paraleptophelbia adoptiva (blue quill)- #16 – #18

Epeorus pluralis (Quill Gordon) #14

Brachycentrus sp. – Apple Green Caddis #16

Chimarra sp – Little black Caddis #16-18

Baetis vagans – blue winged olives #16-18 (ending soon)

Here we go again – the torrential rains last night and this morning have brought the West Branch up over 3,000 cfs this morning. It appears to have crested, and on the way down. Clarity is an issue, and the river is definitely UNSAFE for wading of any kind. The levels will continue to drop, and we will get back to fishable levels soon.

Emphermerella subvaria (Light and Dark Hendricksons) #12 -14

Paraleptophelbia adoptiva (blue quill)- #16 – #18

Epeorus pluralis (Quill Gordon) #14

Brachycentrus sp. – Apple Green Caddis #16

Chimarra sp – Little black Caddis #16-18

Baetis vagans – blue winged olives #16-18 (ending soon)

Apologies on the late update – ’twas a bit crazy getting the guides on the water today! The rain yesterday was quite torrential in places, evident in the HUGE surge of water in the Beaverkill/East Branch system. This has raised both to un-wadable levels, and also muddied up the Main Stem a bit. Fortunately, the West Branch only saw a small bump, and should continue to fish well, as it has for the past week. Walton had a big spike, so we anticipate the West Branch rising a bit more (600 cfs) after the “wave” comes over top of the dam, sometime tonight. This water should be gin-clear, so fishing will not be greatly affected.

Emphermerella subvaria (Light and Dark Hendricksons) #12 -14

Paraleptophelbia adoptiva (blue quill)- #16 – #18

Epeorus pluralis (Quill Gordon) #14

Brachycentrus sp. – Apple Green Caddis #16

Chimarra sp – Little black Caddis #16-18

Baetis vagans – blue winged olives #16-18 (ending soon)

We still have Hendricksons on the West Branch- lots of fish rising yesterday afternoon.  So far most of the predicted rain has missed us leaving the rivers in great shape.  There are a few March Browns coming off, with some fish eating them once in a while.  Caddis have been great in the morning.

Emphermerella subvaria (Light and Dark Hendricksons) #12 -14

Stenonema vicarium (March Brown) #10 -2XL

Epeorus pluralis (Quill Gordon) #14

Brachycentrus sp. – Apple Green Caddis #16

Dark Btachycentrus sp. – Charcoal  Caddis #16-18

Baetis vagans – blue winged olives #16-18

The wet, misty weather continues, and the bugs(and fish!) are taking full advanatge of these optimal hatching conditions! The West Branch fished exceptionally well yesterday, with the only snag being that the fish are extra spooky, due to the pressure they have been under – make that first cast count! Hendricksons are still hatching, and some March Browns have been reported on the Main Stem – we will let you know when the are in full swing. Otherwise, be ready for a spinner fall anytime during the day, as well as hatching and egg-laying caddis.

Emphermerella subvaria (Light and Dark Hendricksons) #12 -14

Paraleptophelbia adoptiva (blue quill)- #16 – #18

Epeorus pluralis (Quill Gordon) #14

Brachycentrus sp. – Apple Green Caddis #16

Chimarra sp – Little black Caddis #16-18

Baetis vagans – blue winged olives #16-18

What a day yesterday! Spinners were falling at various times in the afternoon, hendricksons were still hatching on the West Branch, and the caddis were out, yeilding splashy rises from fish in and out of the riffles! Today is a carbon-copy day weather-wise, so we are hoping (fingers are crossed here) to have a similar day today. Give us a call if you have any questions or to book your trip!

Emphermerella subvaria (Light and Dark Hendricksons) #12 -14

Paraleptophelbia adoptiva (blue quill)- #16 – #18

Epeorus pluralis (Quill Gordon) #14

Brachycentrus sp. – Apple Green Caddis #16

Chimarra sp – Little black Caddis #16-18

Baetis vagans – blue winged olives #16-18