June 24, 2013

Delaware River Report / Conditions June 24, 2013

That was more like it! Great hatches of sulphurs and isos popping off throughout the day yesterday, and some of the happiest fish we’ve seen in the last few days, and very few people on the river to boot. Water temps are great, and it looks like the fish have acclimated to the new levels. Today appears to be similar in nature to yesterday, with the air temps more towards the high 70s, low 80s, and some possible storms rolling through in the afternoon, so it should be another good one out there!

Bernie Halderman holds a nice mid-day brown! Photo: Bruce Miller

What’s Hatching:

Isonychia bicolor – Iso – Slate Drake – #12-2XL

Hydropysche species – Tan Caddis – #16 & #18

Chimarra species – Charcoal Caddis – #16 & #18

Stenonema species – Various Light Cahills – #14

Pseudocloeon species – BWO – #22 – sporadic

Ephemerella invaria– Sulphurs – #14

Ephemerella dorthea – Sulphurs – #16

Current Flow Conditions:

June 23, 2013

Delaware River Report / Conditions June 23, 2013

Well the spill is over, and we are now down to our basic release of about 600 cfs. Great news for all of you waders who have been chomping at the bit to hit the water, but it definitely limits the amount of cold water miles we have to fish. The West Branch will shortly become the only game in town – in other words, summer is truly here! That being said, 600 is a good number, and will keep the water cold all the way into Junction Pool, and should definitely start our sulphurs popping up in Deposit during the mid-day hours. They were out yesterday, but the fish were not overly active, likely a result of the water levels dropping, giving them a bit of a shock to the system. Now that we have stabilized, I would expect that they will be up and at it again for sure!

Bob Lewis holds a MONSTER Rainbow – almost looks like a steelhead! Photo: Steve Shen

What’s Hatching:

Isonychia bicolor – Iso – Slate Drake – #12-2XL

Hydropysche species – Tan Caddis – #16 & #18

Chimarra species – Charcoal Caddis – #16 & #18

Stenonema species – Various Light Cahills – #14

Pseudocloeon species – BWO – #22 – sporadic

Ephemerella invaria– Sulphurs – #14

Ephemerella dorthea – Sulphurs – #16

Current Flow Conditions:

June 22, 2013

Delaware River Report / Conditions June 22, 2013

Welcome to the second day of summer! Yesterday we had some unexpected cloud cover show up early in the afternoon, which made for some happy bugs, and hungry fish. No complaints at all there! The hatching did slow down latre on in the afternoon, but picked back up as the day progresed. The fish were a bti skittish with the clear skies, but plenty were also taken tossing streamers. As for today, it looks like our spill has finally stopped over the top of Cannonsville, and our release is down to 1,000 cfs. This will produce cool, super clear water, and hopefully jump start our sulphurs up in the No-Kill section. We will continue to have cold water down here as well, but I would not anticipate seeing tons of bugs until later 0n, once the sun has dropped.

Frank Audino holds a nice, fat alewife-fed brown! Photo: Bob Lewis

What’s Hatching:

Isonychia bicolor – Iso – Slate Drake – #12-2XL

Hydropysche species – Tan Caddis – #16 & #18

Chimarra species – Charcoal Caddis – #16 & #18

Stenonema species – Various Light Cahills – #14

Pseudocloeon species – BWO – #22 – sporadic

Ephemerella invaria– Sulphurs – #14

Ephemerella dorthea – Sulphurs – #16

Current Flow Conditions:

June 21, 2013

Delaware River Report / Conditions June 21, 2013

Bright sun yesterday – lots of it. This definitely slowed the hatching down a bit until evening, but the sulphurs and isos were definitely out and about towards evening, and the fish decided it was time to eat just as soon as they started to come out! Today it looks like the spill over the top of the reservoir has stopped, so our flow right now is completely  release water, meaning it is cold and clear, all the way down the West Branch. We have some clouds predicted today, so it looks like we’ll have a pretty similar day today. On another positive note, looking out over Home Pool this morning Jeff and I just saw our first cloud of Tricos for the season. Always a good sight – we’ll keep you posted!

Hello Iso! Photo: Jeff White

What’s Hatching:

Isonychia bicolor – Iso – Slate Drake – #12-2XL

Hydropysche species – Tan Caddis – #16 & #18

Chimarra species – Charcoal Caddis – #16 & #18

Stenonema species – Various Light Cahills – #14

Pseudocloeon species – BWO – #22 – sporadic

Ephemerella invaria– Sulphurs – #14

Ephemerella dorthea – Sulphurs – #16

Current Flow Conditions:

June 20, 2013

Delaware River Report / Conditions June 20, 2013

Wednesday sure felt like summer up here in the Catskills! Bright sun, perfect humidity and temp. Well, once again not the “perfect” that we trout folk love. That being said, the water was cool and clear, and on the West we had some pretty decent hatching once the sun started to drop behind the hills, mostly Dortheas and Isos, with the occasional larger light Cahill thrown in for good measure. We did have some steno spinners on the shop wall this morning, so there is still good chance for a fall tonight. We are looking at a carbon-copy or yesterday for today, so I would expect the river to fish the same – decent in the morning, followed by an OK streamer bite, and then good hatching again in the evening. If we do see a bit more cloud cover (which there is a chance of), then we’ll be in good shape.

Jim Swift Jr. with a West Branch brown taken on a streamer. Photo: Jim Swift III

What’s Hatching:

Isonychia bicolor – Iso – Slate Drake – #12-2XL

Hydropysche species – Tan Caddis – #16 & #18

Chimarra species – Charcoal Caddis – #16 & #18

Stenonema species – Various Light Cahills – #14

Pseudocloeon species – BWO – #22 – sporadic

Ephemerella invaria– Sulphurs – #14

Ephemerella dorthea – Sulphurs – #16

Current Flow Conditions:

June 19, 2013

Delaware River Report / Conditions June 19, 2013

The cloud cover yesterday did wonders for the dry fly fishing! Up river on the West Branch (Deposit down) had great hatches of both Isos and Dorthea throughout the day, with some really nice fish taken. There was hatching down below Hale Eddy, but it was definitely more sporadic until we got closer to dark, which then saw a little bit of bug soup with Cahills and BWOs thrown in the mix. If you could find the fish, they were looking for them! Otherwise, the streamer bite was definitely still in effect as well, up and down the river with Alewives still coming in from Cannonsville. Today we’re looking at a beautiful (for the non-fishing world) day, with temps in the low 70s and mostly sunny skies. This will likely depress our dry fly action until later in the day, and may slow the streamer activity down a little, but once the sun starts to head down, it is going to be great out there!

David Bender with a GREAT West Branch Brown taken yesterday. Photo: Jeff White

What’s Hatching:

Isonychia bicolor – Iso – Slate Drake – #12-2XL

Hydropysche species – Tan Caddis – #16 & #18

Chimarra species – Charcoal Caddis – #16 & #18

Stenonema species – Various Light Cahills – #14

Pseudocloeon species – BWO – #22 – sporadic

Ephemerella invaria– Sulphurs – #14

Ephemerella dorthea – Sulphurs – #16

Current Flow Conditions:

June 18, 2013

Delaware River Report / Conditions June 18, 2013

The streamer bite was definitely in full-swing yesterday, so long as the clouds were passing overhead. During the sunny part of the day, the fish were a little less eager, but could still be had. There were also good flushes of Isos during the day, and if you were lucky enough to find them, good fish were feeding with reckless abandon! While there were good flushes of sulphurs in the evening, the fish did not seem to key in on them, preferring to keep munching on nice, big Alewives floating down the river! The release from Cannonsville is also up to 1,500 cfs, so our water will definitely be cool for the foreseeable future, and spillage should last for several more days.

Chris Fielding with her big boy from the weekend! Photo: Steve Shen

What’s Hatching:

Isonychia bicolor – Iso – Slate Drake – #12-2XL

Hydropysche species – Tan Caddis – #16 & #18

Chimarra species – Charcoal Caddis – #16 & #18

Epeorus vitreus – PED, Pink Lady – #14

Pseudocloeon species – BWO – #22 – sporadic

Ephemerella invaria– Sulphurs – #14

Ephemerella dorthea – Sulphurs – #16

Current Flow Conditions:

June 17, 2013

Delaware River Report / Conditions June 17, 2013

Despite the great cloud cover yesterday, the bugs just did not materialize as we expected them to. There was a flurry around 6PM, but otherwise the fish were content to EAT ALEWIVES ON TOP. Yes, you read that right, we had dead alewives on the surface, and you would see fish exploding on them almost all day. A quick retrieve with a white or grey streamer was the ticket, as evidenced by George’s photo below. So from that end, it was amazing out there. Today we are looking at a warmer version of yesterday, possibly with some more sunshine and a t-storm thrown in for good measure. We’ll see what actually materializes.

George Fielding landed this 24″ beauty yesterday! Photo: Christine Fielding

What’s Hatching:

Isonychia bicolor – Iso – Slate Drake – #12-2XL

Hydropysche species – Tan Caddis – #16 & #18

Chimarra species – Charcoal Caddis – #16 & #18

Epeorus vitreus – PED, Pink Lady – #14

Pseudocloeon species – BWO – #22 – sporadic

Ephemerella invaria– Sulphurs – #14

Ephemerella dorthea – Sulphurs – #16

Current Flow Conditions:

June 16, 2013

Delaware River Report / Conditions June 16, 2013

Steady, high flows. Who can believe that we are actually in mid-June? And yesterday, it produced some absolutely epic streamer fishing, even in the bright sun! With a big flush of Alewives flowing through the system, the fish definitely took advantage. The good news is that we had dry fly activity as well, but only right towards dark – not exactly surprising with the bright sunshine we had throughout the day. Today, we’ve got scattered clouds and the occasional thunderstorm on the horizon, so we could see bugs during those breaks from the sun. The fish are there, and even though we remain high, they are eager to feed!

Pete Farrell with a beauty of Brown! Photo: Bruce Miller

What’s Hatching:

Isonychia bicolor – Iso – Slate Drake – #12-2XL

Hydropysche species – Tan Caddis – #16 & #18

Chimarra species – Charcoal Caddis – #16 & #18

Epeorus vitreus – PED, Pink Lady – #14

Pseudocloeon species – BWO – #22 – sporadic

Ephemerella invaria– Sulphurs – #14

Ephemerella dorthea – Sulphurs – #16

Current Flow Conditions:

June 15, 2013

Delaware River Report / Conditions June 15, 2013

As we thought yesterday, the water definitely cleared up, but certainly did not drop significantly. The West Branch at Hale has been holding steady around 3,000 cfs since yesterday morning, and looks to be doing the same for the day today. The amount of water coming over the dam is gradually increasing as the big push from Walton makes its way down. This will settle as the weekend progresses, and we will start to see the flow decrease in a more normal manner. That being said, if you have a boat, now is a GREAT time to head out with streamers. It was a pretty decent day out on the West yesterday, and with the clarity improving, it can only get better today.

Let ’em go to catch them again! Photo: Jeff White

What’s Hatching:

Isonychia bicolor – Iso – Slate Drake – #12-2XL

Stenonema fuscum – Grey Fox – #12-2xl – sporadic

Hydropysche species – Tan Caddis – #16 & #18

Chimarra species – Charcoal Caddis – #16 & #18

Epeorus vitreus – PED, Pink Lady – #14

Pseudocloeon species – BWO – #22 – sporadic

Ephemerella invaria– Sulphurs – #14

Ephemerella dorthea – Sulphurs – #16

Current Flow Conditions:

June 14, 2013

Father’s Day Special Extended!

For those who missed the email blast last week (first, shame on you if you aren’t on our list – sign up at the bottom of this page!), we were offering a 15% discount on rooms and float trips this weekend for any father / child or grandfather / grandchild pairing. Since we will be pretty much blown out for the weekend, we are extending the promotion through next weekend. We love seeing family fish, so give us a call to take advantage!

Paul and Samantha Chain show off a nice MS Brown. Photo: Jeff White

June 13, 2013

Delaware River Report / Conditions June 13, 2013

Hello wind! It has (fortunately) been awhile! With the fronts moving in from the West yesterday, we saw some pretty constant breezes throughout the day, making casting tough at times. When the wind did calm down, there were flurries of bugs upstream (Hale Eddy up) starting mid-afternoon, and decent evening time hatches pretty much as expected on the lower river once the sun started to set. The news of the day is rain. The forecast is constantly changing, so give us a call in the shop for up-to-the-minute reports. As of this morning, the East and Main are still very high, and the West is in great shape. Obviously, this could change at a moment’s notice, so be ready!

Kristin White with an awesome Main Stem Rainbow! Photo: Jeff White

What’s Hatching:

Isonychia bicolor – Iso – Slate Drake – #12-2XL

Stenonema fuscum – Grey Fox – #12-2xl – sporadic

Hydropysche species – Tan Caddis – #16 & #18

Chimarra species – Charcoal Caddis – #16 & #18

Epeorus vitreus – PED, Pink Lady – #14

Pseudocloeon species – BWO – #22 – sporadic

Ephemerella invaria– Sulphurs – #14

Ephemerella dorthea – Sulphurs – #16

Current Flow Conditions: