October 18, 2016

Delaware River Report / Conditions October 18, 2016

The release from Cannonsville is 1,028 cfs this morning.  The flow release from Pepacton has been raised this morning and the flow at Downsville is 259 cfs.  It’s nice to see a little more of the East Branch river bottom covered in water.  Yesterday looked like it would fish well and it did.  Streamers worked well and we did see some fish eating little olives mixed with isonychias.  The cloud cover really helped the fishing.  There are still a lot of caddis around but the fish still seem to be eating most of them under the surface.  Things are looking good with at least partly cloudy weather in the forecast through Sunday morning.  Thursday and Friday look like the best days for rain.

It’s good to see some water flowing down the East Branch

Hatching:
Slate Drake – #12 – 14- Isonychia bicolor
Olive Sulphur – #18 – 20– Heptagenia hebe
Tiny Blue Winged Olive – #22 – 26 – Psuedocloeon spp.
Blue Winged Olive – #18 – 20 – E. lata
Tan Caddis – #16 – 20 – Hydropsyche spp.
Dark Brachycentrus sp. – #14 – 18 – Dark Grannom
Blue Winged Olives #16 – 18 – Baetis vagans (updated name: Baetis tricaudatus)

October 17, 2016

Delaware River Report / Conditions October 17, 2016

The release from Cannonsville is 1,140 cfs this morning.  The East Branch is still low.  Water temperatures are up a bit on the West Branch.  The release is now coming from a warmer level in the reservoir and we are coming off a much warmer night.  Temps still look good overall throughout the system.  The fish were eating streamers well yesterday.  There is that chalky color to the West Branch from the release that makes the fish fell more comfortable during the daylight.  We are in for quite a warm up over the next few days with air temperatures in the 70’s.  We’ll have clouds today and maybe a little light rain.  It looks like another good fishing day ahead of us.

Tim and Peter with a double yesterday. Photo by Bruce Miller

Hatching:
Slate Drake – #12 – 14- Isonychia bicolor
Olive Sulphur – #18 – 20– Heptagenia hebe
Tiny Blue Winged Olive – #22 – 26 – Psuedocloeon spp.
Blue Winged Olive – #18 – 20 – E. lata
Tan Caddis – #16 – 20 – Hydropsyche spp.
Dark Brachycentrus sp. – #14 – 18 – Dark Grannom
Blue Winged Olives #16 – 18 – Baetis vagans (updated name: Baetis tricaudatus)

October 16, 2016

Delaware River Report / Conditions October 16, 2016

The release from Cannonsville is 1,134 cfs.  It’s almost like someone forgot to change the release up or down last night.  The steady flow should make the fishing a little better today since the fish should be settled into their new homes.  Streamers were the best bet on the West Branch yesterday.  Some of the fish were eating while a lot of them were simply chasing the streamers and not opening their mouths.  This is pretty common on the first day of a major flow change.  Today we should find more fish willing to eat.  There were some olives in the afternoon in some areas.  The West Branch is still okay for wading in certain areas while the Mainstem is fine throughout it’s length.  The East Branch is still ridiculously low because DEP will not split the Cannonsville release with Pepacton.  Poor river management for the rivers and people below the dams.

Hatching:
Slate Drake – #12 – 14- Isonychia bicolor
Olive Sulphur – #18 – 20– Heptagenia hebe
Tiny Blue Winged Olive – #22 – 26 – Psuedocloeon spp.
Blue Winged Olive – #18 – 20 – E. lata
Tan Caddis – #16 – 20 – Hydropsyche spp.
Dark Brachycentrus sp. – #14 – 18 – Dark Grannom
Blue Winged Olives #16 – 18 – Baetis vagans (updated name: Baetis tricaudatus)

October 15, 2016

Delaware River Report / Conditions October 15, 2016

The release from Cannonsville was increased to 1,687 cfs overnight.  It is dropping this morning on the following schedule:

1,587 cfs 1:30 am
1,486 cfs 2:30 am
1,386 cfs 3:30 am
1,286 cfs 4:30 am
1,185 cfs 5:30 am
1,151 cfs 6:30 am until further notice

So we started yesterday morning at 280 cfs.  The release was increased to 1,687 cfs.  Now we are dropping back to 1,151 cfs.  I don’t see how anyone could justify these extreme release fluctuations as being good for the river system or how NYC DEP is a “Good Neighbor” to the downstream users as reported in a press release earlier in the season.  The East Branch is still bone dry.  It appears Lake Wallenpaupack is done releasing for a while so we should have higher releases for a while.  It would be nice to see these releases split between Cannonsville and Pepacton but that would be asking too much of our “Good Neighbors”

This looks like it could be a good streamer day on the West Branch.  We’ve been seeing decent olives on some afternoons mixed with a few cahills and isonychias.  There are caddis around but most of them seem to be being eaten under the surface either rising pupa or diving egg laying adults.

Hatching:
Slate Drake – #12 – 14- Isonychia bicolor
Olive Sulphur – #18 – 20– Heptagenia hebe
Tiny Blue Winged Olive – #22 – 26 – Psuedocloeon spp.
Blue Winged Olive – #18 – 20 – E. lata
Tan Caddis – #16 – 20 – Hydropsyche spp.
Dark Brachycentrus sp. – #14 – 18 – Dark Grannom
Blue Winged Olives #16 – 18 – Baetis vagans (updated name: Baetis tricaudatus)

October 14, 2016

Delaware River Report / Conditions October 14, 2016 Mid- Day Update

Update:  The insanity continues.  The release from Cannonsville will be raised today beginning at 9 am (after being dropped last night).  Despite press releases about  “good neighbors”There is absolutely no consideration given for the down stream users or the river habitat below the dam.  And the East Branch is still starving for water with Pepacton at 68.6% capacity.

Here is today’s release schedule:
9 am = 288 cfs
9:30 am = 380 cfs
10:30 am = 480 cfs
11:30 am = 582 cfs
12:30 am = 682 cfs
1:30 pm = 783 cfs2:30 pm = 883 cfs
3:30 pm = 984 cfs
4:30 pm = 1,085 cfs until further notice

Earlier

After increasing the Cannonsville release slightly over the last few days it has now been cut back to 280 cfs this morning.  The flow at Hale Eddy is 359 and dropping this morning but should level off by mid morning.  The Upper Delaware Wild and Scenic Creek flow at Lordville will fall and level out later in the day.  Once they are done dropping Lake Wallenpaupack and get past the whitewater releases from Rio Reservoir we expect the release up here to increase.  Hopefully that happens soon so the Mainstem riverbed will actually be covered with water.

Temperatures are not an issue and we are coming off a cool night that was down in the 30’s.  The river did fish well yesterday with decent olive hatches in the afternoon.  Definitely carry isonychias, cahill spinners, and caddis patterns too.  Nymphing and swinging wet flies should work well until the afternoon hatches begin.  Today should be clear with winds below 10 mph.  The air temps will be in the upper 50’s.

Yo Yo

Hatching:
Slate Drake – #12 – 14- Isonychia bicolor
Olive Sulphur – #18 – 20– Heptagenia hebe
Tiny Blue Winged Olive – #22 – 26 – Psuedocloeon spp.
Blue Winged Olive – #18 – 20 – E. lata
Tan Caddis – #16 – 20 – Hydropsyche spp.
Dark Brachycentrus sp. – #14 – 18 – Dark Grannom
Little Black Caddis #18 – 20 – Chimarra sp.
Blue Winged Olives #16 – 18 – Baetis vagans (updated name: Baetis tricaudatus)

October 13, 2016

Delaware River Report / Conditions October 13, 2016

The release from Cannonsville has been bumped up slightly to 381 cfs this morning.  Hopefully Lake Wallenpaupack is getting low enough they will cut the discharge to the Lackawaxen river and use a combination of Pepacton and Cannonsville to meet the downstream flow targets.  We still have a decent chance to for some showers today but the amount of precipitation looks lower than originally predicted.  Weatherunderground is now calling for .04″ rather than 1/4″.  Some of the rain may be in isolated cells so hopefully one sits on us for a while.  Winds will be around 10 mph today with cloud cover.  We are still seeing most of the fish eating under the surface but some river sections had decent heptagenia hatches yesterday mixed with the olives.

Hopefully these crazy releases from Lake Wallenpaupack end soon

Hatching:
Slate Drake – #12 – 14- Isonychia bicolor
Olive Sulphur – #18 – 20– Heptagenia hebe
Tiny Blue Winged Olive – #22 – 26 – Psuedocloeon spp.
Blue Winged Olive – #18 – 20 – E. lata
Tan Caddis – #16 – 20 – Hydropsyche spp.
Dark Brachycentrus sp. – #14 – 18 – Dark Grannom
Little Black Caddis #18 – 20 – Chimarra sp.
Blue Winged Olives #16 – 18 – Baetis vagans (updated name: Baetis tricaudatus)

October 12, 2016

Delaware River Report / Conditions October 12, 2016

The release from Cannonsville has been raised to 326 cfs this morning.  Yesterday fished better with a nice hatch of small olives, caddis, and isonychias.  Nymphing and swinging wets is still the most productive method but there were enough fish feeding on the surface to make it interesting.  Today’s weather looks similar to yesterday with winds under 10 mph, sun, and air temperatures in the mid 60’s.  We have a decent chance of receiving 1/4″ of rain tomorrow but most of that will soak into the ground.

Hatching:
Slate Drake – #12 – 14- Isonychia bicolor
Olive Sulphur – #18 – 20– Heptagenia hebe
Tiny Blue Winged Olive – #22 – 26 – Psuedocloeon spp.
Blue Winged Olive – #18 – 20 – E. lata
Tan Caddis – #16 – 20 – Hydropsyche spp.
Dark Brachycentrus sp. – #14 – 18 – Dark Grannom
Little Black Caddis #18 – 20 – Chimarra sp.
Blue Winged Olives #16 – 18 – Baetis vagans (updated name: Baetis tricaudatus)

October 11, 2016

Delaware River Report / Conditions October 11, 2016

The Upper Delaware Wild and Scenic Creek is still low this morning with a flow of 406 cfs at Lordville.  The release from Cannonsville has been raised to 244 cfs this morning so we will se a very, very small bump in flows on the West Branch and Mainstem.  Very small.  We will have to live with this until they stop dropping the level of Lake Wallenpaupack.  Luckily we have had some very cool nights with a little frost so water temperatures are in great shape.  The wind made dry fly fishing tough yesterday but some fish were caught on top.  Blind fishing isonychias in the riffles seemed to be the best bet for surface action.  Nymphing and swinging wets are still the most effective methods.  We are seeing decent numbers of heptagenia and caddis mixed in with the olives.  The wind forecast looks better today with gusts staying under 10 mph.

Dan with a dry fly caught rainbow yesterday. Photo by Jared Makowski

Hatching:
Slate Drake – #12 – 14- Isonychia bicolor
Olive Sulphur – #18 – 20– Heptagenia hebe
Tiny Blue Winged Olive – #22 – 26 – Psuedocloeon spp.
Blue Winged Olive – #18 – 20 – E. lata
Tan Caddis – #16 – 20 – Hydropsyche spp.
Dark Brachycentrus sp. – #14 – 18 – Dark Grannom
Little Black Caddis #18 – 20 – Chimarra sp.
Blue Winged Olives #16 – 18 – Baetis vagans (updated name: Baetis tricaudatus)

October 10, 2016

Delaware River Report / Conditions October 10, 2016

The release from Cannonsville is 193 cfs.  The Mainstem at Lordville is a ridiculous 419 cfs. What can you even say about that.
The wind was tough yesterday so while we saw a fair amount of mayflies and caddis most of the fishing was underneath.  We are coming off a cooler night so water temperatures have dropped a bit on the East Branch and Mainstem.  Today will stay cool with some winds in the afternoon dropping into the evening.  I looks like another good day to nymph, swing wet flies, or strip small woolly buggers in the riffles.  If you find a wind break definitely have your small olives, isonychias, and heptagenia patterns ready.

Hatching:
Slate Drake – #12 – 14- Isonychia bicolor
Olive Sulphur – #18 – 20– Heptagenia hebe
Tiny Blue Winged Olive – #22 – 26 – Psuedocloeon spp.
Blue Winged Olive – #18 – 20 – E. lata
Tan Caddis – #16 – 20 – Hydropsyche spp.
Dark Brachycentrus sp. – #14 – 18 – Dark Grannom
Little Black Caddis #18 – 20 – Chimarra sp.
Blue Winged Olives #16 – 18 – Baetis vagans (updated name: Baetis tricaudatus)

October 9, 2016

Delaware River Report / Conditions October 9, 2016

The release from Cannonsville has been dropped slightly to 186 cfs.  This still leaves massive amounts of exposed river bed on the Mainstem.  Water temperatures are fine and if you do fish down there you certainly do not need chest waders.  It’s pretty damn sad that we cannot get a small amount of water released to cover the river bottom.  In the Spring DEP put out a press release about being “Good Neighbors” to the downstream users.  We’re going to delve into that one over the winter.

Nymphs and wet flies still provided the most action yesterday.  There were some fish rising but most fish were feeding underneath.  Smaller flies are working better right now for both nymphs and dries.  There are some isonychias around but the majority of insects were seeing are small olives, heptagenia, and small caddis.

Lordville under 500 cfs

Hatching:
Slate Drake – #12 – 14- Isonychia bicolor
Olive Sulphur – #18 – 20– Heptagenia hebe
Tiny Blue Winged Olive – #22 – 26 – Psuedocloeon spp.
Blue Winged Olive – #18 – 20 – E. lata
Tan Caddis – #16 – 20 – Hydropsyche spp.
Dark Brachycentrus sp. – #14 – 18 – Dark Grannom
Little Black Caddis #18 – 20 – Chimarra sp.
Blue Winged Olives #16 – 18 – Baetis vagans (updated name: Baetis tricaudatus)

October 8, 2016

Delaware River Report / Conditions October 8, 2016

Nymphs and wet flies have still been the best bet for landing fish.  There are some fish eating on top but most seem to be chasing caddis pupa in the water column.  We have a good chance of some light rain today with winds staying below 10 mph.  This could be a good olive day and definitely carry your isonychias.

The release from Cannonsville has been dropped again down to 235 cfs.  The downstream flow targets are being met by Lake Wallenpaupack releases.  Water temperatures have not been an issue due to the cold nights.  The issue is now exposed river bed.  On October 4th the flow at Stilesville dropped from close to 700 cfs down to 150 cfs is one day.  The Mainstem then dropped just as quickly with the flow at Lordville dropping below 500 cfs on October 5th.  A quick severe drop like that strands all sorts of river life in the gravel.
This is an odd situation since we are caught in the 5 year Wallenpaupack drawdown that will drop that lake 5 feet below normal.  It’s not surprising.  What is surprising is the lack of consideration for the health of the river between the dams and the mouth of the Lackawaxen.
When people used to talk about the trout fishery it always ended in Callicoon.  After a while it moved up to temperature targets in Hankins.  Now everyone talks about targets at Lordville.  It seems like if certain people get their way we’ll all be talking about targets at Hale Eddy in a couple of years.

And the Park Service will have to rename the Upper Delaware Wild and Scenic River to the more accurate Upper Delaware Wild and Scenic Creek

Exposed river bed on the Mainstem October 5th. It’ still exposed today

Hatching:
Slate Drake – #12 – 14- Isonychia bicolor
Olive Sulphur – #18 – 20– Heptagenia hebe
Tiny Blue Winged Olive – #22 – 26 – Psuedocloeon spp.
Blue Winged Olive – #18 – 20 – E. lata
Tan Caddis – #16 – 20 – Hydropsyche spp.
Dark Brachycentrus sp. – #14 – 18 – Dark Grannom
Little Black Caddis #18 – 20 – Chimarra sp.
Blue Winged Olives #16 – 18 – Baetis vagans (updated name: Baetis tricaudatus)

October 7, 2016

Delaware River Report / Conditions October 7, 2016

The Cannonsville release has been increased to 320 cfs this morning until further notice – or no notice and we find out by checking the USGS site every two hours.  So the yo yo continues.  Yesterday seemed to be a day of caddis pupa with most fish either landed by swinging wet flies or nymphing.  There were a couple of fish landed on dry flies but the people fishing underneath had better success.  Today looks like a mirror image of yesterday.  Saturday is our best chance of clouds and light rain with precipitation of less than 1/4″.  Our release for the weekend will be totally dependent on what they do with Lake Wallenpaupack.  We’ll put up an update if we find anything out.

The Yo Yo continues

Hatching:
Slate Drake – #12 – 14- Isonychia bicolor
Olive Sulphur – #18 – 20– Heptagenia hebe
Light Cahill – #14 – 16
Tiny Blue Winged Olive – #22 – 26 – Psuedocloeon spp.
Blue Winged Olive – #18 – 20 – E. lata
Light Blue Winged Olive – #16 – 20 E. attenuatta
Tan Caddis – #16 – 20 – Hydropsyche spp.
Dark Brachycentrus sp. – #14 – 18 – Dark Grannom
Little Black Caddis #18 – 20 – Chimarra sp.
Blue Winged Olives #16 – 18 – Baetis vagans (updated name: Baetis tricaudatus)