April 27, 2014

Delaware River Report / Conditions April 27, 2014

Sorry for the delay this morning.  Computer issues.

There was a decent Blue Quill hatch on the West Branch yesterday.  It had great potential but the waves of rain and wind coming through made fishing tough.  If you were willing to wait it out there was opportunity.  It looks like they are slowly ramping down the release on the West Branch but that may change with the predicted rain over the next week.  A nice slow rain over 3 or 4 days would benefit the system.  We also saw the first couple of Hendricksons yesterday.  Just the beginning of the hatch

Hatching:

Blue Quill #16 – Paralep sp.

Quill Gordon #14 -Epeorus pluralis

Little Black Caddis #18-20 – Chimarra sp.

Tiny Black Stoneflies #18 – Capniadae sp.

Early Black and Brown Stoneflies #14 – 16 Taeniopteryx sp.

April 26, 2014

Delaware River Report / Conditions April 26, 2014

Cannonsville has stopped spilling and they have dropped the release to 1198 cfs.  Our guides found some fish rising to Blue Quills yesterday in the mid afternoon.  Streamers are still getting more attention from the fish but that will change as the water warms and the hatching activity increases.  It looks like the dryfly fishing is about to break wide open so next week should be awesome.  Cannonsville is currently 99.8%.

Bob landed a nice fish on dry fly yesterday

Hatching:

Blue Quill #16 – Paralep sp.

Quill Gordon #14 -Epeorus pluralis

Little Black Caddis #18-20 – Chimarra sp.

Tiny Black Stoneflies #18 – Capniadae sp.

Early Black and Brown Stoneflies #14 – 16 Taeniopteryx sp.

April 25, 2014

Delaware River Report / Conditions April 25, 2014

The wind blew again yesterday but the river fished well in between the gusts.  There were some fish rising in protected areas to a mix of Blue Quills and Quill Gordons.  Unfortunately there were not too many areas protected from the wind.  The fish have definitely turned on to streamers and that seemed to be the best answer with the weather.  Today looks much better with highs in the 60s and some wind, but not anything like we just experienced over the last two days.  The release from Cannonsville is currently 1,499 cfs.

Fish are still eating in the wind!

Hatching:

Blue Quill #16 – Paralep sp.

Quill Gordon #14 -Epeorus pluralis

Little Black Caddis #18-20 – Chimarra sp.

Tiny Black Stoneflies #18 – Capniadae sp.

Early Black and Brown Stoneflies #14 – 16 Taeniopteryx sp.

April 24, 2014

Delaware River Report / Conditions April 24, 2014

The wind was not kind yesterday.  Streamers worked if you could stick with it and not be frustrated by the weather.  A few one time risers were spotted but the bugs were being blown so fast and so far there wasn’t much of an opportunity for the fish to even see them.  Today’s high is 54 degrees with more wind, but significantly less than yesterday.  Streamers will still be your best bet but you may find a few fish rising in protected areas.  The rivers are dropping and if we don’t have any more rain the reservoirs should stop spilling soon.  Cannonsville is 100.7% capacity and Pepacton is 100.2% capacity.

Hatching:

Blue Quill #16 – Paralep sp.

Quill Gordon #14 -Epeorus pluralis

Little Black Caddis #18-20 – Chimarra sp.

Tiny Black Stoneflies #18 – Capniadae sp.

Early Black and Brown Stoneflies #14 – 16 Taeniopteryx sp.

April 23, 2014

Delaware River Report / Conditions April 23, 2014

Finally!  Yesterday we found the first steady rising fish eating a mix of stoneflies, Blue Quills, and Quill Gordons.  They were feeding steadily for about an hour in the late afternoon in the slower edges and pools.  The streamer fishing improved dramatically and the fish were very active and happy.  It was a great day to be on the river.  The air temps are cooling down today but it looks like we will be on a warming trend over the weekend until Sunday.  Cannonsville is at 101% capacity with a release of  1540 cfs.

Samantha comes through again showing off one her fish from yesterday

Hatching:

Blue Quill #16 – Paralep sp.

Quill Gordon #14 -Epeorus pluralis

Little Black Caddis #18-20 – Chimarra sp.

Tiny Black Stoneflies #18 – Capniadae sp.

Early Black and Brown Stoneflies #14 – 16 Taeniopteryx sp.

April 22, 2014

Delaware River Report / Conditions April 22, 2014

Yesterday was tough compared to Sunday.  Fewer bugs on the water, including stoneflies.  Streamers produced some activity but the bright sun didn’t help. Todasy looks better for streamers with cloud cover this morning wit a little rain moving in this afternoon.  Hopefully the change in weather  kick starts the bugs!  I’ll take the high air temps in the low 60’s anytime!  Cannonsville is at 101.4% and the rivers are dropping.  A lot depends on how the storm tracks and how much rain we receive.

Still waiting to see these in large numbers. It can’t be long!

Hatching:

Blue Quill #16 – Paralep sp.

Quill Gordon #14 -Epeorus pluralis

Little Black Caddis #18-20 – Chimarra sp.

Tiny Black Stoneflies #18 – Capniadae sp.

Early Black and Brown Stoneflies #14 – 16 Taeniopteryx sp.

April 21, 2014

Delaware River Report / Conditions April 21, 2014

Yesterday was a good day!  The water is beginning to warm up- looks like the West Branch peaked around 46 yesterday.  The streamer fishing improved along with the temperature.  White streamers seemed to be the ticket but I think anything presented in front of an aggressive fish would have been hit.  We had a lot of stoneflies on the water mixed with a few Blue Quills and Quill Gordons.  Surface activity was slow but is definitely improving.  I expect to see more heads this afternoon as the rivers fall and warm up.  Today looks like a great day with highs in the low 70’s and a little rain moving in tonight into tomorrow.

Samantha starting 2014 out right!

Hatching:

Blue Quill #16 – Paralep sp.

Quill Gordon #14 -Epeorus pluralis

Little Black Caddis #18-20 – Chimarra sp.

Tiny Black Stoneflies #18 – Capniadae sp.

Early Black and Brown Stoneflies #14 – 16 Taeniopteryx sp.

April 20, 2014

Delaware River Report / Conditions April 20, 2014

Happy Easter!  Lots and lots of bugs on the water and in the air yesterday.  Not a lot of fish rising.  We saw mostly stoneflies, Quill Gordons, and a few Blue Quills.   The wind in the afternoon didn’t help.  We have the bugs.  It won’t be long before the fish realize their food is here and the fishing breaks wide open.  A few more degrees of water temp should help tremendously.

There will be some unbelievable fishing sometime in the next 7 days.

Hatching:

Quill Gordon -Epeorus pluralis #14

Tiny Black Stoneflies #18 – Capniadae sp.

Early Black and Brown Stoneflies #14 – 16 Taeniopteryx sp.

April 19, 2014

Delaware River Report / Conditions April 19, 2014

Yesterday was another cold water day.  There were some Quill Gordons floating by but the fish never responded to them- we still need a few more degrees to get them going.  A few fished chased streamers and there are rumors of a fish or two being landed.  The river is ready to explode- we just need those temps!

Paralep spinner

Hatching:

Quill Gordon -Epeorus pluralis #14

Tiny Black Stoneflies #18 – Capniadae sp.

Early Black and Brown Stoneflies #14 – 16 Taeniopteryx sp.

April 18, 2014

Delaware River Report / Conditions April 18, 2014

We’re still waiting for the water temps to climb a bit more before fishing really takes off. The cold nights, releases, and spill are keeping the temperatures low.  We had reports of a few- very few upright wings mixed with the stoneflies on the West Branch yesterday.  Nothing was eating them.

Streamers fished slow are still your best bet to connect with a fish right now.  Hopefully the water warms up over the next week and the bugs really begin to pop.

Blue Quills- coming soon!

Hatching:

Tiny Black Stoneflies #18 – Capniadae sp.

Early Black and Brown Stoneflies #14 – 16 Taeniopteryx sp.

April 17, 2014

Delaware River Report / Conditions April 17, 2014

That last storm filled the reservoirs and both Pepacton (100.1%) and Cannonsville (100.7%) are spilling.  All the rivers in the system are up and the cold, cold nights mixed with cold spill have dropped the water temps.  We are on a bit of a warming trend.  Daytime highs in the 50’s and nights in the 30’s over the weekend.  The best bet for fishing over the next few days is fishing streamers in the slower sections.  Nymphing may be effective in some of the riffles with a good drop off.  I would keep the nymphs small to imitate the naturals so mostly #16 & #18 thin body pheasant tails and copper johns.

We’ll see Hendrickson nymphs doing this at some point this Spring. We need the water to warm up first!

Hatching:

Tiny Black Stoneflies #18 – Capniadae sp.

Early Black and Brown Stoneflies #14 – 16 Taeniopteryx sp.

April 16, 2014

Delaware River Report / Conditions April 16, 2014

Well that was an interesting storm yesterday.  Lots of rain, some ice, and then some snow.  The wind was a bonus!  The West Branch is off color but starting to clear like normal.  Today air temps are going to be in the mid 40’s and in the 20’s at night.  If you are going to fish today the upper West Branch looks like the clearest and lowest water in the system.  Above Oquaga Creek should be fine and the rest of the river will continue to clear throughout the day.  Cannonsville is 98.1% and the release is 1502 cfs.

Lets look at the Cannonsville inflow.  The West Branch above Walton is 4,220 cfs and Trout Creek is running 198 cfs.  Add in all the little feeders to the reservoir and we have a lot of water flowing in right now.  Great news for the next few weeks!

The view out front this morning- it will look better by the weekend!

Hatching:

Tiny Black Stoneflies #18 – Capniadae sp.

Early Black and Brown Stoneflies #14 – 16 Taeniopteryx sp.