April 20, 2019

Delaware River Report / Conditions April 20, 2019

We got lucky and received less rain than originally forecasted.  We did get some rain though and the rivers are up and off color this morning.  The flows have peaked and are already dropping.  We may see another bump later in the day as the reservoir spills increase but it shouldn’t be much.  There’s not much rain left in the forecast over the next few days.  Just a few light showers here and there so we should be fishing the West Branch again tomorrow.  The water temps are great for April so we should see some great fishing once the flows drop to a comfortable level for the fish to rise.  Lucky.  There are a few thunderstorms moving around the area but so far it looks like the storms are staying East of us.

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Peaked and dropping

Hatching:
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Blue Quills – #16 – 18 – Paraleptophlebia adoptiva
Quill Gordon – #14 – Epeorus pluralis
Tiny Stonefly–  #18- Capniidae spp.
Early Brown and Black Stoneflies – #14 -16  – Taeniopteryx spp.
Blue Wing Olives  – #16 – 18 – Baetis vagans
Little Black Caddis – #18 – 20 – Chimarra

Click on the gauge below for the most recent update:

April 19, 2019

Delaware River Report / Conditions April 19, 2019

We have the bugs.  Now we just need the flows to drop to a reasonable level opening up more water fish will rise in.  The flows are dropping back slowly but we will see some additional rain today.  We’ll see some showers this afternoon with possible heavier rain overnight.  Some of the thunderstorms are predicted to be “scattered” so if we’re lucky the heaviest precipitation will miss us or at least fall below the reservoirs.  If any flows change drastically during the day we’ll do a blog update.  If we get the rain most will be overnight so the river should fish today.  Streamers will still be your best bet but people are seeing fish eating on top in the slower pools and edges.  Tht’s mostly a late afternoon thing.  Wading is still not an option but floating is perfectly fine.

People are seeing a few hendricksons but don’t get too excited yet.  The hatches usually progress like a bell curve so we’re still saying another week – ish.  In the meantime there is nothign wrong with blue quills and olives.

Hatching:
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Blue Quills – #16 – 18 – Paraleptophlebia adoptiva
Quill Gordon – #14 – Epeorus pluralis
Tiny Stonefly–  #18- Capniidae spp.
Early Brown and Black Stoneflies – #14 -16  – Taeniopteryx spp.
Blue Wing Olives  – #16 – 18 – Baetis vagans
Little Black Caddis – #18 – 20 – Chimarra

Click on the gauge below for the most recent update:

April 18, 2019

Delaware River Report / Conditions April 18, 2019

There were quite a number of people fishing the West Branch yesterday.  We had a lot of stoneflies and blue quills flying around by mid afternoon.  There were a few fish rising but the high flows kept them sporadic and hard to set up on.  It was a beautiful day to be out though.  All of the reservoirs are still spilling but the flows on the East Branch and Beaverkill have dropped significantly.  Everything is still too high to wade but moving in the right direction.

Today looks okay.  It’s going to be cooler at 56 degrees and we’ll have some wind gusts to 15 from the South.  It’ll mostly be streamer fishing again so the wind won’t be too much of a problem.  The flows and wind will make dry fly fishing tough but someone will get lucky.  We’re watching the rain in Friday night’s forecast.  Same problem as always- everytime we look it changes.  Tomorrow looks okay during the day with most of the rain coming in Thunderstorms overnight.  Hopefully they miss us completely or hit below the reservoirs.

Hatching:
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Blue Quills – #16 – 18 – Paraleptophlebia adoptiva
Quill Gordon – #14 – Epeorus pluralis
Tiny Stonefly–  #18- Capniidae spp.
Early Brown and Black Stoneflies – #14 -16  – Taeniopteryx spp.
Blue Wing Olives  – #16 – 18 – Baetis vagans
Little Black Caddis – #18 – 20 – Chimarra

Click on the gauge below for the most recent update:

April 17, 2019

Delaware River Report / Conditions April 17, 2019

The rivers are still settling down but the West Branch is at a safe level for floating.  Today looks good with low wind, sun, and 62 degrees.  We haven’t seen many low wind days yet this Spring so this is going to be a nice one to be out there.  The West looks great for streamer fishing but bring a dry fly rod for the slow pools.  There are still bugs out there and fish may eat in the tailouts or eddys in the long, slow moving pools.  The other rivers is the system may still need a couple of days to calm down.  Wading anywhere on the system is still not an option but the Beaverkill is dropping quickly.  We need the rain in the forecast later in the week to miss us.

Hatching:
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Blue Quills – #16 – 18 – Paraleptophlebia adoptiva
Quill Gordon – #14 – Epeorus pluralis
Tiny Stonefly–  #18- Capniidae spp.
Early Brown and Black Stoneflies – #14 -16  – Taeniopteryx spp.
Blue Wing Olives  – #16 – 18 – Baetis vagans
Little Black Caddis – #18 – 20 – Chimarra

Click on the gauge below for the most recent update:

April 16, 2019

Delaware River Report / Conditions April 16, 2019

The runoff is slowly subsiding and the river flows are dropping or at least leveling off..  The West Branch is at a level that is okay for floating.  The Eastern drainage and Mainstem still have quite a bit of water coming down but they are dropping.  Wading is not an option today.  It will mainly be a streamer game unless you get real lucky and find a fish rising in one of the longer slow pools or big eddys.  Count on streamer fishing today.  Cannonsville, Pepacton, and Neversink Reservoirs are all spilling.  The next couple of days look nice so things should continue to settle down.  There is some rain in Friday’s forecast but the report changes every time we look.

The West Branch is already fishable by boat

Hatching:
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Blue Quills – #16 – 18 – Paraleptophlebia adoptiva
Tiny Stonefly–  #18- Capniidae spp.
Early Brown and Black Stoneflies – #14 -16  – Taeniopteryx spp.
Blue Wing Olives  – #16 – 18 – Baetis vagans
Little Black Caddis – #18 – 20 – Chimarra

Click on the gauge below for the most recent update:

April 15, 2019

Delaware River Report / Conditions April 15, 2019

We must have been hit with some major rain last night.  The West Branch is fine at 3,750 cfs.   It’ll go up more during the day but should peak mid afternoon and begin to drop if we don’t get more rain.  The Beaverkill is pushing way over 10,000 cfs into the lower East Branch.  The Beaverkill at Cooks Falls is a couple of feet over the National Flood Stage.  The Mainstem is high but the Beaverkill water has not made it down to the gauge at Lordville yet.  Obviously no wading today.  The West Branch will calm down first.  It has some color and the feeder streams are adding a lot of water below Hale Eddy but it will be fine.  We did see some bugs on the water and fish rising here and there in between the rain yesterday afternoon.  It looks like Pepacton Reservoir is spilling this morning with a flow at the Downsville Gauge of 3,710 cfs.  Cannonsville must be close to spilling but the flow at Stilesville is only 1,610 cfs.

Derek with a nice West Branch fish yesterday. Samantha Dennis photo

Hatching:
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Blue Quills – #16 – 18 – Paraleptophlebia adoptiva
Tiny Stonefly–  #18- Capniidae spp.
Early Brown and Black Stoneflies – #14 -16  – Taeniopteryx spp.
Blue Wing Olives  – #16 – 18 – Baetis vagans
Little Black Caddis – #18 – 20 – Chimarra

Click on the gauge below for the most recent update:

April 14, 2019

Delaware River Report / Conditions April 14, 2019

Yesterday looked good on paper but it didn’t produce the great dry fly action we were hoping for.  People did find fish and it was actually decent for April 13th but we expected better after Friday’s fishing.  It could have been the increased flows or the periods of bright sunshine.  Today is a new day.  The weather forecast has been changing a lot but looks pretty good right now.  We’ll have some wind but most of the rain should fall later in the day. We should have decent clouds by mid morning.  The river flows are up again this morning so wading will be tough.  There were a few people out there yesterday wading the edges.  The release from Cannonsville has been increased to 1,499 cfs so be careful.  This could be a streamer / nymph day but there is a shot of finding some fish eating dries in the longer, slow pools.

Peter makes the blog again with this one from yesterday. Bruce Miller photo

Hatching:
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Blue Quills – #16 – 18 – Paraleptophlebia adoptiva
Tiny Stonefly–  #18- Capniidae spp.
Early Brown and Black Stoneflies – #14 -16  – Taeniopteryx spp.
Blue Wing Olives  – #16 – 18 – Baetis vagans
Little Black Caddis – #18 – 20 – Chimarra

Click on the gauge below for the most recent update:

April 13, 2019

Delaware River Report / Conditions April 13, 2019

Blue Quills showed up in good numbers yesterday making the fish pretty happy.  The olives and caddis were out too but of course they were overshadowed by the cooler newer mayflies.  We had some light rain in the afternoon but most of the heavy rain held off until late evening.  It’s been great to see the fish rise over the last two days.  The river flows are up pretty good this morning from a mix of rain and increased releases.   Most of the river flows are still rising this morning at 6 am.  Wading looks tough at these levels.  There may be some spots that will  work if you know the river but be cautious.  The West Branch is Home Pool looks clear this morning.  Today looks beautiful with a forecast of 71 degrees, morning clouds, some sun, and winds around 8 mph.  We have some decent rain in the forecast tomorrow but the forecast has been changing quite a bit.  Keep an eye on the river gauges for the latest flow info.

Peter with a nice fish yesterday.   A good start to a father and son weekend.  Bruce Miller photo

Tim with a good one yesterday. Bruce Miller photo

Hatching:
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Blue Quills – #16 – 18 – Paraleptophlebia adoptiva
Tiny Stonefly–  #18- Capniidae spp.
Early Brown and Black Stoneflies – #14 -16  – Taeniopteryx spp.
Blue Wing Olives  – #16 – 18 – Baetis vagans
Little Black Caddis – #18 – 20 – Chimarra

Click on the gauge below for the most recent update:

April 12, 2019

Delaware River Report / Conditions April 12, 2019

There were quite a few fish rising on the West Branch late yesterday afternoon.  It looked like a good number of olives on the water with some caddis in the mix.  The weather was great and it was a pleasant day out there.  Today should be warmer with the air temp reaching the high 50’s.  There is a breeze this morning but so far it”s manageable.  We may see some wind and rain push through in the early evening but most of it seems to be coming towards dark.  We should have decent cloud cover all day.  The forecast changes every time we look so keep an eye on the latest.  The release from Cannonsville has been increased to 880 cfs this morning.  The release from Pepacton has also been increased and the flow at Downsville is 643 cfs.

Hatching:
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Tiny Stonefly–  #18- Capniidae spp.
Early Brown and Black Stoneflies – #14 -16  – Taeniopteryx spp.
Blue Wing Olives  – #16 – 18 – Baetis vagans
Little Black Caddis – #18 – 20 – Chimarra

Click on the gauge below for the most recent update:

April 11, 2019

Delaware River Report / Conditions April 11, 2019

Yesterday was a tough one out there.  The air temp hovered in the low 40’s with only a brief period of sun in the late afternoon.  The wind added to the chill.  There were some olives out and a few people had dry fly shots but overall it was a streamer / nymph day.  Things are improving beginning today.  We’ll see warmer air temps and may even see 70 degrees on Saturday.  We have some weekend rain in the forecast but the amounts change every time we check.  So far it looks like they are reducing the amount expected.

Water temps should improve along with the fishing over the next couple of days

Hatching:
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Tiny Stonefly–  #18- Capniidae spp.
Early Brown and Black Stoneflies – #14 -16  – Taeniopteryx spp.
Blue Wing Olives  – #16 – 18 – Baetis vagans
Little Black Caddis – #18 – 20 – Chimarra

Click on the gauge below for the most recent update:

April 10, 2019

Delaware River Report / Conditions April 10, 2019

Yesterday was a beautiful Spring day until the wind showed up in the late afternoon.  We had a storm come through that dropped some heavy rain for a very short period.  Some of the feeders were pushing a little color but have cleared up this morning.  The release from Cannonsville has been dropped back to 727 cfs.  Today looks cooler with the air temp reaching the mid 40’s.  Wind will be out of the North around 10 mph with gusts higher.  That may force it to become more of a streamer / nymphing afternoon unless we get some lulls or you find a protected area.  We’ll start to warm back up tomorrow and continue on that trend through the weekend.

We’re still finding good bugs on the West if the wind isn’t blowing

Hatching:
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Tiny Stonefly–  #18- Capniidae spp.
Early Brown and Black Stoneflies – #14 -16  – Taeniopteryx spp.
Blue Wing Olives  – #16 – 18 – Baetis vagans (light hatching)
Little Black Caddis – #18 – 20 – Chimarra

Click on the gauge below for the most recent update:

April 9, 2019

Delaware River Report / Conditions April 9, 2019

The rain held off yesterday and the sun came and went with the clouds.  It turned into a beautiful afternoon to be on the water.  Most people are still nymphing and throwing streamers early and then looking for rising fish in the afternoon.  We’re still seeing olives, little black caddis and stoneflies.  The last few days of warm weather has really helped the water temps.  That should help push the bugs improving the dry fly fishing.  Today looks like another warm one with the air temp hitting 60 degrees.  We  may see a thunderstorm or two with some rain around 1/4″.  The release from Cannonsville has been dropped back slightly to 774 cfs.

Jeremy with a rainbow from Sunday

Hatching:
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Tiny Stonefly–  #18- Capniidae spp.
Early Brown and Black Stoneflies – #14 -16  – Taeniopteryx spp.
Blue Wing Olives  – #16 – 18 – Baetis vagans (light hatching)
Little Black Caddis – #18 – 20 – Chimarra

Click on the gauge below for the most recent update: