Delaware River Report / Conditions April 6, 2013

Well the water temps did come up yesterday, and the wind certainly did the same. A very strong down stream wind pushed through starting in the early afternoon, and did not let up until well into the evening. This shut the dry fly fishing down, but we did manage to have some active fish throughout the day taking streamers and (shudder) nymphs. Today we’re looking at a mirror-image of yesterday wind-wise – we have lots of it this morning, and it is supposed to taper off by lunchtime. This could produce some really decent stonefly and caddis dry fly fishing as the water continues to heat up. Ignore other reports claiming to see “tons” of olives – aside from the occasional Baetis and Blue Quill popping, the olives have DEFINITELY not started in earnest. With these rising overnight temps, that will certainly be changing soon!

 

This would be what the fish are keying in on, so long as the weather cooperates! Photo: Bart Larmouth

What’s Hatching:

Chimarra species – Charcoal Caddis – #16 & #18

Taeniopteryx fasciata – Early Black Stonefly- #18

Brachyteraspecies- Early Brown Stonefly – #12/#14

Baetis species – #18 – COMING SOON!

Current Flow Conditions:

FLOWS AS OF 8:00 AM:
West Branch at Stilesville, NY 218 cfs @ 36º
West Branch at Hale Eddy, NY 477 cfs @ 38º
East Branch at Harvard, NY 219 cfs @ 38º
East Branch at Fish’s Eddy, NY 869 cfs @ 39º
Mainstem at Lordville, NY 1,760 cfs @ 41º
Beaverkill at Cooks Falls, NY 500 cfs @ N/A
Cannonsville Reservoir Level & Release 89.1% – 218 CFS release

Delaware River Report / Conditions April 5, 2013

Yesterday was it – our first day of decent pods of rising fish. As soon as the water temperature rose above 40, the stoneflies and caddis were out, and the fish were on them. Primarily, they were eating the stoneflies, but they would take a charcoal caddis pattern as well. I love it when they are dumb like this. It doesn’t last too long! If you look at the chart below, you can see we are starting MUCH warmer that we did yesterday, so the feeding period should start earlier and last considerably longer. With air temps predicted in the 50s as well, it should be a wonderful day to be out on the river!

There were plenty of these guys flitting around yesterday! A Chimarra caddis. Photo: Bart Larmouth

What’s Hatching:

Chimarra species – Charcoal Caddis – #16 & #18

Taeniopteryx fasciata – Early Black Stonefly- #18

Brachyteraspecies- Early Brown Stonefly – #12/#14

Baetis species – #18 – COMING SOON!

Current Flow Conditions:

FLOWS AS OF 8:00 AM:
West Branch at Stilesville, NY 218 cfs @ 37º
West Branch at Hale Eddy, NY 490 cfs @ 38º
East Branch at Harvard, NY 222 cfs @ 38º
East Branch at Fish’s Eddy, NY 861 cfs @ 39º
Mainstem at Lordville, NY 1,810 cfs @ 39º
Beaverkill at Cooks Falls, NY 470 cfs @ N/A
Cannonsville Reservoir Level & Release 89.1% – 218 CFS release

Delaware River Report / Conditions April 4, 2013

Well it looks like the nice weather is coming after all. We’re looking at temps in the 50s today, which is a welcome respite from the mid-20s temps of the last few days. With the DEP cutting our flow now down  to 235 CFS, the water will certainly heat up faster, and the mayflies that have been patiently waiting for warmer water temps will likely be ready to pop in short order. The warmer weather should persist through the weekend, so we should be in for our first good piece of dry fly fishing!

Another Honorable Mention from our contest – Kurt Huhner with a nice Bone on his first day ever of saltwater fishing! Photo: Kurt Huhner

What’s Hatching:

Taeniopteryx fasciata – Early Black Stonefly- #18

Brachyteraspecies- Early Brown Stonefly – #12/#14

Baetis species – #18 – COMING SOON!

Current Flow Conditions:

FLOWS AS OF 8:00 AM:
West Branch at Stilesville, NY 218 cfs @ 36º
West Branch at Hale Eddy, NY 494 cfs @ 35º
East Branch at Harvard, NY 222 cfs @ 35º
East Branch at Fish’s Eddy, NY 877 cfs @ 35º
Mainstem at Lordville, NY 1,920 cfs @ 35º
Beaverkill at Cooks Falls, NY 459 cfs @ N/A
Cannonsville Reservoir Level & Release 89.1% – 235 CFS release

Delaware River Report / Conditions April 3, 2013

Well needless to say, it was a COLD one out there yesterday. Absolutely frigid, and I didn’t even see a spin fisherman out and testing the waters. The high winds and cold kept the bugs off the water, and the water temps suppressed. The overnight lows also pushed those temps down, and we’re starting at about 35F in every part of the river. Today is looking just as chilly as yesterday, with just slightly less wind. If we make it to tomorrow, we should be in store for some excellent weather, and hopefully our first good long stretch of dry-fly fishing!

Although he was late to the photo contest, Eunan Hendron sent us this shot of an AMAZING salmon fly he tied called the Rosy Dawn. Photo: Eunan Hendron

What’s Hatching:

Taeniopteryx fasciata – Early Black Stonefly- #18

Brachyteraspecies- Early Brown Stonefly – #12/#14

Baetis species – #18 – COMING SOON!

FLOWS AS OF 8:00 AM:
West Branch at Stilesville, NY 259 cfs @ 36º
West Branch at Hale Eddy, NY 575 cfs @ 35º
East Branch at Harvard, NY 256 cfs @ 35º
East Branch at Fish’s Eddy, NY 1,020 cfs @ 35º
Mainstem at Lordville, NY 2,220 cfs @ 35º
Beaverkill at Cooks Falls, NY 527 cfs @ N/A
Cannonsville Reservoir Leve & Release 89.0% – 250 CFS release

Delaware River Report / Conditions April 2, 2013

Opening day was definitley not what we expected. After gorgeous conditions in the morning, Mother Nature decided to put a serious beat-down on us around 10:30 AM, with 50 MPH wind gusts throwing little tiny hail balls (think 1-2mm) like BBs, followed by some decent rain. The wind kept up all day, and blew most every fishermen off the water as the temperature dropped into the mid-30s. So unfortunately, no real exciting fish stories. This morning we got up to even a greater shock, as you can see from the photo below. No idea when that was deposited, but the thermometer outside has us at a balmy 22º F. Water temps are starting low, so I wouldn’t expect any real action on the river until both it and the air have warmed up substantially.

Nothing like a surprise dusting of snow to make you realize it’s Spring. Photo: Bart Larmouth

Taeniopteryx fasciata – Early Black Stonefly- #18

Brachyteraspecies- Early Brown Stonefly – #12/#14

Baetis species – #18 – COMING SOON!

FLOWS AS OF 8:00 AM:
West Branch at Stilesville, NY 326 cfs @ 36º
West Branch at Hale Eddy, NY 715 cfs @ 35º
East Branch at Harvard, NY 303 cfs @ 35º
East Branch at Fish’s Eddy, NY 1,280 cfs @ 37º
Mainstem at Lordville, NY 2,640 cfs @ 37º
Beaverkill at Cooks Falls, NY 710 cfs @ N/A
Cannonsville Reservoir Leve & Release 89.0% – 325 CFS release

Happy Season Opener / River Report April 1, 2013

Here we are! Trout Season is upon us once again. Last night we had some rain, and this morning looks like the first true Springtime morning we have had all year. Low fog, and warmer temps helped keep the rivers in the high 30s overnight, which means we will be hitting 40 much earlier today. That’s the magic number to see fish start to really get active both on top, and chasing nymphs down below. The early stoneflies are out in force, and so long as the wind keeps down, they are on teh water and the fish are keying in on them. The only bit of unhappy news is that the release from Cannonsville has been dropped to 345, and will remain there for pretty much the entire month of April due to the FFMP and flood control measures, so everyone pray for rain, and get out there and fish!

 

Jeff Biller holds a nice streamer-caught brown from this weekend. Photo: Jeff White

Taeniopteryx fasciata – Early Black Stonefly- #18

Brachyteraspecies- Early Brown Stonefly – #12/#14

Baetis species – #18 – COMING SOON!

FLOWS AS OF 8:00 AM:
West Branch at Stilesville, NY 345 cfs @ 37º
West Branch at Hale Eddy, NY 744 cfs @ 38º
East Branch at Harvard, NY 281 cfs @ 40º
East Branch at Fish’s Eddy, NY 973 cfs @ 41º
Mainstem at Lordville, NY 2,020 cfs @ 40º
Beaverkill at Cooks Falls, NY 690 cfs @ N/A
Cannonsville Reservoir Leve & Release 89.7% – 345 CFS release

Weekly Contest Winner

We had two submissions from this week’s winner, and I couldn’t choose between them, so here they are – Congrats to Art Bartholomew!

Art Bartholomew with one of his first Bonefish ever! Photo Courtesy Art Bartholomew

Art Bartholomew and best friends (left to right) Mildred, Darla, and Scott collecting fly tying material this winter. Photo: Bart Larmouth

Season is almost here….and kinda is!

Although it has been a cold March, we still have had some brave souls heading out on float trips, and we are already moving fish on the West Branch. Jeff Biller and Dave Price went out with Jeff White yesterday, and not only caught our first dry fly fish of the year, but also this guy:

 

Jeff Biller and Dave Price with a SLOB of a WB Brown! Photo: Jeff White

The shoulders on this fish were incredible, showing that everyone has wintered well, and we should be catching some nice, fat, early season fish this year.

Taeniopteryx fasciata – Early Black Stonefly- #18

Brachyteraspecies- Early Brown Stonefly – #12/#14

Baetis species – #18 – COMING SOON!

FLOWS AS OF 8:00 AM:
West Branch at Stilesville, NY 700 cfs @ 36º peak 39º @2PM
West Branch at Hale Eddy,NY 892 cfs @ 36º peak 41º @2PM
East Branch at Harvard,NY 274 cfs @ 37º peak 41º @2PM
East Branch at Fish’s Eddy,NY 802 cfs @ 37º peak 40º @2PM
Mainstem at Lordville,NY 2,150 cfs @37º peak 37º @2PM
Beaverkill at Cooks Falls,NY 397 cfs @ N/A
Cannonsville Reservoir Level & Release 91.9% – 700 CFS release

Weekly Photo Contest Winner

A nice shot from Club regular Steve Lynch! Congrats!

Steve Lynch holds a fat brown. Photo Courtesy of: Steve Lynch

This Week’s Winter Photo Winner

Is Larry Elliott – Well done sir!

 

Larry Elliott tails his FIRST PERMIT! Way to go! Photo Courtesy of: Larry Elliott

 

Second Winter Photo Contest Winner

Congrats to Chris Calabrese – we love the look and bamboo to boot!

Chris Calabrese with a nice brown taken on a bamboo rod. The DRC trucker hat helped I am sure! Photo courtesy of: Chris Calabrese

First Photo Contest Winner – Norm Price!

Congratulations to Norm Price – his submission of he and his Grandson Brendan with an awesome West Branch Brown was an easy choice. Keep those entries coming!

Norm Price with his Grandson Brendan and a fine West Branch Brown! Photo: Norm Price

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