February 27, 2013

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

February 19, 2013

Announcing our First Annual Winter Photo Contest!

This winter has been long and cold, no two ways about it. I appreciate the calls from all of the rest of you out there suffering from cabin fever as well. In an attempt to break it up a little bit, we are announcing our first annual Winter Photo Contest! Here is the gist of it: send us any photo you have with DRC logo paraphernalia in it – be it a hat, sticker, shirt, whatever, to flyfish@thedelawareriverclub.com. We will pick winners weekly, up until we open on April 1. Each winner will receive a DRC fly box with a dozen early-season flies. See below for a good example (being de facto staff, he’s exempt. Sorry Larry!), and good luck to all!!

Larry Clark, Sr. with an excellent Florida Snook caught under the lights. Photo courtesy of Larry Clark Sr.

January 30, 2013

Show Report / Iced Over Home Pool

Thanks to everyone who came by and visited us at the show this past weekend, we had a great time visiting, and it is always good to break the cabin fever with fishing talk. Our annual Float Trip Giveaway (for visitors to our booth at the show) will be drawn next week – the winner will be posted here!

Also by popular demand, here is a photo of what Home Pool looked like this afternoon with the major ice floes running through / freezing it up. The warm temps and rain expected tomorrow will likely blow it all out, so I grabbed a panoramic shot whilst the rain poured today. Click on the photo for a larger view. Happy Wednesday!

Frozen up nicely. Photo: Bart Larmouth

January 25, 2013

Somerset is Here!

Come see us at Somerset! We are set up at the end of “tyers row.” We look forward to seeing everyone!

January 24, 2013

It’s an Alderfly!

Congrats to the following who figured out what this guy was: George Scott, Jeff Moore, Jeff Sanders, and Matt Green. The Alder Fly is a relative of the Dobson Fly (Hellgrammites), but isn’t a big trout food as it typically is in a bit warmer water than our finned friends prefer. Here’s what Wikipedia has to say about them (and yes, I am sure there are better references out there somewhere, this is just a good concise article):

“Alderflies are megalopteran insects of the family Sialidae. They are closely related to the dobsonflies and fishflies as well as to the prehistoric Euchauliodidae. All living alderflies – about 66 species altogether^[1] – are part of the subfamily Sialinae, which contains between one and seven extant genera according to different scientists’ views. But in most classifications, all or almost all of these are treated as subgenera of Sialis.

Sialinae have a body length of less than 25 mm (1 inch), long filamentous antennae and four large dark wings of which the anterior pair is slightly longer than the posterior. They lack ocelli and their fourth tarsal segment is dilated and deeply bilobed. Dead alderfly larvae are used as bait in fishing.^[2]

The females lay a vast number of eggs upon grass stems near water. The larvae are aquatic, active, armed with strong sharp mandibles, and breathe by means of seven pairs of abdominal branchial filaments. When full sized, which takes between one and two years, they leave the water and spend a quiescent pupal stage on the land before metamorphosis into the sexually mature insect. Adult alderflies stay near to the water, in which they had lived in when they were younger.”

January 15, 2013

Off-Season Antics

Time for a fun game – What the $&%* is it? Jeff and I were going through pictures for the show in Jersey this year, and stumbled on this shot he took in the summertime of an aquatic insect. It took us a bit of time to identify the bug, let’s see how everyone out there does! I will open the comment section for this post so you can make your guesses below! Answer to follow next week. Who knows, I may even pony up a prize for the first correct guess. Good luck!

It was about size #12-14 for reference. Click the photo for a larger view. Photo: Jeff White

December 25, 2012

Merry Christmas from the Delaware River Club!

Wishing you and yours are having a wonderful Holiday Season!

October 31, 2012

Delaware River Report / Conditions October 31, 2012

Well here we are. Halloween. The last day of the season for us here at the DRC. Fortunately we still have a lodge to close up for the year after Sandy decided to spare us. I would like to thank each and every one of you for being faithful readers and customers – it couldn’t be done without you! I also promise to not leave a clip art cat on here for the entire winter, and will definitely be adding content weekly if I can, so check back when you get a chance! We will be in the office for a few hours during the week, so feel free to call us at the shop if you need anything at all!

As for the river, no one was out yesterday, but I am seriously considering a streamer run tomorrow (our first day closed) on the West Branch. Color and level are perfect, and the overcast / rainy weather we are expecting will only help to make it a better day. The rest of the week looks like a carbon copy of today, with cooler temps and misty/rainy conditions all the way until the weekend. This will mean a later start to the hatching most likely. Good luck out there if you head out, and be safe if you are recovering from the storm!

Although you can’t see his face, this is Scott Dawson holding a beautiful, beautiful Brown. The importance of this picture? Our little Scotty is growing up, and has FINALLY learned how to properly hold a fish for a picture. It has taken several years, as well as many interventions to get him to this point, so please be as proud of him as I am. Photo: Nate Eckhaus

Isonychia bicolor – Isos – #12-2XL & #12 & #14

Heptagenia hebe – Olive Sulphur – #16 & #18 (waning)

Pseudocloeon– Tiny BWO- #22-26

Stenonema stenocron(et al) – Light Cahill – (Male)- #14 (sporadic)

Hydropsyche- Tan Caddis- #18

Ryacophilia- Olive Caddis- #16

Baetis species – #18 & #20 (sporadic when cloudy)

October 30, 2012

Delaware River Report / Conditions October 30, 2012

Our thoughts and prayers are with all of you dealing with the effects of Sandy coming ashore. We dodged a pretty big bullet it seems up here at the club. While we eventually had winds in the 70MPH+ category rolling through, very little rain fell until early this morning, and even more amazingly, the power flashed off once or twice but managed to stay on all day and throughout the night. The rivers have bumped up slightly,but no where near the levels we saw last year from Irene. The bands of precipitation stayed mostly to our West and south during the winds, but we are definitely getting soaked today. The West Branch is clear, not quite sure how the East is fairing, as the Beaverkill likely blew out with its big overnight jump. Be safe out there today, wherever you are!

This is the lucky spot.

Isonychia bicolor – Isos – #12-2XL & #12 & #14

Heptagenia hebe – Olive Sulphur – #16 & #18 (waning)

Pseudocloeon– Tiny BWO- #22-26

Stenonema stenocron(et al) – Light Cahill – (Male)- #14 (sporadic)

Hydropsyche- Tan Caddis- #18

Ryacophilia- Olive Caddis- #16

Baetis species – #18 & #20 (sporadic when cloudy)

October 29, 2012

Delaware River Report / Conditions October 29, 2012

Well, it was another crappy(oops! I mean tough, yeah, that’s the more PC word) day out there yesterday, despite some great conditions. Very few bugs on the water, and even fewer fish looking up to take them – chubs included. Not sure if they are anticipating the oncoming storm or not. Regardless, today is obviously NOT the day to be on the water. We have predicted gusts in the 60s today once we hit late afternoon, and they are likely to continue well into Halloween and beyond. Surprisingly, the rain in the forecast keeps dropping in amount that we’ll see over the next few days, so I doubt the rivers will flood dramatically. Regardless, I’ll batten down the hatches, and get the Ramen noodles ready for the inevitable power outage to come. If we still have cell service, I will post a small update tomorrow to let you know how we and the rivers fared. Be careful, and be safe!

A cool POV net shot of a nice West Branch Brown from the weekend. Photo by the angler: Michael Johnson

Isonychia bicolor – Isos – #12-2XL & #12 & #14

Heptagenia hebe – Olive Sulphur – #16 & #18 (waning)

Pseudocloeon– Tiny BWO- #22-26

Stenonema stenocron(et al) – Light Cahill – (Male)- #14 (sporadic)

Hydropsyche- Tan Caddis- #18

Ryacophilia- Olive Caddis- #16

Baetis species – #18 & #20 (sporadic when cloudy)

October 28, 2012

Delaware River Report / Conditions October 28, 2012

Just a note – for some reason the blog is posting late to some people, so if you don’t see it first thing-  check back later in the day. We’re working on it!

To be totally honest (standard operating procedure on THIS blog at least), yesterday was one big disappointment. After all the anticipation and despite PERFECT weather / water conditions, we only had a brief window of activity on the water, with very few fish even taking advantage of it. That ‘activity’ lasted from about 11:30 to maybe 1:30 at the longest part, and as Jeff put it when I asked him what was hatching his response was, “Size 42 Pseudos. Oh, and we saw three isos. And one steno. And no one got eaten.” As such, I’m not optimistic about our chances today, especially considering we may have the first few winds from the “Frankenstorm” making their way to us later this afternoon. If we lose power over the next few days, I will try to continue to give river updates if possible. Since they are already staging all the PenElec trucks for a run to the cities, we may be without power for awhile up here if it hits.

Yep. This could be fun.

Isonychia bicolor – Isos – #12-2XL & #12 & #14

Heptagenia hebe – Olive Sulphur – #16 & #18 (waning)

Pseudocloeon– Tiny BWO- #22-26

Stenonema stenocron(et al) – Light Cahill – (Male)- #14 (sporadic)

Hydropsyche- Tan Caddis- #18

Ryacophilia- Olive Caddis- #16

Baetis species – #18 & #20 (sporadic when cloudy)

October 27, 2012

Delaware River Report / Conditions October 27, 2012

A Storms like Hurricane Sandy is like the damn Superbowl (please don’t sue me NFL) for the Weather Channel and every other meteorologist out there. Or Apocolypse. Take your pick, and take it down a notch guys, really.  While it does look like it could bring some pretty serious weather up here, as of right now we’re “safe” until mid-Monday at the earliest. Winds are the concern, and we’re not hearing what kinds of rainfall we can expect in our area. Until then, let’s keep fishing! We had an unseasonably warm day here yesterday, and the bugs responded in kind and early – starting around 11:30 or so we had good Pseudo activity here on the lower West, and the fish were actually steady in places! The afternoon did get a little bit weird however, with certain pools (Home Pool being one) shutting down around 2:00PM, and others carrying on all the way into the evening. Today we’ve got more clouds, and even warmer temps, so the action should start early, and will hopefully continue on as it did yesterday.

After a brief hiatus look who showed up on an outside wall of the shop this morning – the Pseudos! Sorry for the lame cell-phone resolution. Photo by: Bart Larmouth

Isonychia bicolor – Isos – #12-2XL & #12 & #14

Heptagenia hebe – Olive Sulphur – #16 & #18 (waning)

Pseudocloeon– Tiny BWO- #22-26

Stenonema stenocron(et al) – Light Cahill – (Male)- #14 (sporadic)

Hydropsyche- Tan Caddis- #18

Ryacophilia- Olive Caddis- #16

Baetis species – #18 & #20 (sporadic when cloudy)