June 27, 2014

Delaware River Report / Conditions June 27, 2014

Just a quick report today.  Sorry for the delay- love computer issues.  All the the river levels are dropping back nicely but the Beaverkill has color beginning around Horton and that continues down the East Branch and Mainstem leaving the West Branch as the best option today.  It also looks like Pepacton may possibly be spilling warm water looking at the flow leveling out plus the warm temperature.  The West Branch is clear, wadable, and fishable for the entire length.  The water temperature at the Hancock Bridge is 60 degrees this afternoon so it’s in great shape.

Hatching:

Sulphurs #16 -20 E. dorothea

Light Cahill #14 – E. Invaria

Pale Evening Dun #14 Epeorus vitreus

Tan Caddis #16 – 18- Hydrosyche sp.

Tiny Blue Wing Olives #22 – 26 – Pseudocloeon sp.

Slate Drakes #12-2xl – Isonychia bicolor

Charcoal Caddis #16-18 – Dk Brachycentrus sp.

June 26, 2014

Delaware River Report / Conditions June 26, 2014

Despite the heavy downpours yesterday the West Branch remains in decent shape.  Stilesville hasn’t budged so that is a great wading option today.  The flow at Hale Eddy peaked around 800 cfs and is now falling- not too bad at all.  We have some color in the lower WB but it is fishable and should continue to clear throughout the day.  If you are wading keep in mind the flow will be higher as you get below Hale Eddy due to all of the feeder streams adding a decent amount of water.  Both before and during the storm we were seeing decent olives coming off and some of the steadiest risers I’ve seen in weeks.  The hatching lasted a few hours until the flow really started to climb.  Most of us found some rising fish, got off the river early, and had a nice dinner earlier than normal- which isn’t too bad a life.  The Beaverkill, East Branch, and Mainstem took the brunt of the storm and are not wadeable at this time- stick to the upper West Branch.

The Upper West is in great shape- hardly a bump!

Hatching:

Sulphurs #16 -20 E. dorothea

Light Cahill #14 – E. Invaria

Pale Evening Dun #14 Epeorus vitreus

Tan Caddis #16 – 18- Hydrosyche sp.

Tiny Blue Wing Olives #22 – 26 – Pseudocloeon sp.

Slate Drakes #12-2xl – Isonychia bicolor

Charcoal Caddis #16-18 – Dk Brachycentrus sp.

June 25, 2014

Delaware River Report / Conditions June 25, 2014

We started yesterday with a decent amount of Stenos on the water mid- afternoon.  The fish never really got going in the sun but there was opportunity if you could mark one and keep putting the fly over the lane.  We never saw steady feeding but it was enough tow work with- kind of a mid day bonus.  Once the Stenos ended people blind fish Isonychias in the riffles were putting some fish in the net.  Once the sun dropped the fish were eating small sulphurs.  It played out like a normal sulphur hatch with a lot of the early eats 2″ under the surface and then right around dark there were more noses poking up.  We are starting off with decent cloud cover this morning and they are calling for a 1/2 inch of rain scattered throughout the day.  Sounds like a decent fishing weather and we expect a lot of the rain to soak into the ground.  Hopefully the rain brings more olives to the surface during the day.  The water temp at the Hancock Bridge is starting a little higher this morning at 56 degrees- still decent for fishing.

Bruce Miller with a nice fish the other day during prime time

Hatching:

Sulphurs #16 -20 E. dorothea

Light Cahill #14 – E. Invaria

Pale Evening Dun #14 Epeorus vitreus

Tan Caddis #16 – 18- Hydrosyche sp.

Tiny Blue Wing Olives #22 – 26 – Pseudocloeon sp.

Slate Drakes #12-2xl – Isonychia bicolor

Charcoal Caddis #16-18 – Dk Brachycentrus sp.

June 24, 2014

Delaware River Report / Conditions June 24, 2014

The weather worked in our favor yesterday with some decent cloud cover until late afternoon.  Nymphing was productive in the morning and by late evenign we started to see a mix of sulphurs, stenos, and Isonychias.  At least for me yesterday was the opposite of the weekend with most of our fish eating #18 sulphurs and not the Isos.  By evening the fish were happy and most of the people we saw had some targets to work with- Pretty good for the end of June.  Today is going to be a little warmer with a possible thunderstorm.  The humidy will be up but it shouldn’t feel too bad on the river.  Cannonsville was 97.8% yesterday and the water temperature is 56 degrees at the Hancock Bridge.

Dave Price finding fish in the sun on the West Branch

Hatching:

Sulphurs #16 -20 E. dorothea

Light Cahill #14 – E. Invaria

Pale Evening Dun #14 Epeorus vitreus

Tan Caddis #16 – 18- Hydrosyche sp.

Tiny Blue Wing Olives #22 – 26 – Pseudocloeon sp.

Slate Drakes #12-2xl – Isonychia bicolor

Charcoal Caddis #16-18 – Dk Brachycentrus sp.

June 23, 2014

Delaware River Report / Conditions June 23, 2014

We’re coming off another cool night which is great news for the river system.  The water temperature at the Hancock Bridge is 55 degrees this morning and as of 6/20 Cannonsville was 98.4% capacity.  Today is going to a little warmer with air temps in the low 80s with a slight chance of some T Storms – hopefully bring in some clouds this afternoon.  Everyone fished late yesterday and found some sulphurs with a few Isonychias mixed in the riffles.  The mayflies still seem to be coming in flushes last a couple of hours but the fish are eating them.  Nymphing is best early before the sun really hits the water but offers your best chance of landing a fish even during the mid – day stretch.  There are good numbers of tan caddis plus a few cornutas around so keep an eye on the riffles in the morning.

West Branch water temps are still holding on in late June!

Hatching:

Sulphurs #16 -18 E. dorothea

Light Cahill #14 – E. Invaria

Pale Evening Dun #14 Epeorus vitreus

Tan Caddis #16 – 18- Hydrosyche sp.

Tiny Blue Wing Olives #22 – 26 – Pseudocloeon sp.

Slate Drakes #12-2xl – Isonychia bicolor

Charcoal Caddis #16-18 – Dk Brachycentrus sp.

June 22, 2014

Delaware River Report / Conditions June 22, 2014

Yesterday was pretty interesting with intermittent clouds and flushes of bugs during the day.  Nothing heavy until late afternoon / early evening when the Isonychias and Stenos came off well for a couple of hours leading into a brief sulphur hatch. Some of the larger pools had fish eating pseudos as the sun dropped.  All in all it was the best hatching we’ve seen in a while and the fish reacted accordingly.  Those fish really like to eat Isos!  The cool nights are doing a world of good for the water temps – it looks like we have a couple more days of that coming which is great news.  I would start off nymphing in the morning and afternoons while keeping an eye on the riffles for the odd Iso or caddis eat.  Slowly stripping Iso nymphs should be a good alternative to dead drift.  As the sun drops we should see an increase in bug activity.

Don  stayed late last night and it payed off! Photo by Jordan Davenport

Hatching:

Sulphurs #16 -18 E. dorothea

Light Cahill #14 – E. Invaria

Pale Evening Dun #14 Epeorus vitreus

Tan Caddis #16 – 18- Hydrosyche sp.

Tiny Blue Wing Olives #22 – 26 – Pseudocloeon sp.

Slate Drakes #12-2xl – Isonychia bicolor

Charcoal Caddis #16-18 – Dk Brachycentrus sp.

June 21, 2014

Delaware River Report / Conditions June 21, 2014

We are coming off a very cool night which helped the river temperatures this morning.  While we are enjoying temps in the 50’s right now the sun is poking through and we are looking at high 70’s by late afternoon.  The bonus of the weather today looks like wind gusts at 5 mph- finally no wind!  Nymphing the riffles will be the best option during the day but keep an eye out for the occasional slash at a caddis.  Towards dark look for sulphurs, stenos, and Isonychias- don’t leave the river early

Some of the Isonychias are huge!

Hatching:

Sulphurs #16 -18 E. dorothea

Light Cahill #14 – E. Invaria

Pale Evening Dun #14 Epeorus vitreus

Tan Caddis #16 – 18- Hydrosyche sp.

Tiny Blue Wing Olives #22 – 26 – Pseudocloeon sp.

Slate Drakes #12-2xl – Isonychia bicolor

Charcoal Caddis #16-18 – Dk Brachycentrus sp.

June 20, 2014

Delaware River Report / Conditions June 20, 2014

We are beginning to get some reports of the normal mid day sulphur hatches but the bugs have been spotty so far.  The hatching should increase and settle in over th enext few wekks bringing us our normal summer fishing with sulphurs, Isonychias, and olives.  There were flushes of insects on the West Branch yesterday but you had to be in the right place at the right time to capitalize.  A lot of the decent fishing has been at dark or in the dark so don’t leave the river early- especially on a bright day with no wind.  The spinners have to show.

The stenos are out

Hatching:

Sulphurs #16 -18 E. dorothea

Light Cahill #14 – E. Invaria

Pale Evening Dun #14 Epeorus vitreus

Tan Caddis #16 – 18- Hydrosyche sp.

Tiny Blue Wing Olives #22 – 26 – Pseudocloeon sp.

Slate Drakes #12-2xl – Isonychia bicolor

Charcoal Caddis #16-18 – Dk Brachycentrus sp.

June 19, 2014

Delaware River Report / Conditions June 19, 2014

We are starting off this morning with some precipitation that varies from a light mist to very light rain- a perfect way to start the day.  It hasn’t amounted to much so far and the rivers are still dropping and are wadeable and floatable.  We should keep the cloud cover until the afternoon and thankfully the air temp should stay in a comfortable range today.  We are still seeing a mix of sulphurs, stenos, tan caddis, and the Isonychias.  Nymphing should be good this morning with the cloud cover but I wouldn’t be surprised to find some fish rising, especially in the larger pools.  If it doesn’t look like anything is on the water but the fish are rising sporadically take a close look for steno spinners left over from last night.

Delilah with her first fish on a fl rod on her first day casting! Photo by Bob Lewis

Hatching:

Sulphurs #16 -18 E. dorothea

Light Cahill #14 – E. Invaria

Pale Evening Dun #14 Epeorus vitreus

Green Drake #8-2xl E. Guttalata

Tan Caddis #16 – 18- Hydrosyche sp.

Tiny Blue Wing Olives #22 – 26 – Pseudocloeon sp.

Slate Drakes #12-2xl – Isonychia bicolor

Charcoal Caddis #16-18 – Dk Brachycentrus sp.

June 18, 2014

Delaware River Report / Conditions June 18, 2014

We did get hit with some rain last night but overall the system looks fine this morning.  Hale Eddy is still climbing but so far the water looks perfectly clear out front and is wadeable.  The Stilesville flow didn’t budge and remains at 494 so the water above most of the feeders remains unchanged from yesterday and should fish well too.  It looks like intermittent clouds today and maybe a brief thunderstorm, nothing to be concerned about.  We’ve been seeing a mix of Isonychias, Sulphurs, Stenos, Pseudos, and some tan caddis.  While most of the Green Drake activity is over we are leaving them on the hatch list since some of the guys are still talking fish into eating them.  If the sun pops out nymphing the riffles or blind casting Isonychias seems to be the best bet for landing fish.

Bill Redington put this nice one in the net over the weekend!

Hatching:

Sulphurs #16 -18 E. dorothea

Light Cahill #14 – E. Invaria

Pale Evening Dun #14 Epeorus vitreus

Green Drake #8-2xl E. Guttalata

Tan Caddis #16 – 18- Hydrosyche sp.

Tiny Blue Wing Olives #22 – 26 – Pseudocloeon sp.

Slate Drakes #12-2xl – Isonychia bicolor

Charcoal Caddis #16-18 – Dk Brachycentrus sp.

June 17, 2014

Delaware River Report / Conditions June 17, 2014

The rivers are continuing to drop and should level off over the next few days.  We had a brief rain shower last night but the river remain clear and the levels are great for floating and wading.  Today looks warm with air temps in the high 80’s until more thunderstorms move in this evening.  According to Accuweather we are looking at light winds during the day dropping in the evening = perfect!  It doesn’t look like we will get enough rain to bump the rivers but the clouds will be a welcome sight.  During the day look for caddis in the riffles and blind casting Isonychias is beginning to pay off.  As evening comes we are seeing a mix of sulphurs and stenos into dark..  Nymphing the riffles with smaller pheasant tails and Copper Johns has also been bringing some fish to the net.

The fish are in great shape this Summer! Photo by Bob Lewis

Hatching:

Sulphurs #16 -18 E. dorothea

Light Cahill #14 – E. Invaria

Pale Evening Dun #14 Epeorus vitreus

Green Drake #8-2xl E. Guttalata

Tan Caddis #16 – 18- Hydrosyche sp.

Tiny Blue Wing Olives #22 – 26 – Pseudocloeon sp.

Slate Drakes #12-2xl – Isonychia bicolor

Charcoal Caddis #16-18 – Dk Brachycentrus sp.

June 16, 2014

Delaware River Report / Conditions June 16, 2014

With the bright sun yesterday, the streamer bit was ok and the bugs started around 3pm on the lower river.  Among the mix were dorotheas, isos, invaria, green drakes, pseudos, and even some March browns still! With the dropping water levels, the fish are becoming more active in the afternoon and today should be fairly similar to yesterday.  The West Branch is wadable nearly everywhere and so is the Upper main.

Jordan found a few little guys to take his green drake.

Hatching:

Sulphurs #16 -18 E. dorothea

Light Cahill #14 – E. Invaria

Pale Evening Dun #14 Epeorus vitreus

Green Drake #8-2xl E. Guttalata

Tan Caddis #16 – 18- Hydrosyche sp.

Tiny Blue Wing Olives #22 – 26 – Pseudocloeon sp.

Slate Drakes #12-2xl – Isonychia bicolor

Charcoal Caddis #16-18 – Dk Brachycentrus sp.

FLOWS AS OF 8:00 AM:
West Branch at Stilesville, NY	494 cfs @ 44º
West Branch at Hale Eddy, NY	773 cfs @ 50º
East Branch at Harvard, NY	292 cfs @ 54º
East Branch at Fish’s Eddy, NY	1540 cfs @ 56º
Mainstem at Lordville, NY	2860 cfs @ 60º
Beaverkill at Cooks Falls, NY	917 cfs @ N/A