Delaware River Report / Conditions October 13, 2013
My disdain for weathermen hit an all-time high yesterday. Or perhaps they have just changed the meaning of “mostly cloudy and calm” to “bright, beautiful cloudless skies with stiff breezes at times,” as that was what happened with the weather yesterday. Despite this, there was some insect activity during the bright part of the day, and there were some fish active on nymphs on the Main Stem and lower West. Definitely not the banner day we were looking for, that much is for sure. Today’s forecast is at least ambiguous, with the mysterious “Sun and Clouds” being the witchdoctors’ call. Our flow has been increased by a teaspoon to 314 CFS, which will hopefully continue to go up as Montague drops (they need to maintain 1,750 cfs down there). Otherwise, I just plan to wait and see what happens today. Regardless of the weather, at some point we will see our little winged friends show up, and hopefully the fish as well.
A nice, healthy, West Branch Rainbow. Photo Courtesy of Bruce Miller
What’s Hatching:
Isonychia bicolor – Iso – Slate Drake – #12-2XL, #12
Stenonema species – Various Light Cahills – #14
Pseudocloeon species – BWO – #22 – sporadic
Ephemerella lata – Dark BWO – #18
Heptagenia hebe – Olive Sulphurs – #16
Current Flow Conditions:
| FLOWS AS OF 8:00 AM: | |
| West Branch at Stilesville, NY | 313 cfs @ 52º |
| West Branch at Hale Eddy, NY | 439 cfs @ 53º |
| East Branch at Harvard, NY | 179 cfs @ 49º |
| East Branch at Fish’s Eddy, NY | 404 cfs @ 54º |
| Mainstem at Lordville, NY | 905 cfs @ 56º |
| Beaverkill at Cooks Falls, NY | 156 cfs @ N/A |
| Cannonsville Reservoir Level & Release | 76.3% – 314 CFS release |
Delaware River Report / Conditions October 12, 2013
A bit better out there yesterday for some, but there was definitely a dearth of bugs for others. The hatches definitely started later in the day, but also continued a bit longer into evening than they have been as of late, shutting down gradually from 6:30 on, instead of the “lightswitch” effect we’ve been having around 6 lately. The bugs themselves were the same – Isos, Hebes, Stenos, and Pseudos, with the fish focusing mostly on the first and last of that list. Today, we’re looking at mostly cloudy skies, with calm winds, and temps around 70. Constant pressure should also help to get the fish and bugs active, making for a good Saturday!
Ken House with a CHUNK of a brown – built more like a shad! Photo by: Jeff White
What’s Hatching:
Isonychia bicolor – Iso – Slate Drake – #12-2XL, #12
Stenonema species – Various Light Cahills – #14
Pseudocloeon species – BWO – #22 – sporadic
Ephemerella lata – Dark BWO – #18
Heptagenia hebe – Olive Sulphurs – #16
Current Flow Conditions:
| FLOWS AS OF 8:00 AM: | |
| West Branch at Stilesville, NY | 229 cfs @ 51º |
| West Branch at Hale Eddy, NY | 351 cfs @ 52º |
| East Branch at Harvard, NY | 185 cfs @ 48º |
| East Branch at Fish’s Eddy, NY | 430 cfs @ 52º |
| Mainstem at Lordville, NY | 944 cfs @ 55º |
| Beaverkill at Cooks Falls, NY | 166 cfs @ N/A |
| Cannonsville Reservoir Level & Release | 76.3% – 227 CFS release |
Delaware River Report / Conditions October 11, 2013
Sometimes, the fish are just bastards. With cloudy, misty skies and nice cooler temps, we actually had what we hoped for yesterday afternoon – bugs! Good numbers of Psuedos, Hebes, and even a decent flush or two of Isos came down the pipe. The fish were rising from about 3 o’clock on, but I am still trying to find someone who figured out what the heck they were eating. Early on, a few would take Iso duns or emergers, but that quickly ceased, and the mystery rises began. Pseudos going untouched, then an immediate sub-surface rise right afterwards. Emergers, wets, spinners – the didn’t want any of it. Sometimes I guess the river just needs to take you to school. We are expecting a similar day today, but with warmer temps predicted. I would predict we’ll see some of the same action timing-wise – let’s just hope the fish decide they want to cooperate a bit more!
A few of these were actually hatching as well, but the fish ignored them too. Photo by: Jeff White
What’s Hatching:
Isonychia bicolor – Iso – Slate Drake – #12-2XL, #12
Stenonema species – Various Light Cahills – #14
Pseudocloeon species – BWO – #22 – sporadic
Ephemerella lata – Dark BWO – #18
Heptagenia hebe – Olive Sulphurs – #16
Current Flow Conditions:
| FLOWS AS OF 8:00 AM: | |
| West Branch at Stilesville, NY | 232 cfs @ 51º |
| West Branch at Hale Eddy, NY | 370 cfs @ 53º |
| East Branch at Harvard, NY | 188 cfs @ 48º |
| East Branch at Fish’s Eddy, NY | 453 cfs @ 51º |
| Mainstem at Lordville, NY | 994 cfs @ 53º |
| Beaverkill at Cooks Falls, NY | 182 cfs @ N/A |
| Cannonsville Reservoir Level & Release | 76.4% – 227 CFS release |
Delaware River Report / Conditions October 10, 2013
Mixed bag on the water yesterday, depending on where you were fishing. The West had mediocre bug activity, but fish that were definitely hungry, and eager to eat. Occasional risers could be caught if cast to, taking our favorite – Iso duns. The Main was pretty quiet all afternoon, with very little hatching activity to speak of, and even fewer fish up and about. As the temp dropped yesterday evening, pretty much all activity ceased – light switch style. Today we are looking a cool, cloudy day with passing showers here and there. The lower air pressure should get some of the fish up and moving again on the Main, and will hopefully encourage more fish on the West to show themselves as well!
Hey! We found a way to get Bruce to smile for the camera! Land a MONSTER Rainbow! Photo: Joe DeSole
What’s Hatching:
Isonychia bicolor – Iso – Slate Drake – #12-2XL, #12
Stenonema species – Various Light Cahills – #14
Pseudocloeon species – BWO – #22 – sporadic
Ephemerella lata – Dark BWO – #18
Heptagenia hebe – Olive Sulphurs – #16
Current Flow Conditions:
| FLOWS AS OF 8:00 AM: | |
| West Branch at Stilesville, NY | 232 cfs @ 51º |
| West Branch at Hale Eddy, NY | 400 cfs @ 52º |
| East Branch at Harvard, NY | 188 cfs @ 48º |
| East Branch at Fish’s Eddy, NY | 491 cfs @ 52º |
| Mainstem at Lordville, NY | 1,190 cfs @ 54º |
| Beaverkill at Cooks Falls, NY | 203 cfs @ N/A |
| Cannonsville Reservoir Level & Release | 76.5% – 227 CFS release |
Delaware River Report / Conditions October 9, 2013
Not too bad out there yesterday. It was definitely a pool-by-pool scenario, with certain areas fishing well, and others pretty quiet. The wind definitely pushed bugs back to the vegetation when it was up, but once the sun dropped down, it allowed for some pretty decent spinner action, along with decent duns popping off as well. Today, we’ve got more clouds in the forecast which is always a boon, with temps in the mid-60s. If the pressure remains constant we should see a repeat of yesterday’s hatching, but hopefully this time with a few more fish poking their heads up and looking for food!
Plenty of Stenos were showing up yesterday as well! Both duns and spinners. Photo: Bart Larmouth
What’s Hatching:
Isonychia bicolor – Iso – Slate Drake – #12-2XL, #12
Stenonema species – Various Light Cahills – #14
Pseudocloeon species – BWO – #22 – sporadic
Ephemerella lata – Dark BWO – #18
Heptagenia hebe – Olive Sulphurs – #16
Current Flow Conditions:
| FLOWS AS OF 8:00 AM: | |
| West Branch at Stilesville, NY | 317 cfs @ 51º |
| West Branch at Hale Eddy, NY | 485 cfs @ 52º |
| East Branch at Harvard, NY | 194 cfs @ 49º |
| East Branch at Fish’s Eddy, NY | 608 cfs @ 53º |
| Mainstem at Lordville, NY | 1,370 cfs @ 56º |
| Beaverkill at Cooks Falls, NY | 264 cfs @ N/A |
| Cannonsville Reservoir Level & Release | 76.3% – 240 CFS release |
Delaware River Report / Conditions October 8, 2013
They definitely made a mountain out of a mole hill – at least as far as the “huge rain” that was predicted for yesterday. Even the hours of heavy winds predicted amounted to about a half hour around mid-day. We did get a decent dousing, but the ground certainly soaked up much of it. The West Branch did get a bit on the muddy side towards evening, but has cleared already, and is starting to drop again. The Beaverkill /East Branch peaked late last night, and have finally started to fall, and it is likely starting to clear already this morning. Today we’ve got a cooler day on par, with Mostly sunny skies predicted. With all the flux in the weather recently, it’s a crapshoot as to what will happen out there today, but there is only one way to find out – get out and fish!
Almost to scale (kidding) – size 8-2XL caddis – Platycentropis radius. There are plenty of these guys around now, sometimes called “October Caddis” – but unfortunately you won’t find many fish eating them as they live and hatch in the slow outer reaches of the river. Photo by: Jeff White
What’s Hatching:
Isonychia bicolor – Iso – Slate Drake – #12-2XL, #12
Stenonema species – Various Light Cahills – #14
Pseudocloeon species – BWO – #22 – sporadic
Ephemerella lata – Dark BWO – #18
Heptagenia hebe – Olive Sulphurs – #16
Current Flow Conditions:
| FLOWS AS OF 8:00 AM: | |
| West Branch at Stilesville, NY | 229 cfs @ 51º |
| West Branch at Hale Eddy, NY | 529 cfs @ 53º |
| East Branch at Harvard, NY | 232 cfs @ 51º |
| East Branch at Fish’s Eddy, NY | 1,180 cfs @ 56º |
| Mainstem at Lordville, NY | 1,730 cfs @ 58º (dropping) |
| Beaverkill at Cooks Falls, NY | 531 cfs @ N/A |
| Cannonsville Reservoir Level & Release | 76.1% – 240 CFS release |
Delaware River Report / Conditions October 7, 2013
While not gangbusters, yesterday was a marked improvement over Saturday, that much is for sure! There were bugs and rising fish sporadically throughout the day, but they were not uber-picky, and definitely could be caught. The big news of the morning is NYC DEP’s lovely move of dropping us from a 1010 cfs release down to a 244 cfs – WITHOUT stepping/ramping it down. Let’s just hope that the Browns had not started to make redds yet, and that not too many bugs moved to shore to hatch in the last week or so. This yo-yoing is the one of worst thing that they can do to the river, and who knows how the fishing will be affected today. We do have heavy rain in the forecast, and the ground is fairly saturated, so let’s hope that we get plastered, and get the flows back up again quickly.
Not that we will be streamer fishing again anytime soon, but here is a crazy photo that shows a way to catch a caddis – still in the case! Photo: Bart Larmouth
What’s Hatching:
Isonychia bicolor – Iso – Slate Drake – #12-2XL, #12
Stenonema species – Various Light Cahills – #14
Pseudocloeon species – BWO – #22 – sporadic
Ephemerella lata – Dark BWO – #18
Heptagenia hebe – Olive Sulphurs – #16
Current Flow Conditions:
| FLOWS AS OF 8:00 AM: | |
| West Branch at Stilesville, NY | 250 cfs @ 54º |
| West Branch at Hale Eddy, NY | 415 cfs @ 55º |
| East Branch at Harvard, NY | 179 cfs @ 54º |
| East Branch at Fish’s Eddy, NY | 404 cfs @ 60º |
| Mainstem at Lordville, NY | 1,670 cfs @ 60º (dropping) |
| Beaverkill at Cooks Falls, NY | 146 cfs @ N/A |
| Cannonsville Reservoir Level & Release | 77.9% – 240 CFS release |
Delaware River Report / Conditions October 6, 2013
Every time you have a tough day on the river, there is always a saving grace – when everyone else does as well. This was definitely the case yesterday. Despite “perfect” weather conditions for dry fly fishing, there was very little surface action at all, despite times of HEAVY clouds of pseudo spinners taking up the air – so much that you needed to keep your mouth closed at times. Folks on the West definitely moved fish on streamers, and some limited activity on nymphs, but overall quite a slow day. Today could be a game changer, with even more cloud cover than yesterday (the sun popped out way more than was predicted), as well as scattered rain and thunderstorms, these low pressure systems will hopefully get the fish and bugs up and moving!
Chris Anderson with another colored up Brown! Photo: Bob Lewis
What’s Hatching:
Isonychia bicolor – Iso – Slate Drake – #12-2XL, #12
Stenonema species – Various Light Cahills – #14
Pseudocloeon species – BWO – #22 – sporadic
Ephemerella lata – Dark BWO – #18
Heptagenia hebe – Olive Sulphurs – #16
Current Flow Conditions:
| FLOWS AS OF 8:00 AM: | |
| West Branch at Stilesville, NY | 1,030 cfs @ 53º |
| West Branch at Hale Eddy, NY | 1,170 cfs @ 53º |
| East Branch at Harvard, NY | 188 cfs @ 54º |
| East Branch at Fish’s Eddy, NY | 387 cfs @ 60º |
| Mainstem at Lordville, NY | 1,670 cfs @ 60º |
| Beaverkill at Cooks Falls, NY | 131 cfs @ N/A |
| Cannonsville Reservoir Level & Release | 77.9% – 1,010 CFS release |
Delaware River Report / Conditions October 5, 2013
What a difference a little cloud cover and precipitation can make! The fish were definitely more active yesterday, and sections of the West and Main had very good hatches later in the afternoon. The only downer was the wicked thunderstorm that rolled through the area right around that time, forcing many to get off the river. We had more ground strikes than I have seen in a long time, including a car right in front of the club (everyone was fine)! A good time to lean on the old adage, “discretion is the better part of valor.” Today we are looking at clouds pretty much throughout the day, very little wind, and a chance of some showers here and there, no thunderstorms predicted fortunately. This should allow those who are heading out to take full advantage of the bugs that should come with a day like this!
Mark Sheivachman with a NICE main stem brown taken yesterday before the thunder. Photo: Bruce Miller
What’s Hatching:
Isonychia bicolor – Iso – Slate Drake – #12-2XL, #12
Stenonema species – Various Light Cahills – #14
Pseudocloeon species – BWO – #22 – sporadic
Ephemerella lata – Dark BWO – #18
Heptagenia hebe – Olive Sulphurs – #16
Current Flow Conditions:
| FLOWS AS OF 8:00 AM: | |
| West Branch at Stilesville, NY | 910 cfs @ 53º |
| West Branch at Hale Eddy, NY | 1,020 cfs @ 53º |
| East Branch at Harvard, NY | 191 cfs @ 52º |
| East Branch at Fish’s Eddy, NY | 356 cfs @ 60º |
| Mainstem at Lordville, NY | 1,500 cfs @ 59º |
| Beaverkill at Cooks Falls, NY | 118 cfs @ N/A |
| Cannonsville Reservoir Level & Release | 77.9% – 905 CFS release |
Delaware River Report / Conditions October 4, 2013
A little better on the dry fly action in the evening last night, depending on where you were fishing. There were plenty of spinners in the air river-wide, but they decided not to bother coming down until right before dark for most folks. I choose poorly and did not have that luck. The streamer bite was also a bit slower than it has been lately, likely due to the bright sun (and beautiful day in general). The good news is that we have clouds and rain in the forecast (at least in limited amounts) over the next few days. The additional cover should get the fish to start looking up some more, and will definitely encourage those lazy spinners to get to business and hit the water!
Tom took this nice Brown Trout yesterday evening while fishing with Bruce. Photo: Bruce Miller
What’s Hatching:
Isonychia bicolor – Iso – Slate Drake – #12-2XL, #12
Stenonema species – Various Light Cahills – #14
Pseudocloeon species – BWO – #22 – sporadic
Ephemerella lata – Dark BWO – #18
Heptagenia hebe – Olive Sulphurs – #16
Current Flow Conditions:
| FLOWS AS OF 8:00 AM: | |
| West Branch at Stilesville, NY | 923 cfs @ 52º |
| West Branch at Hale Eddy, NY | 1,020 cfs @ 52º |
| East Branch at Harvard, NY | 176 cfs @ 52º |
| East Branch at Fish’s Eddy, NY | 344 cfs @ 58º |
| Mainstem at Lordville, NY | 1,340 cfs @ 58º |
| Beaverkill at Cooks Falls, NY | 117 cfs @ N/A |
| Cannonsville Reservoir Level & Release | 78.5% – 905 CFS release |
Delaware River Report / Conditions October 3, 2013
It was another tough one out there yesterday. While some browns were out and active swiping at streamers, the majority decided to lay low for the majority of the day. The bugs did a little bit of the same, with sporadic flushes appearing from mid-afternoon on, with just a little glimmer of action right at dark. I am not really sure why it was slow, but we did have a mild pressure change sweep through, bringing the warm weather in, which could be the culprit in this case. Today we’ve got a carbon-copy on our hands with warm air temps, very little wind, and a decent amount of cloud cover. Coupled with a fairly steady release, this should get the bugs (and fish!) up and moving today!
Pat McPartland with a nice blue-hued Von-Behr Brown! Photo: Bob Lewis
What’s Hatching:
Isonychia bicolor – Iso – Slate Drake – #12-2XL, #12
Stenonema species – Various Light Cahills – #14
Pseudocloeon species – BWO – #22 – sporadic
Ephemerella lata – Dark BWO – #18
Heptagenia hebe – Olive Sulphurs – #16
Current Flow Conditions:
| FLOWS AS OF 8:00 AM: | |
| West Branch at Stilesville, NY | 801 cfs @ 52º |
| West Branch at Hale Eddy, NY | 892 cfs @ 52º |
| East Branch at Harvard, NY | 179 cfs @ 51º |
| East Branch at Fish’s Eddy, NY | 356 cfs @ 57º |
| Mainstem at Lordville, NY | 1,380 cfs @ 58º |
| Beaverkill at Cooks Falls, NY | 122 cfs @ N/A |
| Cannonsville Reservoir Level & Release | 79.2% – 812 CFS release |
Delaware River Report / Conditions October 2, 2013
While an absolutely stunning fall day yesterday, it was definitely better for looking at the changing foliage than the fishing. Bugs were slow to come throughout the day, and there was just a little baby flush at night, nothing really to write home about. Those swinging streamers had decent actions on pre-spawn browns, but otherwise it was pretty quiet overall. Today we are expecting more cloud cover, and similar temperatures to yesterday, with the only main variable is a drop in flow – down from a 1,050 release to 812. This is not a drastic swing, but it could definitely affect the fish further. The good news is there is only one way to find out what is going on – get out there and fish!
Dave Price with a BIG West Branch ‘Bow. Photo: Bob Lewis
What’s Hatching:
Isonychia bicolor – Iso – Slate Drake – #12-2XL, #12
Stenonema species – Various Light Cahills – #14
Pseudocloeon species – BWO – #22 – sporadic
Ephemerella lata – Dark BWO – #18
Heptagenia hebe – Olive Sulphurs – #16
Current Flow Conditions:
| FLOWS AS OF 8:00 AM: | |
| West Branch at Stilesville, NY | 836 cfs @ 51º |
| West Branch at Hale Eddy, NY | 931 cfs @ 52º |
| East Branch at Harvard, NY | 179 cfs @ 51º |
| East Branch at Fish’s Eddy, NY | 364 cfs @ 57º |
| Mainstem at Lordville, NY | 1,650 cfs @ 57º |
| Beaverkill at Cooks Falls, NY | 125 cfs @ N/A |
| Cannonsville Reservoir Level & Release | 80.0% – 812 CFS release |
