July 28, 2012

Delaware River Report / Conditions July 28, 2012

Talk about an odd-ball day yesterday. The storms never materialized as predicted, and unfortunately, the bugs really didn’t either, even up high. We saw very little activity in Home Pool all day and as the temps got up in the high 60s by evening, I really wasn’t all that surprised. The surprise came from Deposit, where even the sulphurs appeared to take the night off. As for today, I definitely expect a good chunk of people out on the water, but unless there are some really irresponsible guides / people with boats out there, the low flows will mean a wade-only scenario. Upstream is still the best bet as the lower river will warm up pretty well if the clouds burn off and the sun comes out. Otherwise, if these overcast skies persist, we might be looking pretty good river-wide!

“You might need a new pair of wading boots when……” I must admit, my inner shop manager just cackles maniacally when I see a customer come in with a pair of old boys like this! Photo by: Bart Larmouth

Epeorus vitreus – Pale Evening Dun – (Female) -#14

Epeorus vitreus – Light Cahill – (Male)- #14

Potomanthus distinctus – Golden Drake – #12-2xl

Isonychia bicolor – Isos – #12-2XL and BIGGER!

Ephemerella dorthea – Sulphurs – #16

Ephemerella invaria – Large Sulphurs / Light Cahills – #14

Ephemerella deficiens–  Dark. BWO -#12-20

Ephemerella attenuata- Light BWO- #16-20

Ephemerella pseudocloeon– Tiny BWO- #22-26

Hydropsyche- Tan Caddis- #18

Ryacophilia- Olive Caddis- #16

Baetis species – #18 & #20

July 27, 2012

Delaware River Report / Conditions July 27, 2012

Well that was interesting. I haven’t been in the “likely path” of a Tornado since Texas. Fortunately we came through relatively unscathed, but unfortunately, so did the river. A small bump in flows is all that we got out of the bluster and booming. The Beaverkill and East Branch have some more water this morning, which will (unfortunately) help NYC meet the Montague minimum flow, so they will not need to release from Cannonsville this weekend to compensate, so we’re likely stuck with 320 CFS for the forseeable future. As for the fishing, everyone pretty much vacated the water when the storms rolled through, so no real firm reports on what was hatching out there. Today, we’re starting off nice and overcast, with some predicted t-storms lurking about. As always, pressure changes could be good, or they could be bad for the hatching (look at me, I sound like a weatherman with a prediction like that!), but regardless the clouds are a welcome change!

Ok, I can see this one, but none of my guides could. Let’s see how everyone’s eyes are – there is a dragonfly going from the center of the photo to the upper left corner, and its nymphal shuck is in the center/right. It was newly hatched, and had crawled onto the grass to finish. I promise this isn’t one of those 3D dot pictures they used to sell at the mall! Photo by: Bart Larmouth

Epeorus vitreus – Pale Evening Dun – (Female) -#14

Epeorus vitreus – Light Cahill – (Male)- #14

Potomanthus distinctus – Golden Drake – #12-2xl

Isonychia bicolor – Isos – #12-2XL and BIGGER!

Ephemerella dorthea – Sulphurs – #16

Ephemerella invaria – Large Sulphurs / Light Cahills – #14

Ephemerella deficiens–  Dark. BWO -#12-20

Ephemerella attenuata- Light BWO- #16-20

Ephemerella pseudocloeon– Tiny BWO- #22-26

Hydropsyche- Tan Caddis- #18

Ryacophilia- Olive Caddis- #16

Baetis species – #18 & #20

July 26, 2012

Delaware River Report / Conditions July 26, 2012

Man, tough going out there yesterday, even up in Deposit. I guess the fish / bugs decided they didn’t want a sun tan. The air temps remained bearable throughout the day, but our tricos never fell, and as mentioned the sulphurs decided to lay low as well. When evening rolled along, there were good pockets of activity up and down the West Branch, but no real consistent fishing river-wide. TODAY, we’ve got thunderstorms in the forecast, and we’re looking at a drop in release down to 320 CFS – bad news for those of us planning on floating tonight, that’s for sure! The likely reason (as if reason and logic were things used to determine our flows) is the forecasted thunderstorms /precipitation today. We could see upwards of an inch of rain today, but as always I am skeptical, as we should be getting very wet right now according to forecasts, and I see the sun peeking through. I guess it’s one of those ‘wait five minutes and the weather will change’ kinda days!

Hoping for more of these today! Emphemerella dorthea female dun (Sulphur). Photo by Jeff White

Epeorus vitreus – Pale Evening Dun – (Female) -#14

Epeorus vitreus – Light Cahill – (Male)- #14

Potomanthus distinctus – Golden Drake – #12-2xl

Isonychia bicolor – Isos – #12-2XL and BIGGER!

Ephemerella dorthea – Sulphurs – #16

Ephemerella invaria – Large Sulphurs / Light Cahills – #14

Ephemerella deficiens–  Dark. BWO -#12-20

Ephemerella attenuata- Light BWO- #16-20

Ephemerella pseudocloeon– Tiny BWO- #22-26

Hydropsyche- Tan Caddis- #18

Ryacophilia- Olive Caddis- #16

Baetis species – #18 & #20

July 25, 2012

Delaware River Report / Conditions July 25, 2012

Apologies for the late post – I had some photography to take care of this morning, so I could bring you THIS:

This was just a FRACTION of the Tricos in the air. Apologies for the lens flare, tough shot to get this morning. Although JJ Abrams would love it. Photo by: Bart Larmouth

That’s the view out front this morning – clouds and clouds of tricos, all up and down the lower West Branch. While they are still up in the air, and haven’t fallen yet, I’m sure they are going to in the near future, which may necessitate a “Back in a Few” sign on the shop door! Yesterday was pretty rough out there, not a whole lot of activity, and as the evening came in, so did the wind. In force. It killed any chance of a spinner fall, but more importantly disturbed the water enough to make it hard for the fish to see anything on the surface. The forecast for today has changed (go figure), and now we’re looking at clear skies and temps in the low 80s, instead of the cloud cover promised yesterday. It also looks like the dropped the flow from Cannonsville down to the 350 range around midnight, then brought it right back up to 420 or so. My guess is someone fell asleep on the controls in the middle of the night. Not sure what affect it will have on the fishing today, but likely not a ton.

Epeorus vitreus – Pale Evening Dun – (Female) -#14

Epeorus vitreus – Light Cahill – (Male)- #14

Potomanthus distinctus – Golden Drake – #12-2xl

Isonychia bicolor – Isos – #12-2XL and BIGGER!

Ephemerella dorthea – Sulphurs – #16

Ephemerella invaria – Large Sulphurs / Light Cahills – #14

Ephemerella deficiens–  Dark. BWO -#12-20

Ephemerella attenuata- Light BWO- #16-20

Ephemerella pseudocloeon– Tiny BWO- #22-26

Hydropsyche- Tan Caddis- #18

Ryacophilia- Olive Caddis- #16

Baetis species – #18 & #20

July 24, 2012

Delaware River Report / Conditions July 24, 2012

So despite some SERIOUS  thunderstorms yesterday, along with torrential rains at times, we barely had a bump in flows during the day / overnight. Jim took advantage of a break in the storms to wade Home Pool for a bit, and was disappointed to report he was quite disappointed. No one rising, and no bugs on the water – likely a result of the constant pressure changes throughout the day. Today, we’re looking at another humid one, with mostly sunny skies throughout. I’d expect everything to settle back down to into a ‘normal’ summer pace today, and if the pressure remains constant, we should be looking at a great evening of hatching and fishing!

Trout Crack! AKA: Isonychia bicolor female dun. Photo by: Jeff White

Epeorus vitreus – Pale Evening Dun – (Female) -#14

Epeorus vitreus – Light Cahill – (Male)- #14

Potomanthus distinctus – Golden Drake – #12-2xl

Isonychia bicolor – Isos – #12-2XL and BIGGER!

Ephemerella dorthea – Sulphurs – #16

Ephemerella invaria – Large Sulphurs / Light Cahills – #14

Ephemerella deficiens–  Dark. BWO -#12-20

Ephemerella attenuata- Light BWO- #16-20

Ephemerella pseudocloeon– Tiny BWO- #22-26

Hydropsyche- Tan Caddis- #18

Ryacophilia- Olive Caddis- #16

Baetis species – #18 & #20

jsk

July 23, 2012

Delaware River Report / Conditions July 23, 2012

Wow, we haven’t had a thunderstorm like that since…. well, last week! Yesterday was mainly a tease with a lot of dark clouds in the late morning and early afternoon that never actually turned into rain, only more sun that lasted for the entire day. This would make you believe that the fishing would be less than ideal, but our guys in home pool told a different story! There were a solid amount of #20 sulphurs and #12 potamanthus (yes, you read that right) hatching that made for excellent fishing well into the evening. The isos were still the best in terms of getting the fish to bite (shocking) but the variety was a pleasant surprise. It could have been better with some rain and cloud cover, but good things come to those who wait. The big daddy of storms didn’t decide to show up till around 1 AM last night, but boy did it make its presence known! The thunder was right over our heads and shook the entire house. The leftovers are still lingering here this morning with some infrequent showers and cloud cover that is supposed to last throughout the day. Let’s hope that the weather is right this time.

Steve Leber with one of his first Delaware Trout! Photo by: Wiley Paul

Epeorus vitreus – Pale Evening Dun – (Female) -#14

Epeorus vitreus – Light Cahill – (Male)- #14

Potomanthus distinctus – Golden Drake – #12-2xl

Isonychia bicolor – Isos – #12-2XL and BIGGER!

Ephemerella dorthea – Sulphurs – #16

Ephemerella invaria – Large Sulphurs / Light Cahills – #14

Ephemerella deficiens–  Dark. BWO -#12-20

Ephemerella attenuata- Light BWO- #16-20

Ephemerella pseudocloeon– Tiny BWO- #22-26

Hydropsyche- Tan Caddis- #18

Ryacophilia- Olive Caddis- #16

Baetis species – #18 & #20

jsk

July 22, 2012

Delaware River Report / Conditions July 22, 2012

You know, I don’t know who is the all-mighty hand behind the flows, but he needs to make up his mind already!  As of this morning, the release was once again bumped down to around 420 CFS, so hopefully if you’re looking to float today, you don’t have too strong of an attachment to the bottom of your boat. Yesterday ended up being more of the same that we’ve had for most of the summer. The overcast skies in the morning broke away pretty early in the day and remained sunny with some inconsistent clouds to offer some reprieve. However, this made for a not-so stellar hatch during  the day and the evening. But, not even a little bad weather and lack of bugs can prevent a real angler from catching fish! The isos are still your go-to in these kind of conditions and the mid-day sulphur hatch has remained fairly consistent from day to day. Olives have also proven to be useful, since at this point in the season, those fish have quite literally seen everything we can throw at them, especially with the sulphur patterns. And, for the truly adventurous out there, the pseudos and tricos have been seen(or not been seen) in the morning if you’re carrying your 7x and have eyes much better than mine.  Today is probably going to be similar to yesterday, but the weatherman is predicting thunderstorms this afternoon. I’ve learned not to get my hopes up.

A nice little football that fell victim to an iso. Check out the white on his fins! Photo by: Jim Swift

Hatches:

Epeorus vitreus – Pale Evening Dun – (Female) -#14

Epeorus vitreus – Light Cahill – (Male)- #14

Potomanthus distinctus – Golden Drake – #12-2xl

Isonychia bicolor – Isos – #12-2XL and BIGGER!

Ephemerella dorthea – Sulphurs – #16

Ephemerella invaria – Large Sulphurs / Light Cahills – #14

Ephemerella deficiens–  Dark. BWO -#12-20

Ephemerella attenuata- Light BWO- #16-20

Ephemerella pseudocloeon– Tiny BWO- #22-26

Hydropsyche- Tan Caddis- #18

Ryacophilia- Olive Caddis- #16

Baetis species – #18 & #20

July 21, 2012

Delaware River Report / Conditions July 21, 2012

Ok, so we’re back up a little bit now to a 484 CFS release. Most likely they are trying to meet the Montague minimum, but realize they can save an additional 16 CFS instead of making it an even 500. Who am I to second guess the almighty DEP? Anyway, yesterday and last night were definitely interesting. Blue Wing Olives out in force all day and up until dark, consisting of smaller deficiens (#16 & #18), and a BLANKET of psuedos on the water starting around 7:00 PM. This blanket however, consisted of size #30 & #32 psuedos. No, that wasn’t a typo. I’ve seen midges bigger than that. The good news is that the fish looked on them with the same sense of incredulity that we did, and completely ignored them. Which is great, as I had left my 8X in the car (no, I don’t really own any). There were also sporadic isos hatching in the riffles, an if you could see the rise, the fish were more than willing to chomp one of those big boys down! Today, we’ve lost out cloud cover (already), but with the water temps starting quite a bit lower today, it’s likely that we’ll still see some activity until the sun gets super high in sky, and then we’re back on our evening program!

Richard poses with a nice brown taken on top during the evening “magic” hour. Photo by: Wiley Paul

Hatches:

Epeorus vitreus – Pale Evening Dun – (Female) -#14

Epeorus vitreus – Light Cahill – (Male)- #14

Potomanthus distinctus – Golden Drake – #12-2xl

Stenonema fuscum – Grey Fox – #12-2xl

Isonychia bicolor – Isos – #12-2XL and BIGGER!

Ephemerella dorthea – Sulphurs – #16

Ephemerella invaria – Large Sulphurs / Light Cahills – #14

Ephemerella deficiens–  Dark. BWO -#12-20

Ephemerella attenuata- Light BWO- #16-20

Ephemerella pseudocloeon– Tiny BWO- #22-26

Hydropsyche- Tan Caddis- #18

Ryacophilia- Olive Caddis- #16

Baetis species – #18 & #20

July 20, 2012

FLOW UPDATE as 1:30 PM July 20

Just as an FYI, the flow rate from Cannonsville has been reduced to 400 cfs, at least until the end of the weekend, due to ‘recreational releases’ from lake Walenpaupack allowing the City to meet their flow requirements at Montague. If the rain does not bring up the flow downriver significantly, we expect flows to go back to the 500 CFS range on Sunday night.

July 20, 2012

Delaware River Report / Conditions July 20, 2012

Rain! Blessed Rain! Finally we have some legitimate precipitation, instead of just watching it pass all around us. As you can see from the graph at the bottom, we’re seeing a slight bump in flow on the West Branch, but with the super dry ground, much of the rain is getting soaked into the soil like the sponge it is. That being said, we’re not expecting any major color change in the water, or any type of big jump in flows. Let’s just hope the clouds dump a ton of water in the Reservoir! With this system moving in last night, there was phenomenal hatching out on teh river, and the fish took advantage. Sulphurs, smaller Olives, Potomanthus, and everyone’s favorite Isos were out in force! It remains to be seen what today will bring, as they are calling for drizzly cooler conditions all day – which should mean great fishing all day, the entire length of the West Branch!

See that big yellow blob? That just soaked us for about 5 hours straight! Courtesy of Accuweather.

Hatches:

Epeorus vitreus – Pale Evening Dun – (Female) -#14

Epeorus vitreus – Light Cahill – (Male)- #14

Potomanthus distinctus – Golden Drake – #12-2xl

Stenonema fuscum – Grey Fox – #12-2xl

Isonychia bicolor – Isos – #12-2XL and BIGGER!

Ephemerella dorthea – Sulphurs – #16

Ephemerella invaria – Large Sulphurs / Light Cahills – #14

Ephemerella deficiens–  Dark. BWO -#12-20

Ephemerella attenuata- Light BWO- #16-20

Ephemerella pseudocloeon– Tiny BWO- #22-26

Hydropsyche- Tan Caddis- #18

Ryacophilia- Olive Caddis- #16

Baetis species – #18 & #20

July 19, 2012

Delaware River Report / Conditions July 19, 2012

Tricos! Holy *&%^! We had a ton of them all over Home Pool this morning. Aaaaaaaannnnnnnnd – nobody’s eating them. Typical. I guess we know they’re here at least! Tough going on nymphs as well – my thought is the pressure changes have shut us down for the short term. Also, (even though this is close to a daily proclamation with me) to hell with the weathermen. We went from getting an inch of rain yesterday, to not even a drop falling out of the sky at any point. I was looking forward to the cloud cover and fun evening fishing but nooooooo. Sigh.Today they are calling for mostly ‘cloudy’ skies – let’s hope they get this one right for a change!!!

A very unusual Steno on the porch yesterday. I obviously lack Jeff’s talent for Bug Photos. Photo by: Bart Larmouth

Hatches:

Epeorus vitreus – Pale Evening Dun – (Female) -#14

Epeorus vitreus – Light Cahill – (Male)- #14

Potomanthus distinctus – Golden Drake – #12-2xl

Stenonema fuscum – Grey Fox – #12-2xl

Isonychia bicolor – Isos – #12-2XL and BIGGER!

Ephemerella dorthea – Sulphurs – #16

Ephemerella invaria – Large Sulphurs / Light Cahills – #14

Ephemerella deficiens–  Dark. BWO -#12-20

Ephemerella attenuata- Light BWO- #16-20

Ephemerella pseudocloeon– Tiny BWO- #22-26

Hydropsyche- Tan Caddis- #18

Ryacophilia- Olive Caddis- #16

Baetis species – #18 & #20

July 18, 2012

Delaware River Report / Conditions July 18, 2012

I think I may still be sweating from yesterday. Good lord it was hot and humid here, I can only imagine what it was like for you folks further south of us and / or in the Urban Jungle. That being said, and against all conventional wisdom, there were bugs in the heat of the day yesterday, all the way down to the Game-lands. Granted, they were size 20 sulphurs with very few fish coming up to take advantage, but they were still there. Also amazingly, the fog wasn’t too thick down here last night, and the fish did take advantage of that fact, rising to the slightly bigger sulphurs (#18) that started to pop late, along with the occasional Iso. Today we’re just waiting on the thunderstorms! It’s supposed to get pretty crazy around here starting at lunchtime. As I always joke, one of two things will happen with the storms – it will either turn everything on, or turn everything off. I wish this river would behave more like a western one at times, but I guess that is why we all love it so much – we’re glutt0ns for punishment!

A Nice Brown with the tail cut off. Photo by: Anonymous (won’t take take credit for lopping the tail off)

Hatches:

Epeorus vitreus – Pale Evening Dun – (Female) -#14

Epeorus vitreus – Light Cahill – (Male)- #14

Potomanthus distinctus – Golden Drake – #12-2xl

Stenonema fuscum – Grey Fox – #12-2xl

Isonychia bicolor – Isos – #12-2XL and BIGGER!

Ephemerella dorthea – Sulphurs – #16

Ephemerella invaria – Large Sulphurs / Light Cahills – #14

Ephemerella deficiens–  Dark. BWO -#12-20

Ephemerella attenuata- Light BWO- #16-20

Ephemerella pseudocloeon– Tiny BWO- #22-26

Hydropsyche- Tan Caddis- #18

Ryacophilia- Olive Caddis- #16

Baetis species – #18 & #20