September 28, 2012

Delaware River Report / Conditions September 28, 2012

UPDATE! looks like we just went through the roof at Hale Eddy. The slug hasn’t hit us here at the Club, but I am sure we’ll be seeing it shortly. Give me a call at the club if you need an up-to-the-minute report!

For a change, everything pretty much went as predicted yesterday (not the weather, but the fishing at least). The middle of the day was fairly slow, with little hatching activity, but as soon as the sun hit its apex and dropped a bit, we saw good numbers of pseudos and heptagenias coming off, with the occasional Iso thrown in for good measure. Nothing spectacular, but it was pretty consistent action into the evening. The rain started around midnight last night, and has been slow and steady ever since. Hale has jumped a bit (100 cfs) and the rain is still going this morning. It looks like the system is just about all the way past us, so we shouldn’t get too much more precipitation today, and hopefully the river stays clear. The other good bit of news is the cloud cover that is predicted for today – we could be looking at another repeat performance of Wednesday, where the pseudos and deficiens were out in full force during the over cast portions of the day. Let’s also hope that the air temps stay warm until I can get out of here to take advantage of what’s shaping up to be another good day!

Curtis McElhinney with a great Main Stem Smallie – his first EVER, caught on Jeff’s Messy Craw. Photo by: Jeff White

Tricorythodes species – #22 male and female (waning & sporadic)

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

Heptagenia hebe – Olive Sulphur – #16 & #18

Pseudocloeon– Tiny BWO- #22-26

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

Ephemerella invaria – Large Sulphurs / Light Cahills – #14 (waning)

Ephemerella deficiens– Dark. BWO -#12-20 (when cloudy)

Ephemerella attenuata– Light BWO- #16-20 (when cloudy)

Hydropsyche- Tan Caddis- #18

Ryacophilia- Olive Caddis- #16

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

September 27, 2012

Delaware River Report / Conditions September 27, 2012

Talk about a banner day! It was like spring had suddenly returned to us yesterday, with clouds, mist and rain mixed with warm, humid air – exactly what the bugs loved. The West Branch did not disappoint, with rising fish and hatching bugs throughout the day. The lower stretch of the river fished the best (from Hale Eddy down), with the Upper Main following closely behind insofar as success was concerned. Isos, pseudos, heptagenias, stenos – the whole kit and caboodle were on the menu. Today we’re seeing a bit of a change in weather, with the sun already starting to peek through the clouds. Temps are supposed to stay low, but I do not think we will see the quality of hatches we did yesterday – at least not until the evening, when each river should produce another great fall night!

A nice Main Stem Rainbow. Too bad the doofus holding it couldn’t look at the camera for the picture. Photo by: Jeff White

Tricorythodes species – #22 male and female (waning)

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

Heptagenia hebe – Olive Sulphur – #16 & #18

Pseudocloeon– Tiny BWO- #22-26

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

Ephemerella invaria – Large Sulphurs / Light Cahills – #14 (waning)

Ephemerella deficiens– Dark. BWO -#12-20 (when cloudy)

Ephemerella attenuata– Light BWO- #16-20 (when cloudy)

Hydropsyche- Tan Caddis- #18

Ryacophilia- Olive Caddis- #16

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

September 26, 2012

Delaware River Report / Conditions September 26, 2012

It was a pretty beautiful fall day out there yesterday, with a much warmer evening than we’ve had over the last few days, producing some pretty decent hatches as we approached dark. The Iso spinners still decided to tease us and not fall, but at least they were there! On the water, the heptagenias were coming off strong, as were Iso duns in certain sections of the river. It seems Stockport was the most productive run of the evening, yielding some nice fish in both the pool and the riffles. Today looks to be a spring day in September. We already had some rain overnight, which did not greatly affect the flows. What we are looking forwrad to today is cloud cover, humidity, sprinkles, and maybe an t-storm in the afternoon. Sounds like a BANNER olive day to me!

Colorful Brown Trout. Photo by: George Fielding

Tricorythodes species – #22 male and female (waning)

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

Heptagenia hebe – Olive Sulphur – #16 & #18

Pseudocloeon– Tiny BWO- #22-26

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

Ephemerella invaria – Large Sulphurs / Light Cahills – #14 (waning)

Ephemerella deficiens– Dark. BWO -#12-20 (when cloudy)

Ephemerella attenuata– Light BWO- #16-20 (when cloudy)

Hydropsyche- Tan Caddis- #18

Ryacophilia- Olive Caddis- #16

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

September 25, 2012

Delaware River Report / Condtitions September 25, 2012

Apologies on the late update to you early readers – internet issues here in Starlight this morning. You know how it is out here in the sticks – the wind blows, we lose wireless. Anyway, yesterday turned out to be a pretty decent day, with activity throughout the afternoon. It wasn’t gangbusters by any stretch of the imagination, but depending on where you were there were some good sporadic hatches with feeding activity. The evening cooled down dramatically, and this did shut down the hatching as we approached dark. Today we’re looking at slightly warmer temps during the day, with a few more clouds in the forecast. This should (hopefully for those of us who won’t get to fish until evening) keep the air temps up a bit, and allow the hatching to continue into the evening.

Mike Gazzara with an awesome Main Stem Brown caught on Saturday. Photo by: Bruce Miller

Tricorythodes species – #22 male and female (waning)

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

Heptagenia hebe – Olive Sulphur – #16 & #18

Pseudocloeon– Tiny BWO- #22-26

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

Ephemerella invaria – Large Sulphurs / Light Cahills – #14 (waning)

Ephemerella deficiens– Dark. BWO -#12-20 (when cloudy)

Ephemerella attenuata– Light BWO- #16-20 (when cloudy)

Hydropsyche- Tan Caddis- #18

Ryacophilia- Olive Caddis- #16

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

September 24, 2012

Delaware River Report / Conditions September 24, 2012

It was a wacky day out there on the river yesterday. Tons of bugs on both the Main and West Branch, with fish up and actively eating them one minute, and completely shutting off the next. The fish were fairly cooperative if you did catch them (pun intended) in that window when they were feeding, but otherwise it was a bit tough. Heathens…sorry, I mean people who were nymphing actually had an incredibly slow day. The current theory is that the high pressure system that moved in likely pushed the fish down a little bit. At least that’s the best theory I’ve got this morning. We had a very cold overnight, and we’re starting out in the mid-40s this morning, so I would expect the activity to be slow starting off, but good throughout the day as pressure has stabilized, and the clouds are supposed to hang around for a bit. As always, we’ll see what happens.

Marc DeJong with a nice Main Stem Brown caught this past weekend. Photo by: Jeff White

Tricorythodes species – #22 male and female (waning)

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

Heptagenia hebe – Olive Sulphur – #16 & #18

Pseudocloeon– Tiny BWO- #22-26

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

Ephemerella invaria – Large Sulphurs / Light Cahills – #14 (waning)

Ephemerella deficiens– Dark. BWO -#12-20 (when cloudy)

Ephemerella attenuata– Light BWO- #16-20 (when cloudy)

Hydropsyche- Tan Caddis- #18

Ryacophilia- Olive Caddis- #16

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

September 23, 2012

Delaware River Report / Conditions September 23, 2012

Apologies on the late post. In this modern era, Cell Phones should not take a front seat to good old fashioned alarm clocks. Either way, yesterday was a boom or bust, depending on whom you spoke to. We had areas of the river fish like gangbusters, and others where there was a dearth of action. Late afternoon we were smacked with a BIG rainstorm, that while it didn’t affect the river level that dramatically, certainly affected the fishermen dramatically, with guys being soaked to the bone and running for dry clothing right after the weather passed through. Those that were brave (or dumb) enough to hang out after the storm were rewarded with some great late evening hatching when the pressure balanced out. As for today, there is not as much volatile weather predicted, but the sun may be out for the majority of the day, so when you hit the water, be looking for the shady spots, and prep yourself for a great evening!

Mike holds one of his first Delaware browns! Photo by: Bruce Miller

Tricorythodes species – #22 male and female (waning)

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

Heptagenia hebe – Olive Sulphur – #16 & #18

Pseudocloeon– Tiny BWO- #22-26

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

Ephemerella invaria – Large Sulphurs / Light Cahills – #14 (waning)

Ephemerella deficiens– Dark. BWO -#12-20 (when cloudy)

Ephemerella attenuata– Light BWO- #16-20 (when cloudy)

Hydropsyche- Tan Caddis- #18

Ryacophilia- Olive Caddis- #16

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

September 22, 2012

Delaware River Report / Conditions September 22, 2012

A very strange day out there yesterday. With morning clouds (not predicted), there were quite a few bugs kicking around before noon. Then, the wind picked up (also not predicted), and picked up with a vengeance. White caps going upstream at Stockport kinda vengeance, even though every weather site listed “current conditions” as winds of 3MPH. Love those guys. The wind shut down the fishing for the most part, even though there were some serious hatches of both Isos and small tan caddis throughout the day and evening. If you could find a small area sheltered from the wind, there were definitely fish to be found and caught. Today there is a big mid-afternoon thunderstorm predicted that could bring near a 1/4″of rain in just an hour. We’ll see if that materializes. Regardless, there are cloudy skies predicted, so until that storm comes by, have those Isos and olives ready!

Isonychia bicolor female dun. Photo by: Jeff White

Tricorythodes species – #22 male and female (waning)

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

Heptagenia hebe – Olive Sulphur – #16 & #18

Pseudocloeon– Tiny BWO- #22-26

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

Ephemerella invaria – Large Sulphurs / Light Cahills – #14 (waning)

Ephemerella deficiens– Dark. BWO -#12-20 (when cloudy)

Ephemerella attenuata– Light BWO- #16-20 (when cloudy)

Hydropsyche- Tan Caddis- #18

Ryacophilia- Olive Caddis- #16

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

September 21, 2012

Delaware River Report / Conditions September 21, 2012

It was a pretty dang decent day out there yesterday on the river (well, at least the West Branch). The East and Main are still running pretty muddy, and appeared to actually get dirtier as the day went on yesterday. Let’s hope that trend changes. The West is clear, and good hatches of Stenos and Isos last night kept the action going. Today we’re starting off with a fairly warm morning (compared to the last few days), so I would expect the morning action to take place a bit earlier today. It’s definitely cloudy and foggy still, so we should see some olives as long as the clouds decide to stick around. Speaking of sticking around, due to the high flows on the other two branches, don’t expect the release out of Cannonsville to change in the near future. This 300 cfs flow should stick around for awhile.

One of the smaller stenos that have been hatching as of late. Photo by: Jeff White

Tricorythodes species – #22 male and female (waning)

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

Heptagenia hebe – Olive Sulphur – #16 & #18

Pseudocloeon– Tiny BWO- #22-26

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

Ephemerella invaria – Large Sulphurs / Light Cahills – #14 (waning)

Ephemerella deficiens– Dark. BWO -#12-20 (when cloudy)

Ephemerella attenuata– Light BWO- #16-20 (when cloudy)

Hydropsyche- Tan Caddis- #18

Ryacophilia- Olive Caddis- #16

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

September 20, 2012

Delaware River Report / Conditions September 20, 2012

It looks like all the rivers are dropping nicely. Not TOO nicely, as I am looking forward to finally floating the East Branch sometime this week. We had one of our first fairly cool days yesterday, and it helped drop the water temps on all three branches pretty dramatically. As a result, we had some pretty good hatching here on the West, and the fish were very active throughout the day. The ‘other side’ and the Main were / are still pretty cloudy, but definitely clearing quickly. I would anticipate them fishing by the weekend for sure, if not a little bit sooner. Today they are calling for a few more clouds and a slightly warmer day, but I see no reason it shouldn’t be a carbon-copy of yesterday (with hopefully a few more isos!).

Yes, I know this is a Cornuta – but some of the Ephemerella deficiens I caught on the house were almost this green, so it works for reference purposes. Photo by: Jeff White

Tricorythodes species – #22 male and female (waning)

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

Heptagenia hebe – Olive Sulphur – #16 & #18

Pseudocloeon– Tiny BWO- #22-26

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

Ephemerella invaria – Large Sulphurs / Light Cahills – #14 (waning)

Ephemerella deficiens– Dark. BWO -#12-20 (when cloudy)

Ephemerella attenuata– Light BWO- #16-20 (when cloudy)

Hydropsyche- Tan Caddis- #18

Ryacophilia- Olive Caddis- #16

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

September 19, 2012

Delaware River Report / Conditions September 19, 2012

That was some rain. We had it falling both calmly and in driving sheets throughout the day yesterday, and on the West Branch, it seems that the ground absorbed most of the water. We have had a slight bump in flows on the West, but the East / Beaverkill obviously took the brunt of it, with the East Branch near Fish’s Eddy peaking near 25,000 cfs (yes, you read that correctly). This is blowing the Main Stem out as well, so the West looks like the only game in town for the next few days. We are looking at a brighter day today, but temperatures are not supposed to get above 65, which will be a good thing for those heading out in the afternoon, as well as the evening. The bugs took advantage of the lower atmospheric pressure brought on by the storm yesterday, and the side of the shop is covered with a little bit of everything listed below. Thanks rain!

A little stained, but not bad at all this morning on Home Pool. Photo by: Bart Larmouth

Tricorythodes species – #22 male and female (waning)

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

Heptagenia hebe – Olive Sulphur – #16 & #18

Pseudocloeon– Tiny BWO- #22-26

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

Ephemerella invaria – Large Sulphurs / Light Cahills – #14 (waning)

Ephemerella deficiens– Dark. BWO -#12-20 (when cloudy)

Ephemerella attenuata– Light BWO- #16-20 (when cloudy)

Hydropsyche- Tan Caddis- #18

Ryacophilia- Olive Caddis- #16

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

September 18, 2012

Delaware River Report / Conditions September 18, 2012

One mystery solved! The big peak in flows two days ago? Well, there is a new ‘release master’ at the Cannonsville Dam, and they didn’t exactly give her the best on-the-job training her first day, so she raised the flow instead of dropping it as she was supposed to. I can’t make this stuff up people. Now if there was only some way to bribe her…… Anyway, yesterday was a pretty good day out there, with sporadic hatches throughout the afternoon on pretty much every section of river. Today, it’s already raining steady, and has been since about 6AM or so. Up to 2″ is predicted, based on whatever weather witchdoctor you check with. This may make the river a bit unfishable by late in the day today, but it means some nicer flows by week’s end and hopefully some amazing fishing to boot!

Fish head!

Tricorythodes species – #22 male and female (waning)

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

Heptagenia hebe – Olive Sulphur – #16 & #18

Pseudocloeon– Tiny BWO- #22-26

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

Ephemerella invaria – Large Sulphurs / Light Cahills – #14 (waning)

Ephemerella deficiens– Dark. BWO -#12-20 (when cloudy)

Ephemerella attenuata– Light BWO- #16-20 (when cloudy)

Hydropsyche- Tan Caddis- #18

Ryacophilia- Olive Caddis- #16

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

September 17, 2012

Delaware River Report / Conditions September 17, 2012

Ok this is just getting ridiculous. Mid afternoon yesterday, the wise(a**) powers that be decided to spike the release from 446 to over 1,000 CFS, then IMMEDIATELY drop it back down again. I can understand keeping it at a level for a certain period of time in order to maintain some mythical flow downriver, but a true spike makes no sense, and served only to truly ruin last night’s fishing, as well as blow a TON of the ever-so-popular “green stuff” down river. So today, we’re down to 331 or so at Hale (while the upper East has been cut down to a 100 cfs release) and while I would make the guess that it will stay like that until at least midnight, I obviously cannot guarantee that fact. The good news is that there are more clouds in the forecast for today, and we are going to continue to see the cooler temperatures that have been helping us out as of late. With rain in the forecast over the next two days, the possibility of some great olive hatching and Iso spinner falls just keeps going up. Just the like flow. Maybe.

Basically this is what happened.

Tricorythodes species – #22 male and female (waning)

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

Heptagenia hebe – Olive Sulphur – #16 & #18

Pseudocloeon– Tiny BWO- #22-26

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

Ephemerella invaria – Large Sulphurs / Light Cahills – #14 (waning)

Ephemerella deficiens– Dark. BWO -#12-20 (when cloudy)

Ephemerella attenuata– Light BWO- #16-20 (when cloudy)

Hydropsyche- Tan Caddis- #18

Ryacophilia- Olive Caddis- #16

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