August 31, 2011

Delaware River Report / Conditions August 31, 2011

Alright, still no power. Penelec gave us an estimate of “3 to 10 days” yesterday. That’s not a broad range at all, is it? Let’s just hope we are up and running by the weekend.

Regardless, David and I fished last night, and while we saw quite a few bugs, there were very few fish to be found, and we didn’t even move one on a streamer. Likely they are still a bit stressed from the dramatic river changes, but the late-night spinner fall gives me hope, as does the rain in the forecast for tomorrow. Regardless, still flying ants around, and a substantial number of spinners in the air. We also have no answering machine / voicemail on the land line at the minute, so please feel free to call back if you don’t get us, as we are likely out dealing with some type of disaster.

Hatches:

Black Flying Ants #14-#20

Isonychia bicolor – Iso/Slate Drake #12-2XL

Ephemerella dorothea – Sulphur- #16/18/20

Stenonema sp. – Light Cahill #12-#14

Ephemerella deficiens- Blue Wing Olive #14

Hydropsyche sp. – Tan Caddis – #16-#18

Emphemerella invaria – Light Cahill – #12

Brachycentrus sp. (Dark Grannom – Charcoal) #16- #18

Pseudocloeon – Little BWO’s- #22-#26

FYI: RED = BAD

August 30, 2011

Delaware River Report / Conditions August 30, 2011

Don’t let the ‘normal’ post fool you – still without power here on the West Branch. Limited generator use is keeping us on the web in the morning, fridge cold in the afternoon.

The West Branch is fish-able, having dropped below 2,000 CFS and cleared up substantially. The East Branch is still above flood stage near Harvard (Pepacton is spilling) and the Main is unfishable as a result. David braved the 3,000 CFS water last night, and even though there were tons of bugs, the fish weren’t coming up to grab at them. We will see what today brings, but without a doubt, we can look forward to some good streamer fishing in the near future. We are here if you’d like to call, but down to a single line, so bear with us. I will post when we have power and are back to 100%!

Hatches:

Black Flying Ants #14-#20

Isonychia bicolor – Iso/Slate Drake #12-2XL

Ephemerella dorothea – Sulphur- #16/18/20

Stenonema sp. – Light Cahill #12-#14

Ephemerella deficiens- Blue Wing Olive #14

Hydropsyche sp. – Tan Caddis – #16-#18

Emphemerella invaria – Light Cahill – #12

Brachycentrus sp. (Dark Grannom – Charcoal) #16- #18

Pseudocloeon – Little BWO’s- #22-#26

FYI: RED = BAD

August 29, 2011

Irene Update! August 29, 2011

Howdy all – we are on day #2 without power here at the DRC, so apologies on lack of blog posts. The short and sweet – the West Branch jumped to 10,000 CFS yesterday, and has now dropped to just over 3,000 CFS, but is still chocolate milk, and the decent has slowed somewhat. The East Branch was close to 50,000 CFS (yes, you read that correctly), and as such the main is still blown, and there was some flooding as well. I will attempt to update the blog while we are without power – apologies for those faithful readers. I will attempt to be as snarky as usual, the lack of shower not withstanding. The phone works so feel free to call the shop for up-to-the-minute updates. Cheers.

August 27, 2011

Delaware River Report / Conditions August 27,2011

Preparation for the storm is in full swing here at the shop. The forecast shows that we should miss much of the heavy winds; however, they are calling for 3-7 inches of rain which will drastically raise the river. We will continue to do our best to keep you updated once the storm hits.

Well…Fishing was quite interesting yesterday. Clouds of tricos, mass amounts of flying ants, as well as some steno’s mixed in for good measure, and the fish were unresponsive. The lack of cooperation by the fish was very frustrating, but on a brighter note it was the first afternoon that we’ve seen copious amounts of ants. In regards to today, we should have great conditions for bug activity, overcast skies all day with potential rain late this evening, which should provide some good top water action. With the hurricane moving  in tonight this might be your last opportunity to get out on the water for a few days, since the heavy amounts of rainfall will likely muddy up the river and raise it substantially. Be smart and try to stay inside if you can as the storm passes through.

Hatches:

Black Flying Ants #14-#20

Isonychia bicolor – Iso/Slate Drake #12-2XL

Ephemerella dorothea – Sulphur- #16/18/20

Stenonema sp. – Light Cahill #12-#14

Ephemerella deficiens- Blue Wing Olive #14

Hydropsyche sp. – Tan Caddis – #16-#18

Emphemerella invaria – Light Cahill – #12

Brachycentrus sp. (Dark Grannom – Charcoal) #16- #18

Pseudocloeon – Little BWO’s- #22-#26

August 26, 2011

Delaware River Report / Conditions August 26, 2011

We awake with the East Coast in a state of panic. While Hurricane Irene is bearing down on the coast, if the current track stays where it is we should have some rain and strong winds, but not the deluge that is likely coming for those farther east. We will keep you update of course.

Now on to more pressing matters – the fishing! Cloud cover and light rain yesterday yielded some nice hatching system wide, with the Main Stem lighting up quite nicely prior to the fog rolling in around 7:30 PM. The rain was heavy at times, but did not affect clarity nor greatly increase flow. We expect a bit more of a sunny/partly cloudy day today, so I would not expect to see the number of olives present until the sun gets low or hides behind the clouds. Otherwise it should be a pretty ‘normal’ day here on the West Branch – by normal of course I mean “wait for the sun to hide” kind of day! Give us a call with any questions you may have!

Hatches:

Black Flying Ants #14-#20

Isonychia bicolor – Iso/Slate Drake #12-2XL

Ephemerella dorothea – Sulphur- #16/18/20

Stenonema sp. – Light Cahill #12-#14

Ephemerella deficiens- Blue Wing Olive #14

Hydropsyche sp. – Tan Caddis – #16-#18

Emphemerella invaria – Light Cahill – #12

Brachycentrus sp. (Dark Grannom – Charcoal) #16- #18

Pseudocloeon – Little BWO’s- #22-#26

August 25, 2011

Delaware River Report / Conditions August 25, 2011

C’mon Irene, yeah, you know what I mean….. Sorry, couldn’t resist. Obviously, we’ve got a bit of rain in the forecast. Short term we have a good idea of how much, long term (i.e. late this weekend) is completely dependent on what Hurricane Irene decides to do. Today we expect clouds and showers throughout the day with the possibillity of a thunderstorm or two. Good news is that the wind has died down – not so good is the fact that the high humidity and low river temp should yeild some heavy fog at times on the West Branch. Anything is better than yesterday – with high winds and bright sun, not a whole lot happened on the river, unfortunately. This ‘spring’ weather should help us quite a bit, so long as Irene doesn’t spoil the party this weekend.

Hatches:

Black Flying Ants #14-#20

Isonychia bicolor – Iso/Slate Drake #12-2XL

Ephemerella dorothea – Sulphur- #16/18/20

Stenonema sp. – Light Cahill #12-#14

Ephemerella deficiens- Blue Wing Olive #14

Hydropsyche sp. – Tan Caddis – #16-#18

Emphemerella invaria – Light Cahill – #12

Brachycentrus sp. (Dark Grannom – Charcoal) #16- #18

Pseudocloeon – Little BWO’s- #22-#26

August 24, 2011

Delaware River Report / Conditions August 24, 2011

A bit warmer overnight last night, but still in the low 50s – can’t complain! The cooler evenings have all the rivers starting at a lower temps first thing in the morning, which is always a good thing with these bright sunny days we are experiencing. It also seems that the DEP has released more water from Pepacton reservoir, dramatically cooling down the East Branch. This bodes VERY well for some Main Stem fishing in the next couple of days as the clouds roll on in, and may bring some fish back up the East a bit earlier than usual. Today we expect more cloud cover, and still in the mid 70s, which should make for a good day on the river if the clouds stick around for awhile!

Hatches:

Black Flying Ants #14-#20

Isonychia bicolor – Iso/Slate Drake #12-2XL

Ephemerella dorothea – Sulphur- #16/18/20

Stenonema sp. – Light Cahill #12-#14

Ephemerella deficiens- Blue Wing Olive #14

Hydropsyche sp. – Tan Caddis – #16-#18

Emphemerella invaria – Light Cahill – #12

Brachycentrus sp. (Dark Grannom – Charcoal) #16- #18

Pseudocloeon – Little BWO’s- #22-#26

August 23, 2011

Delaware River Report / Conditions August 23, 2011

Holy Mackerel is it chilly here this morning – barely out of the 40s – 50.3, if the digital is to believed! I think that fall may be creeping up on us faster than we think! Yesterday went pretty much as expected – the high sun throughout the day shut down parts of the river, but as soon as we had cloud cover, the olives were out and about. Fish were caught on Iso comparaduns as well, and we had a good (albiet very SHORT) flurry of hatching from everybody around 7:00 PM last night. Today is supposed to be mostly sunny and ‘pleasant’ (at least by weatherman standards, not fishermen’s) so I expect to see a bit of the same, but perhaps some ant activity as well.

Trico spinner that wouldn't sit still for her photo. Photo by: Jeff White

Hatches:

Black Flying Ants #14-#20

Isonychia bicolor – Iso/Slate Drake #12-2XL

Ephemerella dorothea – Sulphur- #16/18/20

Stenonema sp. – Light Cahill #12-#14

Ephemerella deficiens- Blue Wing Olive #14

Hydropsyche sp. – Tan Caddis – #16-#18

Emphemerella invaria – Light Cahill – #12

Brachycentrus sp. (Dark Grannom – Charcoal) #16- #18

Pseudocloeon – Little BWO’s- #22-#26

August 22, 2011

Delaware River Report / Conditions August 22, 2011

Happy Monday Morning! Well, it would be happier here if I could avoid talking to my good friend “Bob” over in India – which is what I will have the pleasure of doing after making this update. Sigh.

Anyway, on a better note – we had LOTS of bug activity yesterday evening, as evidenced by all the different species on the shop wall this morning – 3 different Stenos, two sizes of Iso, several sizes of pseudos, and everyone’s morning favorite – Tricos! Fish were active yesterday evening prior to the big thunderstorm rolling through around 7:30 or so, which understandably shut everything down during the deluge. The good news – no perceptible change in the West Branch, color or otherwise. The low pressure that followed caused a nice burst of insect activity overnight, which could bode well for the cloud cover and rain we are expecting today!

Why, hello Iso. Photo by: Jeff White

Hatches:

Black Flying Ants #14-#20

Isonychia bicolor – Iso/Slate Drake #12-2XL

Ephemerella dorothea – Sulphur- #16/18/20

Stenonema sp. – Light Cahill #12-#14

Ephemerella deficiens- Blue Wing Olive #14

Hydropsyche sp. – Tan Caddis – #16-#18

Emphemerella invaria – Light Cahill – #12

Brachycentrus sp. (Dark Grannom – Charcoal) #16- #18

Pseudocloeon – Little BWO’s- #22-#26

August 21, 2011

Delaware River Report / Conditions August 21,2011

The river has continued to drop and is back to normal. The forecast today is predicting more thunderstorms, beginning around 1P.M. which should pass through relatively quickly. We are continuing to see more and more flying ants on the Main Stem, and the fish are starting to key in on them. With the heavy cloud cover today, be sure to have your Olive’s, Iso’s, and Black Flying Ants in your box!

Hatches:

Black Flying Ants #14-#20

Isonychia bicolor –Iso/Slate Drake #12-2XL

Ephemerella dorothea –Sulphur- #16/18/20

Stenonema sp. – Light Cahill #12-#14

Ephemerella deficiens- Blue Wing Olive #14

Hydropsyche sp. –Tan Caddis –#16-#18

Emphemerella invaria – Light Cahill –#12

Brachycentrus sp. (Dark Grannom –Charcoal) #16- #18

Pseudocloeon – Little BWO’s- #22-#26

August 20, 2011

Delaware River Report / Conditions August 20, 2011

Whenever you look at the radar, you can be sure of one thing for sure – that RED = BAD. We had it so red it almost went maroon here yesterday afternoon. The good news is that the deluge, wind, and lighting was relatively brief, although quite intense. As you can see from the graph below, we had a SHARP spike on the West Branch, which did yeild a bit of a Yoo-Hoo-esq chocolate slug moving down the river. The good news (also if you look at the graph) is that as quick as it went up, it went down. Just walked down to the river this morning, and we are good and clear again, with a bit of a higher level (good for those of us with boats who like not scraping bottom). The East Branch and Beaverkill appeared to have been spared, so the main stem might fish as well!

Bruce Miller holds Colt Williamson's GREAT Main Stem Brown. Photo by: Rexx Williamson

Hatches:

Black Flying Ants #14-#20

Isonychia bicolor – Iso/Slate Drake #12-2XL

Ephemerella dorothea – Sulphur- #16/18/20

Stenonema sp. – Light Cahill #12-#14

Ephemerella deficiens- Blue Wing Olive #14

Hydropsyche sp. – Tan Caddis – #16-#18

Emphemerella invaria – Light Cahill – #12

Brachycentrus sp. (Dark Grannom – Charcoal) #16- #18

Pseudocloeon – Little BWO’s- #22-#26

August 19, 2011

Delaware River Report / Conditions August 19, 2011

Good day yesterday! Despite the sun peeking through, the bugs were still out in force, and the fish were feeding on the sporadic flying ant that floated on by. Since the air pressure and river level has stabilized, the fish seem to be more active, and quite a few (including some nice ones!) were drummed up using Isonychia Comparaduns or Parachutes – many more than we’ve been having lately, so if all else fails – remember – they’ll eat an iso!

<<Picture would be here if Bruce Miller hadn’t stepped on his line fighting a nice rainbow last night. Nice Job Bruce.>>

Hatches:

Black Flying Ants #14-#20

Isonychia bicolor – Iso/Slate Drake #12-2XL

Ephemerella dorothea – Sulphur- #16/18/20

Stenonema sp. – Light Cahill #12-#14

Ephemerella deficiens- Blue Wing Olive #14

Hydropsyche sp. – Tan Caddis – #16-#18

Emphemerella invaria – Light Cahill – #12

Brachycentrus sp. (Dark Grannom – Charcoal) #16- #18

Pseudocloeon – Little BWO’s- #22-#26