Delaware River Report / Conditions July 1, 2011

Summer reared its ugly head yesterday, and we had bright sun and a bit of wind throughout the day. The upper West Branch fished well, with sporadic hatching throughout the day, but the lower stretches held off until dark. The Main and East were still a bit discolored, so there wasn’t too much action over there, however they are clearing fast and we expect them to pick up again soon. July fishing on the East, who would’ve thought!

Tarpon or Trout - you decide! Photo by Tony May

Hatches:

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

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

Ephemerella dorothea – Sulphur- #16/18/20

Pseudocloeon – Little BWO’s- #22-#26

FLOWS:
West Branch at Stilesville, NY 510 cfs @ 43º
West Branch at Hale Eddy,NY 585 cfs @ 46º
East Branch at Harvard, NY 517 cfs @ 55º
East Branch at Fish’s Eddy, NY 2,060 cfs @ 57º
Mainstem at Lordville, NY 3,160 cfs @ 61º
Beaverkill at Cooks Falls, NY 1,190 cfs @ N/A
Cannonsville Reservoir Level & Release 95.4% – 500 CFS

Delaware River Report / Conditions June 30, 2011

Wow – almost July, and it still feels a bit like spring fishing. The West Branch had tons of bugs throughout the day yesterday, but also tons of people, due to the Beaverkill anglers being forced onto our river – you guys know who you are! Despite the pressure there were some nice fish caught, and with the Main Stem clearing, we are looking forward to a great day system-wide! Now if we could just get a few more clouds……..

Crazy Yellow Mystery Steno from the lower Main Stem. Guesses? About a #12. Photo by: Jeff White

Hatches:

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

Ephemerella cornuta – Light Blue Wing Olive #14

Ephemerella deficiens – Dark Blue Wing Olive #16

Ephemerella dorothea – Sulphur- #16/18/20

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

Ephemerella invaria – Light Cahill – #12

Stenonema stenocron – Light Cahill – #14

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

Pseudocloeon – Little BWO’s- #22-#26

FLOWS:
West Branch at Stilesville, NY 510 cfs @ 44º
West Branch at Hale Eddy,NY 611 cfs @ 46º
East Branch at Harvard, NY 654 cfs @ 55º
East Branch at Fish’s Eddy, NY 2,930 cfs @ 59º
Mainstem at Lordville, NY 4,420 cfs @ 59º
Beaverkill at Cooks Falls, NY 1,790 cfs @ N/A
Cannonsville Reservoir Level & Release 94.7% – 500 CFS

Delaware River Report / Conditions June 29, 2011

Heavy, heavy rain last night on the West Branch’s basin, and as such our level jumped quite a bit, discoloring the river. While we are not chocolate milk, it is still stained. The gauge at Hale Eddy is giving us a value of 710 CFS this morning, but we are easily over 1000 CFS here at Home Pool , most likely the result of all the feeder streams and springs between Hale Eddy and Hancock. The river is dropping quickly, and we are expecting a partly cloudy day, so hopefully will see some bug activity. Yesterday was a bit tough in the bug department, but searching with Isos definitely was the ticket.

Bart: "If you're going to catch Chubs, you better catch Chubs that you can put on a Boga Grip - almost 4 lbs!" Photo by: Jeff White

Hatches:

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

Ephemerella cornuta – Light Blue Wing Olive #14

Ephemerella deficiens – Dark Blue Wing Olive #16

Ephemerella dorothea – Sulphur- #16/18/20

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

Ephemerella invaria – Light Cahill – #12

Stenonema stenocron – Light Cahill – #14

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

Pseudocloeon – Little BWO’s- #22-#26

FLOWS:
West Branch at Stilesville, NY 519 cfs @ 44º
West Branch at Hale Eddy,NY 715 cfs @ 50º
East Branch at Harvard, NY 1,090 cfs @ 58º
East Branch at Fish’s Eddy, NY 8,450 cfs @ 61º
Mainstem at Lordville, NY 3,870 cfs @ 63º
Beaverkill at Cooks Falls, NY 4,540 cfs @ N/A
Cannonsville Reservoir Level & Release 94.7% – 500 CFS

Delaware River Report / Conditions June 28, 2011

Yesterday was a warm one, resulting in slow and sporadic bug activity throughout the day. When the bugs are sparse, it is always a good idea to use a large Iso as a searching pattern and drum the banks, foam lines, current seams, as well as swift riffles. Using this technique seemed to be the ticket on the Main yesterday when the fish were not consistently rising. It was difficult to find a bug on the East Branch, until right before dark when the sky was filled with Stenocron spinners resulting in mass feeding throughout the river. Even though the water is high on the East and the Main, they are remaining clear and fishable.

Hatches:

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

Ephemerella cornuta – Light Blue Wing Olive #14

Ephemerella deficiens – Dark Blue Wing Olive #16

Ephemerella dorothea – Sulphur- #16/18/20

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

Ephemerella invaria – Light Cahill – #12

Stenonema stenocron – Light Cahill – #14

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

Pseudocloeon – Little BWO’s- #22-#26

FLOWS:
West Branch at Stilesville, NY 510 cfs @ 44º
West Branch at Hale Eddy,NY 570 cfs @ 47º
East Branch at Harvard, NY 314 cfs @ 58º
East Branch at Fish’s Eddy, NY 1,400 cfs @ 61º
Mainstem at Lordville, NY 2,420 cfs @ 63º
Beaverkill at Cooks Falls, NY 820 cfs @ N/A
Cannonsville Reservoir Level & Release 94.7% – 500 CFS
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Delaware River Report / Conditions June 27, 2011

Confusion. That pretty much explains yesterday here – starting around 11AM, we saw an epic hatch of pretty much everything mayfly, and it ran until 3PM – the only problem was that there were very few fish taking advantage of the situation. In the evening, we saw almost NO activity from either the bugs or the fish. Our current theory is a change in pressure  that put the fish down (high pressure moved in). Now that it has stabilized, we should hopefully be back into our ‘normal’ pattern! The good news out of yesterday is how many species of Mayfly we still have kicking around – dorthea, invaria, cornuta, deficiens, pseudocloeon, stenocron, ithaca, isos, etc., etc.

 

This is what they did yesterday. Sat there. Awesome (Insert sarcasm here). Photo by: Jeff White

Hatches:

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

Ephemerella cornuta – Light Blue Wing Olive #14

Ephemerella deficiens – Dark Blue Wing Olive #16

Ephemerella dorothea – Sulphur- #16/18/20

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

Ephemerella invaria – Light Cahill – #12

Stenonema stenocron – Light Cahill – #14

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

Pseudocloeon – Little BWO’s- #22-#26

FLOWS:
West Branch at Stilesville, NY 510 cfs @ 43º
West Branch at Hale Eddy,NY 575 cfs @ 46º
East Branch at Harvard, NY 357 cfs @ 55º
East Branch at Fish’s Eddy, NY 1,700 cfs @ 59º
Mainstem at Lordville, NY 2,930 cfs @ 61º
Beaverkill at Cooks Falls, NY 1,060 cfs @ N/A
Cannonsville Reservoir Level & Release 94.4% – 500 CFS

Delaware River Report / Conditions June 26, 2011

Apologies on the lack of post yesterday – the intern will be dealt with for shirking his duties. I don’t think the gutters have been cleaned in awhile…..

Yesterday we had cloud cover and rain from morning until evening, without great effect on the West Branch – clear and cool from Deposit all the way to Junction Pool. The East Branch was another story, pumping in chocolate milk at the confluence, bringing the Main Stem up dramatically. This has subsided somewhat, and the Upper Main may be fishable this evening, so far as clarity is concerned.

Wiley Paul with a fish that is threatening to eat Kevan (the photographer). Photo by: Kevan Smaracko

Hatches:

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

Ephemerella cornuta – Blue Wing Olive #14

Ephemerella dorothea – Sulphur- #16/18/20

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

Ephemerella invaria – Light Cahill – #12

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

 

Pseudocloeon – Little BWO’s- #22-#26

FLOWS:
West Branch at Stilesville, NY 510 cfs @ 43º
West Branch at Hale Eddy,NY 590 cfs @ 48º
East Branch at Harvard, NY 420 cfs @ 56º
East Branch at Fish’s Eddy, NY 2,460 cfs @ 59º
Mainstem at Lordville, NY 4,010 cfs @ 61º
Beaverkill at Cooks Falls, NY 1,650 cfs @ N/A
Cannonsville Reservoir Level & Release 94.4% – 500 CFS

Delaware River Report / Conditions – June 24, 2011

Heavy storms late last night and early this morning brought the East Branch and Main Stem up significantly, but did not affect the West Branch in terms of flows. While off-color, the river should clear quickly and be fishable by tomorrow, depending on whether or not we receive more thunderstorms this afternoon. Despite the weather not fully cooperating, the dorotheas were coming of in great numbers on the upper West Branch near Deposit early yesterday afternoon. If you are going to get out on the river today, your best bet is to focus on this stretch of the West as the water clarity and bug activity should be better than further downstream.

Delaware River Report / Conditions – June 23, 2011

A bit of an odd day on the water yesterday – we had rain, and lots of bugs but the fish seemed to be hesitant to sticking their heads out into the fog. This is some of the best late season hatch activity we have seen in a long time; hopefully today is a different story and the fish will show themselves. With the aid of the new water release schedule,we have seen early hatch activity on the  upper West Branch progressing down stream to the Main Stem, where the temperatures have remained consistent in the mid-sixties. The forecast for the next couple of days remains to be the same, thunderstorms and overcast skies, which in turn could result in some spectacular mid-day bug activity.

Kevin Smaracko with a nice WB brown on his day off. Photo By: Stephen Shen

Hatches:

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

Ephemerella cornuta – Blue Wing Olive #14

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

Emphemerella invaria – Light Cahill – #12

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

Ephemerella dorothea – Sulphur- #16/18/20

Pseudocloeon – Little BWO’s- #22-#26

FLOWS:
West Branch at Stilesville, NY 510 cfs @ 44º
West Branch at Hale Eddy,NY 627 cfs @ 49º
East Branch at Harvard, NY 203 cfs @ 56º
East Branch at Fish’s Eddy, NY 966 cfs @ 63º
Mainstem at Lordville, NY 2,040 cfs @ 64º
Beaverkill at Cooks Falls, NY 607 cfs @ N/A
Cannonsville Reservoir Level & Release 94.6% – 500 CFS

Delaware River Report / Conditions – June 22, 2011

Wow did we get hit with a large thunderstorm early this morning! Shook the lodge, and pelted us with rain, and the fog is currently so dense that we can’t even see the river! This is supposed to burn off within the next few hours, and we are expecting a cool, yet humid day, with more thunderstorms dropping significant rainfall today, so check the graphs (links below) for up-to-the-minute flows. The low pressure and cooler temps should help with the bug activity, and keep the upper main stem fishing as well!

AMAZING picture of a hatching Isonychia taken by Bob Lewis.



Hatches:

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

Ephemerella cornuta – Blue Wing Olive #14

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

Emphemerella invaria – Light Cahill – #12

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

Ephemerella dorothea – Sulphur- #16/18/20

Pseudocloeon – Little BWO’s- #22-#26

FLOWS:
West Branch at Stilesville, NY 519 cfs @ 43º
West Branch at Hale Eddy,NY 611cfs @ 48º
East Branch at Harvard, NY 194 cfs @ 57º
East Branch at Fish’s Eddy, NY 645 cfs @ 65º
Mainstem at Lordville, NY 1,770 cfs @ 66º
Beaverkill at Cooks Falls, NY 427 cfs @ N/A
Cannonsville Reservoir Level & Release 95.6% – 500 CFS

Delaware River Report / Conditions June 20, 2011

The bright skies and warmer temperatures we received yesterday delayed much of the bug activity until the last hour of daylight. Thunderstorms are predicted in the near future, which should cool the temperatures down on the main stem and east branch allowing for better conditions for hatch activity. The west branch is your best bet right now for the best water temperatures and bug activity. Your best bet midday is to focus on nymphing the riffles for rainbows and then shift your attention as the sun begins to set to looking for heads rising. The major bugs that we continue to see are dorotheas, isonychias, cornutas, and sporactic numbers of stenos.

David Burgher with a nice WB brown right before dark. Photo by: Jeff White



Hatches:

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

Ephemerella cornuta – Blue Wing Olive #14

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

Emphemerella invaria – Light Cahill – #12

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

Ephemerella dorothea – Sulphur- #16/18/20

Pseudocloeon – Little BWO’s- #22-#26

FLOWS:
West Branch at Stilesville, NY 510 cfs @ 43º
West Branch at Hale Eddy,NY 627 cfs @ 47º
East Branch at Harvard, NY 194 cfs @ 56º
East Branch at Fish’s Eddy, NY 718 cfs @ 62º
Mainstem at Lordville, NY 1,670 cfs @ 63º
Beaverkill at Cooks Falls, NY 427 cfs @ N/A
Cannonsville Reservoir Level & Release 96.6% – 500 CFS

Delaware River Report / Conditions June 19, 2011

Yesterday sure was a ‘weird’ one here on the river – hot during the day, but clouds and cooler in the evening, but few bugs decided to pop. The West was a bit too cold up top, and the East and Main were a bit warm. We are looking at more cloud cover today, which will hopefully get us to that Goldilocks zone: just right! The bugs that were hatching remain the same – Isos, Sulphurs, and Pseudos, with the occasional Steno thrown in for good measure!

Steve Shen with a real "German" Brown Trout. Photo by: Kevan Smaracko

Hatches:

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

Ephemerella cornuta – Blue Wing Olive #14

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

Emphemerella invaria – Light Cahill – #12

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

Ephemerella dorothea – Sulphur- #16/18/20

Pseudocloeon – Little BWO’s- #22-#26

FLOWS:
West Branch at Stilesville, NY 502 cfs @ 43º
West Branch at Hale Eddy,NY 643 cfs @ 48º
East Branch at Harvard, NY 203 cfs @ 57º
East Branch at Fish’s Eddy, NY 859 cfs @ 63º
Mainstem at Lordville, NY 1,920 cfs @ 64º
Beaverkill at Cooks Falls, NY 535 cfs @ N/A
Cannonsville Reservoir Level & Release 96.6% – 500 CFS

Delaware River Report / Conditions June 18, 2011

What a day yesterday! Bugs and fish all day on the West Branch in between the rain and thunder – it was like a little piece of April in June. Today we are looking at clouds and sun, with temps in the high 70’s, which shouldn’t heat up the water too much today, and we expect the sulphurs and isos to continue in big numbers. Traffic on the river is down just a little, so the fish are feeling less pressure during the week, which will hopefully make for a great weekend!

Delaware Vet Tom Noble with a great WB Fish. Photo by: Wiley Paul

Hatches:

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

Ephemerella cornuta – Blue Wing Olive #14

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

Emphemerella invaria – Light Cahill – #12

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

Ephemerella dorothea – Sulphur- #16/18/20

Pseudocloeon – Little BWO’s- #22-#26

FLOWS:
West Branch at Stilesville, NY 510 cfs @ 43º
West Branch at Hale Eddy,NY 704 cfs @ 48º
East Branch at Harvard, NY 226 cfs @ 57º
East Branch at Fish’s Eddy, NY 1,190 cfs @ 63º
Mainstem at Lordville, NY 2,240 cfs @ 63º
Beaverkill at Cooks Falls, NY 814 cfs @ N/A
Cannonsville Reservoir Level & Release 97.0% – 500 CFS

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