Delaware River Report / Conditions May 7, 2012
Patches of bright sun with slightly cooler temperatures led to a big improvement over Saturday’s activity. The bugs were up throughout the day, and the fish were more than happy to chow down. The West Branch fished slightly better than the East and Main, up until the evening when the entire river system came to life. The Hendricksons came early on the West, but weren’t seen in big numbers on the Main, where Cornutas made their first appearance of the year, as well as some Ephemerella invaria on the East Branch. Sulphurs were also out on the main, with the occasional fish grabbing one. Today we have showers in the forecast, which will likely produce some steady hatching throughout.
Hatches:
Ephemerella subvaria – Hendricksons – #16
Stenonema vicarium – March Browns – #10-2xl (sporadic, just getting started)
Light Brachycentrus Caddis – Apple Green – #16 & #18
Dark Brachycentrus Caddis – Charcoal – #16 & #18
Baetis species – #18 & #20
FLOWS AS OF 8:00 AM: | |
West Branch at Stilesville, NY | 142 cfs @ 45º |
West Branch at Hale Eddy,NY | 525 cfs @ 54º |
East Branch at Harvard,NY | 239 cfs @ 55º |
East Branch at Fish’s Eddy,NY | 965 cfs @ 56º |
Mainstem at Lordville,NY | 2,120 cfs @ 60º |
Beaverkill at Cooks Falls,NY | 477 cfs @ N/A |
Cannonsville Reservoir Level &Release | 93.1% – 150 CFS release |
Delaware River Report / Conditions May 6, 2012
Man, it was tough out there yesterday. Between the bright sun keeping the bugs down and the ARMADA that was out on the river (24+ boats on the West Branch alone), it was not the picture-perfect Delaware day. When there were sporadic flurries of hatching, the fish did accommodate, as they are READY to eat. Today is looking to be a bit sunny again, but with cooler temps and hopefully a few more clouds to encourage hatching. At least, that’s what the weathermen are saying – we’ve all figured out that their opinion is worth exactly what we’re paying for it! We did see some Ephemerella invaria yesterday, as well as some Cornutas – we’ll see if that continues, which will be a nice ‘gap filler’ once the Hendricksons finally call it a year!
Hatches:
Ephemerella subvaria – Hendricksons – #16
Stenonema vicarium – March Browns – #10-2xl (sporadic, just getting started)
Light Brachycentrus Caddis – Apple Green – #16 & #18
Dark Brachycentrus Caddis – Charcoal – #16 & #18
Baetis species – #18 & #20
FLOWS AS OF 8:00 AM: | |
West Branch at Stilesville, NY | 142 cfs @ 44º |
West Branch at Hale Eddy,NY | 632 cfs @ 52º |
East Branch at Harvard,NY | 242 cfs @ 54º |
East Branch at Fish’s Eddy,NY | 1,020 cfs @ 55º |
Mainstem at Lordville,NY | 2,460 cfs @ 58º |
Beaverkill at Cooks Falls,NY | 519 cfs @ N/A |
Cannonsville Reservoir Level &Release | 93.1% – 150 CFS release |
Delaware River Report / Conditions May 5, 2012
It was tough going out there yesterday. We had another strange occurrence: as the west branch dropped, the clarity worsened throughout the day. While we weren’t 100% chocolate milk, I’d say we got pretty close. There were very few bugs in the blazing sun, and as such few fish up to eat them until later on in the evening, when some good rising fish were found on both the West and the Main. This morning, the West has dropped to about 800 cfs, and has PERFECT clarity. There are calls for a mix of sun and clouds today, so as long as there is some shade during the afternoon, we have the possibility of seeing a good number of bugs and fish – definitely looks promising!
Hatches:
Ephemerella subvaria – Hendricksons – #16
Stenonema vicarium – March Browns – #10-2xl (sporadic, just getting started)
Light Brachycentrus Caddis – Apple Green – #16 & #18
Dark Brachycentrus Caddis – Charcoal – #16 & #18
Baetis species – #18 & #20
FLOWS AS OF 8:00 AM: | |
West Branch at Stilesville, NY | 142 cfs @ 45º |
West Branch at Hale Eddy,NY | 822 cfs @ 55º |
East Branch at Harvard,NY | 252 cfs @ 55º |
East Branch at Fish’s Eddy,NY | 1,190 cfs @ 55º |
Mainstem at Lordville,NY | 3,100 cfs @ 59º |
Beaverkill at Cooks Falls,NY | 625 cfs @ N/A |
Cannonsville Reservoir Level &Release | 93.1% – 150 CFS release |
Delaware River Report / Conditions May 4, 2012
It is official – I officially have lost any and all confidence with weather men/services. Predicted weather yesterday consisted of cloud cover and spotty showers all day. That’s what we had, along with TONS of bugs and fish early in the day. Around 2PM, the sun came out. Accuweather, weather.com, they all said, at that second, we were getting rain. Nope. Bright sun, high temps, and sunburn central. The bugs pretty much stopped until the shade crept in, and they started back up sporadically. The evening got very interesting, with some amazing thunderstorms rolling through the area throughout the night. The rain has brought the West Branch up signficiantly (as you can see from the graph below), but fortunately we are not TOO off-colored in the river, and it is likely to drop sharply throughout the day. We are expecting warm temps today, which if the cloud cover holds (as they predict, I again doubt), will see the bugs start earlier in the day, and continue throughout. Passing thunderstorms may affect the hatching as well. Regardless, we are set up for a GREAT weekend with terrific water levels!
Hatches:
Ephemerella subvaria – Hendricksons – #16
Stenonema vicarium – March Browns – #10-2xl (sporadic, just getting started)
Light Brachycentrus Caddis – Apple Green – #16 & #18
Dark Brachycentrus Caddis – Charcoal – #16 & #18
Baetis species – #18 & #20
FLOWS AS OF 8:00 AM: | |
West Branch at Stilesville, NY | 146 cfs @ 45º |
West Branch at Hale Eddy,NY | 1,630 cfs @ 54º |
East Branch at Harvard,NY | 252 cfs @ 54º |
East Branch at Fish’s Eddy,NY | 1,110 cfs @ 55º |
Mainstem at Lordville,NY | 2,430 cfs @ 57º |
Beaverkill at Cooks Falls,NY | 611 cfs @ N/A |
Cannonsville Reservoir Level &Release | 92.9% – 150 CFS release |
Delaware River Report / Conditions May 3, 2012
What a difference a day will make, and I will completely fall on my sword here – my prediction for the day proved to be as wrong as most of our weather forecasters up here. We had very little activity throughout the day, as the cold influx of water from Cannonsville, combined with the overcast skies to keep the water temps hovering around 50F. This stalled the hatching until the late afternoon, where there was a brief flurry of activity when the water hit its peak temp for the day. The fish were there and eager to eat, there just wasn’t a ton on the menu to be had. Today we will have a dramatically warmer day, with highs in the 70s, and cloud cover to boot. This should bring those temps back up where we want them to be for the bugs, and hopefully spur some more activity in general. We did have a pretty good thunderstorm overnight, which dropped some good amounts of rain upstream, bringing the West Branch up near 500 this morning, but with no discoloration thus far. More water is ALWAYS a good thing!
Hatches:
Ephemerella subvaria – Hendricksons – #16
Stenonema vicarium – March Browns – #10-2xl (sporadic, just getting started)
Light Brachycentrus Caddis – Apple Green – #16 & #18
Dark Brachycentrus Caddis – Charcoal – #16 & #18
Baetis species – #18 & #20
FLOWS AS OF 8:00 AM: | |
West Branch at Stilesville, NY | 146 cfs @ 44º |
West Branch at Hale Eddy,NY | 485 cfs @ 49º |
East Branch at Harvard,NY | 222 cfs @ 50º |
East Branch at Fish’s Eddy,NY | 940 cfs @ 50º |
Mainstem at Lordville,NY | 1,600 cfs @ 52º |
Beaverkill at Cooks Falls,NY | 560 cfs @ N/A |
Cannonsville Reservoir Level &Release | 92.8% – 150 CFS release |
Delaware River Report / Conditions May 2, 2012
A day without a stiff wind? I didn’t think it was possible! Sure enough, the wind laid down for nearly the entirety of the day yesterday, and the bugs and fish responded accordingly. With the warmer morning water temperatures, the activity started earlier than in previous days – about 1:00 to 1:30. I would expect the same kind of start to today, which we are expecting to be warmer, and hopefully with some more precipitation. The rain yesterday gave the West Branch a little “bump” – really just enough to keep us from dropping down any further. And adding to the surprise today – MORE WATER! We now have a release of 150 CFS, due to where we fall under the current FFMP. Every little bit helps!
Hatches:
Ephemerella subvaria – Hendricksons – #16
Stenonema vicarium – March Browns – #10-2xl (sporadic, just getting started)
Light Brachycentrus Caddis – Apple Green – #16 & #18
Dark Brachycentrus Caddis – Charcoal – #16 & #18
Baetis species – #18 & #20
FLOWS AS OF 8:00 AM: | |
West Branch at Stilesville, NY | 144 cfs @ 44º |
West Branch at Hale Eddy,NY | 351 cfs @ 49º |
East Branch at Harvard,NY | 197 cfs @ 50º |
East Branch at Fish’s Eddy,NY | 846 cfs @ 51º |
Mainstem at Lordville,NY | 1,580 cfs @ 54º |
Beaverkill at Cooks Falls,NY | 462 cfs @ N/A |
Cannonsville Reservoir Level &Release | 92.7% – 150 CFS release |
Delaware River Report / Conditions May 1, 2012
Happy May Day! As expected, the wind was significantly less powerful yesterday, but still created a bit of problems for those lucky enough to be out on the river. We also had one of our ‘freak’ occurrences that periodically hit the river: tons of fish rising, but almost nothing on the surface of the water. One would assume spinners, but few and far between. Once again, the ‘silver bullet’ was a #16 Hendrickson Compara-egmerger. Some fish were taken on tan and apple green caddis on the Main Stem, but that activity seemed to drop off early. “Sulphurs” were reported on the Main (really a small #16 steno) as well, but the fish have not keyed in on them yet, similar to the situation with the March Browns. Today we are expecting clouds and occasional rain showers, which should change the whole dynamic of the fishing (likely for the better!). Let’s hope we get more than the .5″ predicted, as the rivers are dropping fast, and we have no additional water releases in sight until June.
Hatches:
Ephemerella subvaria – Hendricksons – #16
Stenonema vicarium – March Browns – #10-2xl (sporadic, just getting started)
Light Brachycentrus Caddis – Apple Green – #16 & #18
Dark Brachycentrus Caddis – Charcoal – #16 & #18
Baetis species – #18 & #20
FLOWS AS OF 9:00 AM: | |
West Branch at Stilesville, NY | 88 cfs @ 46º |
West Branch at Hale Eddy,NY | 274 cfs @ 50º |
East Branch at Harvard,NY | 182 cfs @ 50º |
East Branch at Fish’s Eddy,NY | 774 cfs @ 50º |
Mainstem at Lordville,NY | 1,410 cfs @ 51º |
Beaverkill at Cooks Falls,NY | 430 cfs @ N/A |
Cannonsville Reservoir Level &Release | 92.7% – 85 CFS release |
Delaware River Report / Conditions April 30, 2012
Our friend Donnie who currently lives in Dubai came up to fish yesterday, and felt like he was back home. That would be due to the crazy swirling winds and dust flying everywhere. The meteorologists outright blew it yesterday (not that it is an uncommon occurrence) and our “up to 24MPH” gusts were more in the 45MPH range. It made for one tough day for anyone out in a boat. Anchoring was a nightmare, and let’s not talk about trying to properly present a dry fly in such conditions. That being said, there were bugs throughout the day starting around 2PM, and the fish were up and on them whenever the wind laid down for a brief period. Home Pool fished exceptionally well, with virtually all of the fish taking Hendricksons. This was the same on the Main – as soon as we think they’re done, they come right back at it again! Today is “supposed” to be a much calmer day, but we will see how accurate they are.
Hatches:
Ephemerella subvaria – Hendricksons – #12 & #14
Paraleptophlebia adoptiva (Blue Quill) – #16 & #18 (Some spinners left on the WB)
Light Brachycentrus Caddis – Apple Green – #16 & #18
Dark Brachycentrus Caddis – Charcoal – #16 & #18
Baetis species – #18 & #20
Chimmarra (little black) Caddis – #18 & #20
FLOWS AS OF 9:00 AM: | |
West Branch at Stilesville, NY | 88 cfs @ 42º |
West Branch at Hale Eddy,NY | 287 cfs @ 43º |
East Branch at Harvard,NY | 197 cfs @ 44º |
East Branch at Fish’s Eddy,NY | 832 cfs @ 45º |
Mainstem at Lordville,NY | 1,500 cfs @ 48º |
Beaverkill at Cooks Falls,NY | 459 cfs @ N/A |
Cannonsville Reservoir Level &Release | 91.9% – 85 CFS release |
Delaware River Report / Conditions – April 29, 2012
We had a bit of a change out there yesterday – bright sun, sporadic winds, and warmer temps led to some very exciting dry fly fishing, especially along the West Branch. There were pockets of active fish on the Main as well, and all were munching on the same thing – HENDRICKSONS! We thought they had passed on the Main, but we were obviously mistaken. They are down to the smaller Ephemerella “x” sizes (#16), and the dark comparamerger was certainly the ticket for those fishing out front. We’re looking at a similar day today with slightly warmer temps, and unfortunately some likely heavier winds as well. I would anticipate the hatch starting a bit earlier today than yesterday (say 2 instead of 3), and being the strongest when the wind lays down.
Hatches:
Ephemerella subvaria – Hendricksons – #12 & #14
Paraleptophlebia adoptiva (Blue Quill) – #16 & #18 (Some spinners left on the WB)
Light Brachycentrus Caddis – Apple Green – #16 & #18
Dark Brachycentrus Caddis – Charcoal – #16 & #18
Baetis species – #18 & #20
Chimmarra (little black) Caddis – #18 & #20
FLOWS AS OF 9:00 AM: | |
West Branch at Stilesville, NY | 87 cfs @ 42º |
West Branch at Hale Eddy,NY | 320 cfs @ 44º |
East Branch at Harvard,NY | 216 cfs @ 43º |
East Branch at Fish’s Eddy,NY | 924 cfs @ 45º |
Mainstem at Lordville,NY | 1,690 cfs @ 46º |
Beaverkill at Cooks Falls,NY | 503 cfs @ N/A |
Cannonsville Reservoir Level &Release | 91.9% – 85 CFS release |
Delaware River Report / Conditions April 28, 2012
BRRRRRRRR! Not a big fan of the weather yesterday, and neither were the poor souls who were out on the river. The windchill made it feel like it was in the teens, but we managed to stay above 40 for most of the day. Brutal conditions did not lead a good day, but some folks managed to have luck nymphing (shudder), and there was a brief flush of bugs in the late evening as soon as the wind died down. Today the wind is supposed to lay off, and we are looking at highs in the low 50s, which could set everything in motion for a great afternoon / evening hatch. Let’s see what happens! Also, this is the “One Bug” weekend, so if you are heading up, be aware there will be tons of boats out on the water.
Also, I’m sure many of you noticed yesterday, the Stilesville gauge went down to near 20 CFS yesterday. The DEP actually shut down the dam for several hours yesterday to make some repairs to the “release way.” We’re now back at the pathetic 85 CFS release. It’s better than 0 I guess.
Hatches:
Ephemerella subvaria – Hendricksons – #12 & #14
Paraleptophlebia adoptiva (Blue Quill) – #16 & #18 (Some spinners left on the WB)
Light Brachycentrus Caddis – Apple Green – #16 & #18
Dark Brachycentrus Caddis – Charcoal – #16 & #18
Baetis species – #18 & #20
Chimmarra (little black) Caddis – #18 & #20
FLOWS AS OF 9:00 AM: | |
West Branch at Stilesville, NY | 78 cfs @ 40º |
West Branch at Hale Eddy,NY | 344 cfs @ 40º |
East Branch at Harvard,NY | 242 cfs @ 40º |
East Branch at Fish’s Eddy,NY | 1,080 cfs @ 40º |
Mainstem at Lordville,NY | 1,970 cfs @ 42º |
Beaverkill at Cooks Falls,NY | 560 cfs @ N/A |
Cannonsville Reservoir Level &Release | 91.9% – 85 CFS release |
Delaware River Report / Conditions April 27, 2012
White fly hatch this morning. By “fly” I mean snow. We’ve had some pretty serious flurries this morning, coupled with some hellacious winds. We’re looking at winds throughout the day, with the sun peeking through this afternoon. We’ll see what it brings!
Yesterday was a bit tough, with fewer bugs than we have seen over the last few days. We’re going to blame the slightly cooler temperatures. A few nice fish were caught however, so it was definitely worth while to head out there!
Hatches:
Ephemerella subvaria – Hendricksons – #12 & #14
Paraleptophlebia adoptiva (Blue Quill) – #16 & #18
Light Brachycentrus Caddis – Apple Green – #16 & #18
Dark Brachycentrus Caddis – Charcoal – #16 & #18
Baetis species – #18 & #20
Chimmarra (little black) Caddis – #18 & #20
FLOWS AS OF 9:00 AM: | |
West Branch at Stilesville, NY | 84 cfs @ 43º |
West Branch at Hale Eddy,NY | 435 cfs @ 44º |
East Branch at Harvard,NY | 277 cfs @ 45º |
East Branch at Fish’s Eddy,NY | 1,180 cfs @ 45º |
Mainstem at Lordville,NY | 2,220 cfs @ 46º |
Beaverkill at Cooks Falls,NY | 685 cfs @ N/A |
Cannonsville Reservoir Level &Release | 91.5% – 85 CFS release |
Delaware River Report / Condtions April 26, 2012
Many apologies on the tardiness of this post – we’ve had a BUSY morning here at the club, getting folks out on the river!
Yesterday was a great day, with significant hatching starting from about 1PM and running until 6PM or so, conisisting of Hendricksons, small Baetis, and Apple Green Caddis. The West Branch was the predominant Hot Spot, but the East and Main also fished pretty darn well. Warmer temps and lighter winds today bode well for some continued action, although the West Branch is dropping significantly. Let’s pray for even more rain in the near future!
Hatches:
Ephemerella subvaria – Hendricksons – #12 & #14
Paraleptophlebia adoptiva (Blue Quill) – #16 & #18
Light Brachycentrus Caddis – Apple Green – #16 & #18
Dark Brachycentrus Caddis – Charcoal – #16 & #18
Baetis species – #18 & #20
Chimmarra (little black) Caddis – #18 & #20
FLOWS AS OF 11:00 AM: | |
West Branch at Stilesville, NY | 90 cfs @ 42º |
West Branch at Hale Eddy,NY | 481 cfs @ 45º |
East Branch at Harvard,NY | 281 cfs @ 45º |
East Branch at Fish’s Eddy,NY | 1,240 cfs @ 45º |
Mainstem at Lordville,NY | 2,400 cfs @ 46º |
Beaverkill at Cooks Falls,NY | 685 cfs @ N/A |
Cannonsville Reservoir Level &Release | 91.1% – 85 CFS release |