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

August 18, 2011

Delaware River Report / Conditions August 18, 2011

What a difference a day makes! Fish were to be found up and down the West Branch yesterday, with some even working on the main stem – the good news? It seems the ANTS have finally made their appearance – ranging in size from #14 all the way down to the standard #20, mostly black. The only downer is it appears that the fish are being just as selective with them as they are with the mayflies!

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 17, 2011

Delaware River Report / Conditions August 17, 2011

Well, that was interesting. Yesterday, that is. As a good friend said, “At first, the bugs were around and the fish were on strike. After the rain, the bugs decided to join the fish.” Despite some nice (fishing-wise) weather, cooperation was lacking on the West Branch yesterday, possibly a result of the release being jumped to 600 CFS and the initial slug of cooler water making its way down river. Today that should stabilize, although we are likely going to have a decent amount of sun, which should make the upper west should do its “normal” thing with bugs in the early afternoon, and the lower should fish well this evening (assuming the strike is over).

Hatches:

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 16, 2011

Delaware River Report / Conditions August 16, 2011

Yesterday was definitely……interesting shall we say. Folk on the West Branch were treated to some good streamer action, as well as good numbers of consistently rising fish, up and chasing BWOs, sulphurs, and cahills. Those of us who fished the main stem (that would be just the two of us. The whole river. One boat) expected hatching and action of epic proportions. What we had instead was one of the most frustrating days of fishing I have ever experienced – we had fish, not a ton of bugs, but enough to justify consistent rising. Instead we had fish slashing and popping out of the water to eat…..ready for it? PSEUDOS. Or so we thought. Throw a psuedo over a fish you just saw eat one, nada. Toss a cahill compardun over top of him? He’d eat it. All of the smaller 12-14″ rainbows filling up the riffles couldn’t be bought on a caddis or (GASP!) an Iso – even if they had given away their location by rising. Something the likes of which I have never seen. The only decent fish, a 16-17-ish ‘bow was the only fish that took an imitation of what we saw him eat. ARGH!

Enough whining – on to today! It looks like we dodged a bit bullet here on the West Branch, and that we missed the huge slug of water on the main by just an hour or so. The Beaverkill jumped to around 6,000 CFS (yes, you read that right) yesterday in a deluge that missed us. As such, the East and Main Stems are both blown out today (think Yoo-hoo, but darker), so the West is the only game in town. With clouds and passing showers, I’ve got great hopes for the day – could be fantastic out there with few people, and lots of bugs!

Hatches:

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 15, 2011

Delaware River Report / Conditions August 15,2011

Well we never really saw the thunderstorms that they were predicting yesterday, but we did have overcast skies for much of the day which produced a decent amount of olives. Today they are calling for the same forecast as yesterday, rain with an occasional t-storm, which should yield some good action out on the water. Also, we are currently in the process of completely revamping our online store which will have all of our specialty flies and dubbing as well as many new items. We will keep you informed on the status of the site, and inform you once it is up and running!

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